Tuyoq Caves: Illustration of the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya

CHINA, Xinjiang, Turpan

According to the British explorer Aurel Stein, this painting was found by an expedition team in the remains of a Buddhist temple near the Tuyoq Caves in the Uighur city of Turpan. It is thought to be a depiction of the tonsure ceremony of King Sankha described in the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya.
In the center of the lower register, there is an octagonal pyramidal roof. On the left side of the picture, a kneeling figure holds a tray to catch the hair of a man whose head is being shaved. Above, two figures sit with their palms joined. Four kneeling figures on the right also join their palms. The blank faces of the figures indicate that the painting was a draft.