Traces of the Sarvāstivādins in the Buddhist Monasteries of Kucha by Vignato Giuseppe and Satomi 
Hiyama, is a remarkable contribution to recent scholarship on the cave temple complex at Kucha. The authors’ field survey records and their systematic compilation of research by German scholars for a century hold significant academic value. Based on the layout, function, principal statues, and wall decorations of both free-standing temples and cave temples, combined with Buddhist doctrines, the authors classifiy Kucha’s cave temples and free-standing temples into two major traditions: A and B. Taking the “Tradition A” Buddhist remains, represented by square caves with domed or coffered ceilings, as the center, and using Sarvāstivāda thought as the thread, the study deduces that this type of cave temple has the attributes of the Hinayāna Sarvāstivāda. This paper contends that there is no conclusive evidence for attributing “Tradition A” caves exclusively to the Hinayāna Sarvāstivāda school. It argues that nearly half of the maṭapas in the Kucha region cannot be classified as purely Hinayāna Sarvāstivāda and should instead be understood as the outcome of the long-term coexistence of Hinayāna and Mahāyāna Buddhism.