BuddhistRoadPaper 5.6 "Light on ‘Art in the Dark’: On Buddhist Practice and Worship in the Mogao Caves"

A critical reassessment of Robert Sharf's controversial thesis on the Mogao Caves challenges the notion that these Buddhist sites were purely memorial or funerary spaces, arguing instead for their active role in worship and ritual practice. The study scrutinizes Sharf's evidence and speculations, which suggest caves like Mogao were left in darkness to serve as ancestral memorials rather than places of living religious activity. By analyzing cave-art and ritual practices across the Sinitic cultural sphere, this paper aims to clarify the true purpose and function of these sites, with implications for understanding Buddhist ritual traditions and cave-art interpretation.

Sørensen, H. H. (2022). BuddhistRoadPaper 5.6 “Light on ‘Art in the Dark’: On Buddhist Practice and Worship in the Mogao Caves”. BuddhistRoad Papers. https://doi.org/10.46586/rub.br.200.177