This paper examines the Dunhuang material on a stupa type associated with King A oka from a broader perspective and relates this information to stupas known in other parts of China that have a single story with a domed roof and typically also having protrusions standing at the four corners of the roof that resemble acroteria in Western architecture. This type can be subdivided into several categories, including reliquary stupas,King A oka stupas, funerary stupas, commemorative stupas, and auspicious stupa manifestations. It concludes that these stupa forms in China are related to ideas and images from a wide variety of cultures and religions, and that it is difficult to assign them to any particular precedents on the Indian subcontinent or to any single point of origin because of the complexity of cultural interaction. Instead, they can be understood as the products of different historical periods and groups of people over many centuries, and their meanings changed over time.
