Mogao Cave 323

Mogao Cave 323 was built in early Tang Dynasty(618-704AD). Cave 323 consists of a front chamber and a main chamber. The sidewalls in the main chamber are covered with paintings of Buddhist legends. On the west end of the north wall are scenes of Zhang Qian bidding farewell to Emperor Han Wudi and Leaving for the Western Regions on a diplomatic mission Emperor Wudi is seated high on horse- back, in front of him is Zhang Qian who kneels down with a scepter in hands. Above is a scene of Zhang Qian going farther and farther. On the top comer is pictures of the city walls of Western Region style, and in its front are two monks who are welcoming Zhang Qian. To the right side of this legend is a series of stories : Emperor Wudi worshipping the Golden images in Ganquan Palace; the stone on which Sakyamuni dried his robe; Fo Tucheng putting out the fire in Youzhou and etc.
The scene on the western end of the south wall depicts a story about how Buddha images were introduced into south China. All these are visual materials for studying the eastward transmission of Buddhism along the sea route. The description of the figures in these scenes is also very lifelike. Among the Buddhists welcoming the Buddha images, a man is going forward drawing an ox on which sit a woman and a child, and behind is a woman driving the ox. This is like an exact picture of the country life. To the east side of the Buddha images floating on the river is the story about the golden image in Yangzhou. To our regret, the picture of the large boat welcoming the golden image (and part of the picture about Buddhist sila and vinaya) has been taken away by the American Landon Warner in 1924, which is now kept in the Sackler Museum of the Harvard University. These stories about Indian Buddhist History or related to the legends about the transmission of Buddhism into China are all valuable materials for studying the east-ward transmission of Buddhism along the sea route.