莫高窟前史新探 ─ 宕泉河流域漢晉遺跡的歷史意義=A New Study on the Prehistory of the Mogao Grottoes - The Historical Meaning of the Han and Jin Dynasties Ruins at the Basin of the Dangquan River
People have been active at the basin of the Dangquan River, near which the Mogao Grottoes site is located, since the Han dynasty. In the Western Jin period the earliest Buddhist architecture of Dunhuang, the Xianyan Temple, was built there, which testifies to the route by which Buddhism was disseminated from India and Central Asia into China. As the place where Dharmaraksa translated Mahayana Buddhist scriptures, this river basin can be regarded as the cradle of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, and as the earliest place for practicing Buddhist meditation in China, as it is recorded in ancient documents that Master Tan You "trained his mind and finally achieved great accomplishments" with the dhyana sutras translated by Dharmaraksa.
