Buddhist Sūtras Engraving on Stone Stūpas and Scribes in the Northern Liang

Abstract

In the 20th century, fourteen Buddhist stone stūpas of the Northern Liang（397─439 CE） were excavated in Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Wuwei and the Turfan areas. Among them, six stūpas have been identified as the earliest extant ancient stūpas in China and are revered as having significant cultural values. These stūpas were engraved with dates, names of donors and prayers, whilst some with bilingual Buddhist sūtras have been identified as the earliest Buddhist stone sūtras. The engraving of Buddhist sūtras on stone stūpa is a way of offering to accumulate merits by Buddhists. It is also a notable milestone to introduce Buddhism to the society for general public in the history of the transmission of Buddhism into China. With reference to historical documents and archaeological discoveries, this paper investigates the origin and causes of these phenomenal stūpas spreading in various geographical locations; and will examine the unique features on the Buddhist scriptural calligraphy by comparing inscriptions on the Buddhist stone steles and manuscripts. The relationship between official scribes with the local Buddhist scribal workshop in the early 5th century will also be further discussed.