Abstract

Kucha was the major Buddhist center on the Northern Route of the Silk Road, and well known for being dominated by the Sarv?stiv?da school for most of its history. Replacing the j?taka story, the avad?na story became the major theme depicted on the ceiling of the central-pillar caves in this area. Turfan is another important cultural center in Central Asia where Buddhism once flourished. The pra?idh?na painting, which was based on the Bhai?ajyavastu, a vinaya text of the Mulasarv?stiv?da school, was a unique subject normally appearing on the walls of Buddhist caves in Turfan. Both the avad?na and pra?idh?na stories are derived from j?taka stories, with significant shifts of focus, as well as of the format of the narrative. In this paper, through studying the avad?na and vow paintings at Kucha and Turfan, and comparing them with j?takas in early Buddhist art, I attempt to show how j?taka stories were transformed for different doctrinal messages of Buddhist teaching in some late ‘H?nay?na’ schools, namely Sarv?stiv?da and Mulasarv?stiv?da, and how the visual representations mirror the narrative styles in Buddhist texts.