An Esoteric Buddhist Site Discovered at Anxi County

A site, said to have been an esoteric Buddhist mandala altar, has been found in Anxi County, Gansu Province. Dated to the Tangut period, this newly discovered site of Tibetan Buddhism is a rare example of the remains of the same kind. Located at the Gobi desert north of the riverbank of the Shule River, the site has a square configuration, with each side of the wall measuring approximately 140 meters. There is a circular altar in the middle, with a parameter of 49.3 meters, in the north of which is built a square-shaped altar, about 0.18 meter high. The latter, via a tunnel, is connected to another circular altar that is three meters further north. By the north wall of the outer city thirty raised earth mounds have been found, each 0.2 meter in height and fifteen by each side of the north city gate.

   Objects found within the site include shards of Blue and White as well as black-glazed ceramics. As well, some men-made wooden pegs have been unearthed. Some experts have posited, on the basis of the site’s configuration, scale, and construction techniques, that the site presents a remain left over from a large scale Buddhist ceremony performed by high monks of Tibetan Buddhism during either the Tangut, Yuan, Ming, or Qing period. Sites of the similar kind made their first appearance in India. Later China also adopted them for the use of Buddhist rituals. Texts suggest that conventionally an esoteric altar be demolished after the associated ritual activities, making it extremely rare to find such site. This newly discovered esoteric Buddhist site thus possesses unassailable value in archaeological studies. 

   By any standard, whether its large scale, unique configuration, well designed structure, or its relative good preservation condition (especially its central core area), this site can be viewed as the only surviving open-air remain of the same sort in China.