The caves carved in a Uyghur style in Kucha took shape when the Uyghur people migrated to Kuche in the 9 th century and began to absorb Chinese culture via the Central Plains. When Kucha was under the control of the Grand Anxi Frontier Command, the Buddhism of the local Uyghur people came under the influence of both local Buddhist customs and Buddhist thought introduced from the Central Plains, namely Mahāyāna Buddhism. It was especially influenced by esoteric Buddhism( Tantra), which directly resulted in illustrations of Naraka appearing in the caves of Kucha. In addition, paintings in the styles of the Uyghur, Kizil, and Han Chinese people coexisted and mixed in the creation of the caves, which verifies that the Uyghur style observable at Kucha synthesized both local Kizil and Han Chinese styles with its own aesthetic tradition.
