The ruins of the Subashi Temple, Subashi Ruins, are located 23 kilometers (about 14 miles) northwest of Kuqa County, Xinjiang Province. It was added to the World Heritage List on June 22, 2014.
The Subashi Ruins occupy a relatively large area, divided by Kuqa River into eastern and western areas. The eastern area is over 530 meters (about 580 yards) long and over 140 meters (about 153 yards) wide and the western area is over 680 meters (about 744 yards) long and 170 meters (about 186 yards) wide. The extent of the ruins reflects the temple's past brilliance.
Subashi Ruins, Kuqa County, Xinjiang
Subashi Ruins, Kuqa County
Subashi Ruins, Kuqa County, Xinjiang
Ruins of Subashi Temple
Subashi Ruins Pictures
Subashi Temple witnessed the development and the height of splendor of Buddhism in this land. The temple was built in the first century and reached its peak during the sixth to the eighth centuries in the Sui and Tang dynasties. In the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), on passing by on his way to India to obtain Buddhist sutra, the hierarch Xuanzang was so impressed by the splendor of the temple and the popularity of Buddhism in this area that he stayed for more than 2 months. During later years, the temple had over 10 thousand monks and many hierarchs came from the interior of China to promote and develop Buddhism. Unfortunately, wars of the ninth century destroyed the temple, and it never recovered. It was finally abandoned in the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries when Islam was introduced to Xinjiang and began to prevail.
Today only the ruins of this temple remain. The pagodas, murals, walls and archaeological discoveries bear witness to the years of change, the stories of Buddhism and the development of civilization in this vast land.
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