Guāzhōu

Guazhou is an oasis district in the western Hexi Corridor, between the desert routes leading to Dunhuang and the eastern garrisons. Irrigation from the Shule River sustained cultivation beside the caravan road. South of the oasis, Buddhist caves were cut into the cliffs of the Yulin River gorge. Their paintings and sculptures grew over many centuries, from the Tang through the Western Xia and Yuan, reflecting the different peoples and religious traditions that met along the corridor.

Mongol rule brought Guazhou into the Yuan realm, but in 1292 people from Guazhou and Shazhou were moved east to the Ganzhou area. Under the Ming, the forts and pastures west of Jiayuguan were contested by several powers. As the frontier shifted and traffic changed, the older walled settlements of the oasis declined. The Yulin caves continued to serve as places of worship, and their paintings preserve a record of the region's Buddhist patrons and artistic connections.