Gaochang Uighur's Study Of Maitreya Belief

As early as in the Han and Wei Dynasties,Buddhism spread eastwards to the Western Region(region west of the Yumen Pass).Since then commenced the glorious Central-Asian Buddhism that lasted a thousand years.Buddhism began its decline in the mid-10th century AD after Islamic culture entered the Western Region.However,plenty of archaeological findings discovered in the recent century suggest that Buddhism remained flourishing in the Gaochang region during the mid-9th century,when Uighur moved westwards from the Mongolian Plateau to establish the kingdom of Gaochang Uighur,until its complete replacement by the Islamic culture around the 15th century.Chinese Buddhism was popular in the Gaochang region after the Northern and Southern dynasties.There are scholars who even believe that it was basically a replica of Chinese Buddhism.However,current archaeological findings suggest that such an assertion may not truly be a true reflection of Buddhism in Gaochang-Uighur.For instance,Maitreya Belief,which integrates Buddhist Mahayana and Hinayana teachings,pursued a track of inheritance and development in the Western Region different from that in the Chinese soil.Although Maitreya Belief derived mainly from Mahayana's Pureland thought,it is the mere one that combines Mahayana bodhisattva practice with early Buddhist teachings and Hnayana mindfulness practice of reborn in heavens,comprising both practices of Ascension to the Tusita Heaven and Descent in the Pureland of Human World.Due to such Maitreya Belief played an important role in Buddhist development and transmission history.The Belief was transmitted to China by Buddhist sanga of the Western Region in around Northern Liang and began its wide spread in northwestern China.Maitreya Belief in China declined after mid-Tang dynasty,and was gradually replaced by the Amitabha Pure Land beliefs.Yet in the Western Region,Maitreya Belief remained prosperous until the Uighur Kingdom period,especially in terms of its development in the northern path.The discovery of plenty of the remains of Uighur Buddhism such as the famous rap literature Maitrisimit in Uighur script and the monastery of the Uighur court West Temple all suggest that there were traces of spread of Maitreya Belief in the northern path of the Western Region before and during the Uighur period.This dissertation,based on the kingdom of Uighur that lasted almost five hundred years and through investigating the times before and after it as well as the surrounding districts,attempts to reconstruct a relatively clear profile and appearance of Maitreya Belief in Gaochang Uighur by studying the sources and course of the spread of Maitreya Belief into the Western Region and the transformation and evolution of Maitreya Belief in terms of its connotation after its spread into the Western Region.Maitreya Belief was transmitted into China through the Western Region in the earliest stage,it had still been popular in the Region's northern path till the end of the Uighur Kingdom,but relevant reference on its profile,inheritance and development during Uighur period is scarce and scattered.As this research involves a larger chronological and geographical span,numerous Buddhist doctrines and literature as well as Buddhist transmission history records,the author makes use of Historical Document Research Approach to conduct an extensive search and study on Chinese historical documents,ancient Buddhist literature and pilgrimage records.Besides,Archaeological Data Comparative Approach is also used to allow supplementary study for this research subject.In order to further clarify Maitreya Belief's profile and features in the Uighur period,it is required to study the sources of its formation,development and the course of transmission to the Western Region.Current study shows that the Dharmaguptaka Sect of Uddiyana,Jibin(now Kashmir)might be closely related to the rise and spread of the Maitreya Belief,while Kuche and Karashar on the northern path of the Western Region,which had always been of Dharmaguptaka lineage,were obviously linked to the early transmission of the Maitreya Belief.The author further examines the excavated Uighur manuscripts including Maitrisimit and archaeological remains that related to the study of the profile and appearance of Maitreya Belief in Gaochang Uighur period.It is believed that the early stage of Maitreya practice of Ascension to Heaven should be transmitted to Kuche area by the Dharmaguptaka and/or its related branches via Jibin Road in around mid-3rd century,while mature stage of the Belief started its spread in Kuche area in the early 4th century,before heading onto China in the early 5th century and back to Gaochang with the influence of Chinese Buddhism.From this inheritance route the Maitreya Belief in Gaochang Uighur had seen a gradual development from the earliest mere Jibin and Kuche lineage practice of "nirvana,samadhi and reborn in heaven" to a brand new Pureland system where multiple thoughts and practices merged in one.This research is based on limited source of literature records and archaeological findings,the conclusion made here might thus not truly reflect the fact that this study was expected to disclose.Yet it is the author's wish that this research may provide a ground for further in-depth study on the Maitreya Belief as an important Pureland system,as well as the Dharmaguptaka as a neglected but significant sect in Buddhist history.