The site of Subash Temple was added to the World Heritage List in 2014. [Photo by Yu Xiangjun]

During the 38th session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in Doha, Qatar in June 2014, "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor", spanning from China to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List. Subash Temple and five other sites became the first from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to make the list.

Past Glory

Located on a small alluvial plain by the Kucha River, the site of Subash Temple, covering about 190,000 square meters, is 20 km north of Kucha County, once the seat of the ancient kingdom of Kucha. The county sits at the southern periphery of the Tianshan Mountains and faces the Gobi Desert to the south. The Kucha River flows by, dividing the temple in two – aptly named the east and west temples. In the Uygur language, Subash means water source.

The temple was first built during the Wei-Jin Dynasties (220-420). Elite Kucha monk Kumarajiva (344-413) used to preach here. He is thought to have revolutionized Chinese Buddhism with his abundant sutra translations.