The Ping-ling Monastery in Yung-ching, Kansu, is situated in the Ho-hsi Corridor, a key passage in the transmission of Buddhism from Central Asia to China. The creation of the images found in Cave No.169 is contemporary to the early development of the `Mahayana` in China. These images, preserved in tact, and the inscriptions that accompany them are among the earliest extant Chinese epigraphical/ representational materials on the pure lands.
A discussion of these images and inscriptions as they relate to doctrine and meditation sheds light on aspects of early Mahayana Buddhism in China. For instance, the Buddha-images that appear in the Buddha's halo are linked to visualization practices centered on the dharmakaya; and the celestial beings that appear in the light around the Buddha's body stem from early practices involving the visualization of the pure land. In addition, the "Buddhas of the Ten Directions" on the ceiling of the crypt are the earliest example of the practice of meditational exercises discussed by Kumarajiva.
Analysis of Amitabha Crypt not only reveals much about Cave No.169 at Ping-ling Monastery, it also touches on a number of issues in early Chinese Buddhist doctrine, meditation. and pure land history and art. In addition, the crypt provides information on the relationship between Central Asia, northwestern China, and the Central Plains during the period when Buddhism spread to China from India.
