Shaping sacred space: Studies in the ritual architecture and artistic programs of early Buddhist cave temples and their relation to tombs in fifth century China

Han dynasty conceptions of the afterlife continued to be used in the shaping of mortuary culture in post-Han Gansu at Dingjiazha, Foyemiaowan, and Qijiawan and also in Buddhist sacred space in the earliest extant cave-temples at Dunhuang and Jintasi. By following the transmission of these plans we can begin to understand the complexity of the adaptation and assimilation of Buddhism in China.