Scythian-Hun Buddhist Teachers of Central and Inner Asia: Pioneers of Buddhist Transmission
For centuries, Buddhist cave temples were built by the Hun rulers of China.
The expansive reach of Buddhism from Central and Inner Asia to other parts of Asia showcases its profound impact on the spiritual and historical fabric of the continent. In China, the Northern Wei dynasty, rooted in Hun heritage, elevated Buddhism to prominence, leaving an indelible mark on China’s spirituality and history. The rulers of Northern Wei sponsored Buddhism and its art, contributing significantly to China’s cultural heritage. Among numerous others, key monuments such as Tunhuang Mogao, Yungang and Longmen cave temples, Shaolin Monastery, and the ancient Songyue Pagoda are testaments to their patronage.
The journey of Buddhist teachings to China was facilitated by knowledgeable Scythian-Hun monks from the flourishing Buddhist cultures in Central and Inner Asia, operating under the protection of the Hun-Sienpi emperors. Noteworthy figures like An-sih-kao, a Parthian teacher, worked as a translator in Chinese Lo-yang between 148-171 AD, initiating a nearly thousand-year-long translating program in China. Monks like K’ang-sheng-k’ai from present-day Samarkand (3rd century) and Chu-fa-hu (Dharmaraksa) from Tokharistan (3rd-4th century) played vital roles in the translation efforts. The pinnacle of this translation endeavor was reached with the arrival of Kumarajiva from Kucha in the 5th century.
According to the contemporary inscription on the painting, the Buddha statues are golden men brought to the emperor by a general in 120 BC from a campaign against the “nomads” or Huns. According to tradition, this was China’s first encounter with Buddhism, which came later through Hun mediation, with the support of the Hun emperors who founded an empire in China.
Tibetan Buddhism
In the shaping of Tibetan Buddhism, the influence of masters from Central Asia was paramount. The kingdom of Orgyen, considered a sacred land in Tibetan Buddhism, was situated in what is present-day East Afghanistan. This location served as the central point for the Diamond Path, from where significant teachers journeyed to India, Tibet, and occasionally to Tibet via India.
Indrabhuti, the king of Orgyen, was the first to receive Buddha’s Diamond Path teaching. Subsequent masters like Garab Dordje, the progenitor of traditional Dzogchen; Padmasambhava, the second Buddha who propagated Buddhism in Tibet; and Gelongma Palmo, an enlightened yogini and former princess, all honed their knowledge and realization in Orgyen. Their contributions and spiritual advancements in this region played a vital role in the dissemination and preservation of Buddhist teachings throughout Central and Inner Asia, leaving an enduring legacy in the tapestry of Asian spirituality.
Empire of Orgyen
The empire of Orgyen (located in what is now northern Pakistan and Afghanistan) played an important role in the history of Buddhism. It is considered to be the home of the Diamond Way and the teachings of great wholeness. King Indrabhuti of Orgyen was the first among the people to receive Diamond Way teachings and transmission from the Buddha. It was the birthplace of Garab Dordjie and Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava), among others, and the place where Garab Dordjie, Vairochana, Guru Rinpoche and Tilopa, among many other masters, received Dzogchen transmission. Buddhist scriptures describe Orgyen as a beautiful green and fertile kingdom, its inhabitants kind and highly respected for their wisdom and knowledge. Framed by high rugged mountains, white stupas towered in the wide valleys between golden temple roofs. It looked like a paradise on earth, so they called it the ‘royal garden’, which is Sanskrit for Oddiyan. It was also known as the Heaven of the Fairies of the Skywalker, because it was famous for its unique sisterhood of priestesses who were dedicated to wisdom and the spiritual path. These priestesses were not monks, they were yoginis who lived in forest communities.
Indrabuti, King of Orgyen, was the first person to receive the Diamond Way teachings from the Buddha. Garab Dordje, the father of the Dzogchen tradition; Padmasambhava, the Second Buddha, who founded Buddhism in Tibet; the princess-turned-enlightened yogini Gelongma Palmo, and many other masters lived, studied and attained realisation in Orgyen.
The greatest masters of the Diamond Way in Central Asia
Masters who came from Central Asia also played a major role in the development of Tibetan Buddhism. Recent excavations show that
show that Orgyen, a country sacred to Tibetan Buddhism, was located in what is now eastern Afghanistan. It is considered to be the main centre of the Diamond Way spirituality, from where many great teachers came both to India and Tibet, and sometimes via India to Tibet. Many of the greatest masters of the Diamond Way tradition came from here. A contemporary of the Buddha was Indrabuti, King of Orgyen. He was the first among the people to receive the teachings of the Diamond Way from the Buddha. But Orgyen is also the birthplace of such enlightened masters as Garab Dorje, the father of the ‘Great Completeness’ (dzogchen) tradition, and the Lotus-born Master (Padmasambhava) who founded Buddhism in Tibet, and many others. In addition, Tibetans were in constant contact with other Buddhist centres in Central Asia. Many of the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism originate from Mahasiddha Naropa, a Sikh king from the Buddha’s Scythian lineage, who became a leading figure in Tantric Buddhism. The founder of Tibetan Buddhist fasting meditation, Nyungne, was the Ogyen princess Gelongma Palmo.
Dzogchen masterrs
According to the Tibetan Nyingmapa tradition, the Dzogchen teachings in the human world were preached by the revelation-body Garab Dorje (Skr. Prahevadjra) in the country of Orgyen, and later by his disciple, Jampal Senyen (Skr. Manjushrimitra), also from Orgyen, in India, who passed them on to his disciple Sri Simha of Khotan. He passed them on to Padmasambhava of Ogyen, and to Vimalamitra and Vairochana, the Tibetan translator. It was through these three masters that the teachings were brought to Tibet in the middle of the eighth century. These teachings were originally secret oral teachings restricted to a small group of tantric initiates. Tradition holds that these teachings originated in the country of Orgyen, north-west of India. It seems most likely, therefore, that the origins of Dzogchen are to be sought in the Indo-Tibetan borderlands of northwestern Indo-Asia.
Buddhist cave temples from Central Asia to China
The area where Buddhist cave temples were built stretched from present-day Afghanistan to central India and China. This places them in the Kushan and then White Hun areas of the period, and their origins coincide perfectly with the empires of these peoples, since the first flourishing of cave temples lasted until the second to the sixth centuries AD.
Yungang is one of the largest and most famous ancient Buddhist cave monasteries in China.
The cave temple has 53 large cave halls with 51,000 small niches, each with a Buddha statue. The cave complex also includes 1,100 smaller caves.
This branch of art spread from the region of Gandhara – the present-day Kabul-Peshawar area – and thus the wonderful statues and murals of the cave temples of Kucha, then Tunhuang, Turfan, and even later China were created. The region of the Hindu Kush mountains, which was under the rule of the Kushans, Persians, and then the White Huns, played a key role in the later development of Eastern art. This region is considered a pioneering area from which Buddhist art began its journey to conquer the world.
We owe the flourishing of Buddhist art to the Scythian Kushans and White Huns of steppe origin. They were the ones who, by combining Hellenistic and Indian artistic elements, created the Gandharan style, which developed in East Turkestan.
Buddhist cave temples, founded during the time of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which advocated Buddhism. This dynasty was of Inner Asian Hun-Rhun Sienpi origin. Protecting Great Kings – Monuments of Scytho-Hun Buddhist art – Longmen Cave Temple, Inner Mongolia
The 1,400 caves contain 100,000 sculptures. Carved into the rock, the smallest Buddhist images are 25 millimetres in size, the largest 17 metres high. The cave temple complex also contains almost 2,500 steles and inscriptions – hence the name “Forest of Ancient Steles” – and more than 60 Buddhist pagodas. The cave temples, set in magnificent natural surroundings, are carved into a kilometre of rock on either side of the river.
The Gandharan style was of fundamental importance in the development of Buddhist art and is one of the most important carriers of the spiritual values of the Kushan Empire.
Buddha – Tunhuang, Mogao, Ganzu
The construction of the Mogao Caves near Tunhuang began in the 4th century. In 366, the Buddhist monk Yue-zun (his name Yue refers to the Scythian origin of the syllable Yue in Yüe-tsi) saw a thousand Buddhas bathed in golden light in a vision at this place and decided to build a meditation cave. From then on, the place gradually grew. By the time of the Hun Northern Liang rulers, a small community of hermits lived here. Members of the Northern Wei and Northern Zhou ruling families of the Hun-royal Sienp had several caves built. Later, during the Tang Dynasty, the number of caves reached a thousand. Originally inhabited by hermits, the caves were later used as monasteries. Over time, they became a place of pilgrimage for the faithful.
During the Hun Northern Liang Dynasty, the first Buddhist cave temples were established in Gansu (Uyguristan).
The most famous are Tiantishan (Mount Heavenly Ladder), Wenshushan (Mount Manchuria) and Maijishan (Mount Wheat Loaf).