Talk by Dr. Wang Rui, Beijing Palace Museum.
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Royce Hall 314
The Huola Mountain Site is located at Qigexing Town, Yanqi County, Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. It lies in the northern piedmont of the Huola Mountain of the Tianshan Mountains, 23 kilometers away from the renowned Qigexing Buddhist Temple Site (formerly known as Karashahr). In 2009, a 10 square metre painting on lime plaster was found at this site and transferred to the storage of the prefecture Museum at Korla.
In this talk, Dr. Wang Rui argues that the painting was an example of Manichaean art of the Uyghur Court from the 9th -10th Centuries. As the head of an archaeological team that have carried out excavation and research at Huola Mountain from 2024 to 2026, she has confirmed that the site covers approximately 600,000 square meters, including six building foundations and two stupas. It is also enclosed by five other defensive terraces and a fort on its eastern, southern and western sides of the site.
Dr. Wang Rui is a senior researcher of the Dept. of Archaeology in the Palace Museum, Beijing. She has published on the Carving Rocks of Kongwangshan in Jiangsu province and the Rite of Eight Deities from the Warring States Period to the Qin and Han dynasties.
Sponsor(s): Center for Chinese Studies, Center for Global Antiquity