have existed apart from Buddhism.[471] Caves
decorated for Buddhist worship are found not only in the Tarim basin
but at Tun-huang on the frontier of China proper, near Ta-t'ung-fu in
northern Shensi, and in the defile of Lung-men in the province of
Ho-nan. The general scheme and style of these caves are similar, but
while in the last two, as in most Indian caves, the figures and
ornaments are true sculpture, in the caves of Tun-huang and the Tarim
not only is the wall prepared for frescoes, but even the figures are
executed in stucco. This form of decoration was congenial to Central
Asia for the images which embellished the temple walls were moulded in
the same fashion. Temples and caves were sometimes combined, for
instance at Bazaklik where many edifices were erected on a terrace in
front of a series of caves excavated in a mountain corner. Few
roofed buildings are well preserved but it seems certain that some
were high quadrilateral structures, crowned by a dome of a shape found
in Persia, and that others had barrel-shaped roofs, apparently
resembling the chaityas of Ter and Chezarla.[472] Le Coq states that
this type of architecture is also found in Persia.[473] The commonest
type of temple was a hall having at its further end a cella, with a
passage behind to allow of circumambulation. Such halls were
frequently enlarged by the addition of side rooms and sometimes a
shrine was enclosed by several rectangular courts.[474]

Many stupas have been found either by themselves or in combination
with other buildings. The one which is best preserved (or at any rate
reproduced in greatest detail)[475] is the Stupa of Rawak. It is set
in a quadrangle bounded by a wall which was ornamented on both its
inner and outer face by a series of gigantic statues in coloured
stucco. The dome is set upon a rectangular base disposed in three
stories and this arrangement is said to characterize all the stupas of
Turkestan as well as those of the Kabul valley and adjacent regions.

This architecture appears to owe nothing to China but to include both
Indian (especially Gandharan) and Persian elements. Many of its
remarkable features, if not common elsewhere, are at least widely
scattered. Thus some of the caves at Ming-Oi have dome-like roofs
ornamented with a pattern composed of squares within squares, set at
an angle with each other. A similar ornamentation is reported from
Pandrenthan in Kashmir and from Bamian.[476]

The antiquities