Chan practice, summer retreat, and winter retreat of Uyghur Buddhists as seen from old Uyghur practitioner inscriptions

Like pilgrims, Uyghur Buddhist practitioners also left inscriptions at various Buddhist sites during the 10th to the 14th centuries; for the most part, these have been ignored or mistaken for pilgrim inscriptions. Since the practices and general life of Uyghur monks are still not clear, due to a lack of written records, the practitioner inscriptions, though fragmentary and rare, contain highly valuable data. These inscriptions provide evidence of the practice of Chan Buddhism (Chin. chanzong 禪宗) and the annual monastic retreat of the Uyghur Buddhists. In addition to a summer retreat, some Uyghur monks also participated in a winter retreat, just like the monks in Dunhuang (敦煌). However, many Uyghur monks did not last for the full three months required by Buddhist teaching.