Turfan Uygurs’ Contributions to Mahāyāna Buddhist Material Culture and Art Renaissance

Turks contributed highly in development of Buddhist religion, philosophy and culture in Turkestan and China starting from the dynasties they established in North China. Many of the first Buddhist sūtras were translated from Indian languages to Chinese and the first Buddhist cave temples were built under the patronage of these Turks’ sovereign. Buddhist Uygurs made great contributions, especially to Mahāyāna Buddhism in Turfan and Dunhuang. The renaissance of Mahāyāna Buddhist Art which flourished in Northern India by Kushans happened in Turfan 10th century onwards. This artistic revival in the ancient Buddhist center stressed especially Buddhahood and paradise themes. Pranidhi scenes gained their gigantic dimensions with Uygurs. The emphasized artistic themes and their new representations have strong links with old Turkic culture and religion. In this paper, we tried to analyze the emergence of some important Mahāyāna Buddhist material culture themes and symbols used by Turfan Uygurs and their contribution to  Mahāyāna Buddhist Art Renaissance. As we tried to interpret this Buddhist culture links to the past, we expect to shed light on cultural history of Turfan Uygurs, which continued some of their old beliefs and religious ideas after adopted Buddhism and merged them into Buddhist material culture.