Dragon In A Lake

Qocho kingdom, 11th c. AD
Cave 31, Bezeklik Grottoes, Xinjiang

The pyramidal mountains that surround this lake would have been at home, stylistically, in the Han dynasty of 1,000 years earlier. It is the unity and details of the composition - fenced trees are planted in embankments that surround the pond, blocking the mountains in the distance - that helps to confirm the much later date of this painting.

Bezeklik was ruled from 850 by the Buddhist Uighur state of Qocho, eventually passing into the hands of Genghis Khan in 1209.