The stone cave temples of the oasis city of Kucha in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region were decorated in the 6th to 7th centuries with paintings in that region's own unique style. But with the arrival of the 8th to 9th centuries, these temples, particularly the Kumtura caves, came to be decorated in Chinese Buddhist painting styles. Past scholarship has held that there was a hiatus between these two styles, and that this change was brought about by a shift in those involved in the cave construction and in the painters themselves. But, was there actually a division between these two styles? This article aims to clarify the actual conditions that existed in the period of stylistic change as new painting styles were brought into the Kucha region. How did the Iranian descent peoples who were the earlier residents of this region absorb paintings in the newly transplanted Chinese Buddhist style, and how is this reflected in the wall paintings of the caves? Further, how did the Chinese peoples blend their new styles with the existing styles and subject matter, and what actually was the new style that was brought in by the Chinese peoples? The Chinese style that appeared in the Kucha region, in terms of both subject matter and style, was nothing other than the typical High Tang style of painting. The Tang dynasty's control of this region was intimately linked to the establishment of this style in the Kucha region. In terms of subject matter, the style is characterized by Mahayana Buddhist large scale illustrations, Thousand Buddha images, individual deities as objects of worship, and memorial images of Chinese individuals. While Chinese Buddhist style paintings became fixed in the Kucha region with the stabilization of Tang rule over the region in the latter half of the 8 th century, there existed an earlier transitional period that saw a mixture of both regional and Tang styles and subject matter. Indeed, among the temple wall paintings thought to have been painted in the Chinese style we can find a not inconsiderable number of works that take up the same subject matter as seen in earlier wall paintings created in the region's own distinct style. Examples of the subject matter depicted by both styles can be found in images of the Buddha Preaching, Parinirvana scenes, images of the Life of the Buddha, the Attack of Mara, and the Bodhisattva Maitreya with Attendants, the Bodhisattva Maitreya in the Tushita Heaven. The depiction of these subjects in the wall paintings created in the Chinese painting style might indicate that the Chinese painters who came to the region created works that followed the region's traditional subjects, forms, and painting compositions. However, a comparison with paintings in the region's own style shows that the Buddha Preaching image from the ceiling of cave 43 at Kumtura reveals a fleshier expression of bodily forms, a more refined expression, and a more complex palette. These elements are all completely different from the regional style, and thus we can say that the painters of this region created this work with some knowledge of the Chinese painting style. If we consider that many of the painting subjects from the Kucha region's own painting style remained in the first stage of the introduction of Chinese styles into the Kumtura cave temples, shouldn't we then conclude that the earlier scholarly opinion that the Kucha regional style ended around the 7th century is false, and that the style actually continued until around the 8th century? We cannot reasonably believe that the changeover in the personnel involved in the work in the cave temples happened at such a rapid pace.
