The Silk Road: a New History with Documents
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
The Expeditions to Tocharistan*
HANNES A. FELLNER The Expeditions to Tocharistan* I have been in love many times, but Asia remained my bride. She has held me captive in her cold embrace, and out of jealousy would never let me love any other. And I have been faithful to her, that is certain. Sven Hedin Introduction Tocharian studies within Indo-European linguistics seem compared to the studies of other branches of the Indo-European family to suffer from a little underdevelopment. One of the * I would like to express my gratitude to my teacher, Melanie Malzahn, for her patience, generosity and encouragement as well as for her very helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Tocharian just like the Anatolian branch of Indo-European was dis- covered only at the beginning of the 20th century. Consequently, the study on both branches lacks a research tradition reaching back hun- dreds of years like it was the case with Sanskrit, Ancient Greek or Latin. But it is to emphasize that in this respect Anatolian was some- what more fortunate than Tocharian. Assyriology provided methods and experiences in the investigation of a cuneiform language like Hit- tite. The Hittites were also known from a lot of very important and diverse sources like the Old Testament and Ancient Egyptian records, so there was a more general interest for research in this language from very different fields right from the beginning. After the decipherment and proof that Hittite is an Indo-European language, KuryLowicz showed that it was possible to trace some of the Hittite (_) signs back to Saussure’s “coefficients sonantiques” and as a consequence at least some of the Indo-European scholars at that time recognized the im- portance of this branch immediately. -
Informed Textual Practices?
INFORMED TEXTUAL PRACTICES? INFORMED TEXTUAL PRACTICES? A STUDY OF DUNHUANG MANUSCRIPTS OF CHINESE BUDDHIST APOCRYPHAL SCRIPTURES WITH COLOPHONS By RUIFENG CHEN, B.Ec., M.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University © by Ruifeng Chen, September 2020 McMaster University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2020) Hamilton, Ontario (Religious Studies) TITLE: Informed Textual Practices? A Study of Dunhuang Manuscripts of Chinese Buddhist Apocryphal Scriptures with Colophons AUTHOR: Ruifeng Chen B.Ec. (Zhejiang Normal University) M.A. (Zhejiang Normal University) SUPERVISOR: Professor James A. Benn, Ph.D. NUMBER OF PAGES: xv, 342 ii ABSTRACT Taking Buddhist texts with colophons copied at Dunhuang (4th–10th century C.E.) as a sample, my dissertation investigates how local Buddhists used Chinese Buddhist apocrypha with respect to their contents, and whether they employed these apocrypha differently than translated Buddhist scriptures. I demonstrate that not all of the practices related to Buddhist scriptures were performed simply for merit in general or that they were conducted without awareness of scriptures’ contents. Among both lay Buddhist devotees and Buddhist professionals, and among both common patrons and highly-ranking officials in medieval Dunhuang, there were patrons and users who seem to have had effective approaches to the contents of texts, which influenced their preferences of scriptures and specific textual practices. For the patrons that my dissertation has addressed, apocryphal scriptures did not necessarily meet their needs more effectively than translated scriptures did. I reached these arguments through examining three sets of Buddhist scriptures copied in Dunhuang manuscripts with colophons. -
A Study of Ancient Paper Fragments from an Eastern Han Dynasty Tomb in Minfeng County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Xiaocen Li, Jinlong Guo, Bo Wang
A Study of Ancient Paper Fragments from an Eastern Han Dynasty Tomb in Minfeng County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Xiaocen Li, Jinlong Guo, Bo Wang To cite this version: Xiaocen Li, Jinlong Guo, Bo Wang. A Study of Ancient Paper Fragments from an Eastern Han Dynasty Tomb in Minfeng County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Chinese Cultural Relics, Eastview Press, 2016, pp.366-370. hal-03221031 HAL Id: hal-03221031 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03221031 Submitted on 10 May 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Archaeology of Science and Technology A Study of Ancient Paper Fragments from an Eastern Han Dynasty Tomb in Minfeng County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Xiaocen Li Professor, Research Center for Science, Technology and Civilization, University of Science and Technology, Beijing Jinlong Guo Associate Research Fellow, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum Bo Wang Research Fellow, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum n 1959, a joint husband-and-wife burial in the area of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. dating to the Eastern Han Dynasty was The first was when British archaeologist Sir Marc uncovered in the Taklamakhan Desert Aurel Stein unearthed from an undated context two north of Minfeng County, Xinjiang Uygur paper fragments with writing in Lop Nur [a dried AutonomousI Region. -
Mar 5 – Jun 12 2016
MAR 5 – JUN 12 2016 PRESS Press Contact Rachel Eggers Manager of Public Relations [email protected] RELEASE 206.654.3151 FEBRUARY 25, 2016 JOURNEY TO DUNHUANG: BUDDHIST ART OF THE SILK ROAD CAVES OPENS AT ASIAN ART MUSEUM MAR 5 See the wonders of China’s Dunhuang Caves—a World Heritage site—through the eyes of photojournalists James and Lucy Lo March 5–June 12, 2016 SEATTLE, WA – The Asian Art Museum presents Journey to Dunhuang: Buddhist Art of the Silk Road Caves, an exhibition featuring photographs, ancient manuscripts, and artist renderings of the sacred temple caves of Dunhuang. Selected from the collection of photojournalists James and Lucy Lo, the works are a treasure trove of Buddhist art that reveal a long-lost world. Located at China’s western frontier, the ancient city of Dunhuang lay at the convergence of the northern and southern routes of the Silk Road—a crossroads of the civilizations of East Asia, Central Asia, and the Western world. From the late fourth century until the decline of the Silk Road in the fourteenth century, Dunhuang was a bustling desert oasis—a center of trade and pilgrimage. The original “melting pot” of China, it was a gateway for new forms of art, culture, and religions. The nearly 500 caves found there tell an almost seamless chronological tale of their history, preserving the stories of religious devotion throughout various dynasties. During the height of World War II in 1943, James C. M. Lo (1902–1987) and his wife, Lucy, arrived at Dunhuang by horse and donkey-drawn cart. -
Journey to Dunhuang: Buddhist Art of the Silk Road Caves
The Newsletter | No.73 | Spring 2016 56 | The Portrait Journey to Dunhuang: Buddhist art of the Silk Road caves During World War II, James C. M. Lo (1902–1987), a photojournalist for the Central News Agency, and his wife Lucy 劉氏·羅先 arrived at Dunhuang. James Lo had taken a year’s leave to photograph the Buddhist cave temples at Mogao and at nearby Yulin. Lucy was also a photographer, and together they made the arduous journey in 1943. They systematically produced over 2500 black and white photographs that record the caves as they were in the mid-20th century. FOONG Ping 1 2 Seattle Asian Art Museum, Foster Galleries 4 By the end of the Tang dynasty, the cliff face at Mogao was 5 March – 12 June 2016 completely covered with caves. Since no new caves could be Journey to Dunhuang is organized in cooperation opened, donors paid for existing ones to be redecorated and with the Princeton University Art Museum and – and infamous forger – Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), Fig 1 (above their portraits would sometimes be added to the cave walls. the P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art who was at Dunhuang repairing and making replicas of Mogao left): View of the Some Lo photographs document how walls were deeply scored murals. He helped the Los form their collection of manuscript Northern Mogao during renovations, in preparation for a new, smooth surface THE LO PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVE is a feat of ingenuity, fragments and a few carry both their seals. For Zhang, Dunhuang Caves, Photograph of white gaolin clay; to James these scorings formed patterns of organization, and sheer courage. -
The Visit to the Ancient Cities of Turkistan Buried Under Sand*
bilig SUMMER 2021/NUMBER 98 147-163 The Visit to the Ancient Cities of Turkistan Buried Under Sand* Tevfik Orçun Özgün** Abstract In a period when cultural background and geographical characteristics of ancient Turkestan cities became a field of interest for the British, Douglas Forsyth and his team’s journey to the East Turkestan in 1873, aside from its diplomatic and economic purpose, brought efforts to understand and explore Central Asia and East Turkestan more comprehensively. Thus, this visit was turned into a pursuit of cultural traces with the thought of old settlements buried under the sand with a mythical reputation and their sacred treasures. Relationship between the Yakub Beg, ruler of the East Turkestan, and British-Kashgar Khanate was lacking mutual trust during the period of the visit. Despite the inconvenient conditions, treasures and cultural traces gathered thanks to those expeditions carried out in Hotan and its vicinity, increased the academic interest towards the region. Keywords Kashgar Khanate, Douglas Forsyth, ancient cities, East Turkestan, expedition. * Date of Arrival: 28 July 2020 – Date of Acceptance: 05 October 2020 You can refer to this article as follows: Özgün, Tevfik Orçun. “The Visit to the Ancient Cities of Turkistan Buried Under Sand.” bilig, no. 98, 2021, pp. 147-163. ** Dr., Hacettepe University, Institute of Turkish Studies – Ankara/Turkey ORCID: 0000-0003-3796-6098 [email protected] 147 bilig • Özgün, The Visit to the Ancient Cities of Turkistan Buried Under Sand • SUMMER 2021/NUMBER 98 Introduction British visits to Central Asia since 1868 and geographical and commercial expeditions of George Hayward and Bernard Shaw were accelerated with the influence of liberal movement. -
Non-Chinese Influences in Medieval Chinese Manuscript Culture
Non-Chinese Influences in Medieval Chinese Manuscript Culture Imre Galambos Introduction The Chinese script is among the most powerful symbols of Chinese culture, one of the key elements by which the people of China to this day define their national identity. I With a documented history of over three millennia, it lies at the core of the modern vision of historical continuity, and its significance in the formation of a coherent cultural narrative cannot be overstated. Paradoxically, the majority of written witnesses from the country's iconic and quintessentially "national" dynasties, the Tang and the Song, come from the northwestern peripheries of the Chinese domain, from sites such as Dunhuang, Turfan and Khara-khoto. Perhaps the biggest sensation of all was the discovery of the Dunhuang manuscripts at the beginning of the twentieth century in a sealed-off library cave at the Mogao site about 30 km from the city of Dunhuang. Part of their fame was due to the fact that the manuscripts were subsequently utilised in the nationalist movement of the late I920s. Shortly after the discovery of the cave library, the main bulk of the material was purchased by foreign explorers and shipped out of the country, causing leading Chinese intellectuals to join forces in a publicity campaign to prevent the export of cultural artifacts. Partly as a result of this campaign, many artifacts discovered or excavated during the first decades of the century gradually acquired the status of national treasures, with the Dunhuang manuscripts at the top of the list.' The largest collection of Dunhuang manuscripts was assembled by Aurel Stein on two subsequent visits to the cave library in 1907 and 1913. -
1 Marc Aurel Stein Illustrated Rājataraṅgiṇī Together with Eugen
1 Marc Aurel Stein Illustrated Rājataraṅgiṇī Together with Eugen Hultzsch’s Critical Notes and Stein’s Maps 2 Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis Band 6 Herausgegeben von Walter Slaje, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg unter Mitwirkung von Katrin Einicke und Andreas Pohlus 3 Marc Aurel Stein Illustrated Rājataraṅgiṇī Together with Eugen Hultzsch’s Critical Notes and Stein’s Maps Edited by Luther Obrock in Collaboration with Katrin Einicke 4 Luther Obrock is a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on Sanskrit in Kashmir during the Sultanate and Mughal Periods. Katrin Einicke holds a doctorate in Indology. She is a research associate at the Institute for Indology of the University of Halle. Gedruckt mit Mitteln des Indologischen Seminars der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnd.d-nb.de abrufbar. LXXVIII © Universitätsverlag Halle-Wittenberg, Halle an der Saale 2013 Printed in Germany. Alle Rechte, auch die des Nachdrucks von Auszügen, der photomechanischen Wiedergabe und der Übersetzung, vorbehalten. Umschlaggestaltung: Horst Stöllger – pixzicato GmbH, Hannover Satz und Layout: Claudius Naumann ISBN 978-3-86977-077-2 In memoriam Sir Marc Aurel Stein (26. 11. 1862 – 26. 10. 1943) on his 150th birthday Contents Foreword 9 Marc Aurel Stein: Illustrated Rājataraṅgiṇī 15 Prolegomena 17 Appendix I 23 Appendix II 35 Figures 1–47 illustrating Stein’s edition of the Rājataraṅgiṇī 63 Figures 48–82 illustrating Stein’s “Memoirs” 113 Literature and Indices 151 Untraced Photograph 153 Literature Cited 154 Place Names Included by Stein Without Specified Photographs 156 Index of Figures and Citations in Stein’s Rājataraṅgiṇī . -
Medieval China's Buddhist Monasteries, Regardless of Size, Were
foreign gifts to buddhist monasteries rong xinjiang Khotanese Felt and Sogdian Silver: Foreign Gifts to Buddhist Monasteries in Ninth- and Tenth-Century Dunhuang INTRODUCTION edieval China’s Buddhist monasteries, regardless of size, were M |frequently the cultural centers of a given region. Large monas- teries in the Tang capital of Chang’an, such as Hongfu Monastery ؖ ʳduring theڝduring the reign of Taizong, Cien Monastery ს ڝ壂 -ʳduring the reign of emڝreign of Gaozong, Taiyuan Monastery ֜ during the reign of ڝpress Wu, and Da Xingshan Monastery Օᘋ Xuanzong were all cultural centers in the capital. The same holds true -ʳwas a culڝin the Dunhuang region, where Longxing Monastery ᚊᘋ and Sanjie Monastery Կ ,ڠޥ tural center within the city of Shazhou in front of the Mogao Caves ๕ᆌ was a cultural center for the ڝ area outside of the city. Monasteries such as these housed visiting li- terati and erudite monks versed in Buddhist doctrine; they also kept Buddhist, Confucian, and Daoist scriptures as well as literary writings. Since the official government schools remained weak in scope and in- fluence, Buddhist monasteries shouldered the burden of providing basic Confucian instruction.1 They also, to varying degrees, preserved mate- rial wealth in the form of gold and silver utensils, silk banners, paint- ings, murals, images, textiles, and dyes. In short, in medieval times the Buddhist monastery was both a nursery for spiritual cultivation and a repository of material culture. An earlier version of this article appeared in Chinese as “Yutian huazhan yu Sute yin pan, ೃऱڝjiu shi shiji Dunhuang siyuan de wailai gongyang” Պᠤक़ᛋፖᎬᒌԼધཉᅇ ೃತ༄ڝ ؆ࠐࠎ塄, in Hu Suxin ైᤲ (Sarah E. -
Aurel Stein's Aerial Survey of the Roman Empire's Frontier in Iraq And
Exploring frontiers ancient and modern Aurel Stein’s aerial survey of the Roman Empire’s frontier in Iraq and Jordan, 1938—1939 Karen Syrett draws on the British Academy’s archives to tell a pioneering tale © The British Academy The long hot summer of 2018 has been the ancient Roman frontier in what was of great benefit to archaeologists, as the then French-controlled Syria. The Roman extended dry weather revealed evidence frontier (limes in Latin) demarked the ex- of many ancient sites that could then be tent of the Roman Empire – a characteris- clearly seen from the air. Eighty years ago, tically straight road enabled the efficient the veteran explorer and Fellow of the transportation of goods and troops, with British Academy, Sir Aurel Stein, used the small forts (castella) at regular intervals technique of aerial archaeology to survey to provide security against invasion. Stein the borders of the Roman Empire in Iraq determined to continue the work be- and Transjordan. gun by Poidebard by tracing the limes in Born in Hungary in 1862, Stein came to British-controlled Iraq and Transjordan. England in 1884 to study oriental languag- Aerial reconnaissance revealed remains es and archaeology, and became a British that were not always visible at ground lev- citizen in 1904. From 1900 to 1930, he con- el, thus enabling Stein to achieve in weeks ducted major expeditions to Central Asia, what would normally have taken years. and is perhaps best known for his discov- Before the survey could begin, Stein need- ery of the Mogao Caves on the Silk Road ed to garner the support of various agen- Karen Syrett has been the British near Dunhuang. -
The Tribute Trade with Khotan in Light of Materials Found at the Dunhuang Library Cave
The Tribute Trade with Khotan in Light of Materials Found at the Dunhuang Library Cave V ALERIE HANSEN yale university, new haven Historians have long been interested in the Chi- one jade tablet and one box.”3 This is but one of nese tributary system because of its importance a dozen instances on which Khotanese envoys to understanding China’s relations with other brought tribute to the Chinese between 938 and countries—both in the past and today. Many of 1009.4 In each case, the Chinese sources record today’s intractable foreign policy issues had their the date, the name of the country presenting trib- roots in the tribute system. One has only to think ute, the item presented, and occasionally the of Tibet—was it a part of China during the Qing name of the emissary heading the delegation. dynasty? independent? something in between?— None of these sources, though, records how the to grasp the importance of the topic. participants viewed these exchanges. Nor do we Most studies of the tribute system have focused learn what they received in return for their gifts. on periods like the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) For this information, we must look to the Chi- when China was united and its weaker neigh- nese- and Khotanese-language documents pre- bors presented gifts to the emperor in the capital. served in the library cave of Dunhuang (cave 17 Northwest China in the ninth and tenth centu- according to the numbering in use today) and ries offers a promising comparison because the taken to the United Kingdom, France, and Russia Tang central government, ravaged by the costs of in the early years of the twentieth century. -
Overview of Paper and Papermaking in Xinjiang, China1
Z Badań nad Książką i Księgozbiorami Historycznymi 2020, t. 14, z. 3 The Studies into the History of the Book and Book Collections 2020, vol. 14, no. 3 www.bookhistory.uw.edu.pl http://doi.org/10.33077/uw.25448730.zbkh Mengling Cai School of Information Resource Management, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China [email protected] 0000-0002-4248-0853 Overview of paper and papermaking in Xinjiang, China1 Abstract: Papermaking in Xinjiang has a long history beginning during the Han Dynasty, to which a good many ancient documents excavated there bear witness. As an important trans- mitter of culture along the Silk Road, paper bears the imprint of the historical development of Xinjiang. Paper and papermaking techniques in Xinjiang are therefore of great historical and cultural importance. This article gives an overview of the development of traditional paper- making in Xinjiang, especially the mulberry papermaking in the Hotan area, by presenting its history, the raw materials used, papermaking and processing techniques, usages and the revival of handmade mulberry paper today in order to demonstrate its diverse values. Key words: mulberry paper, history, papermaking technique, Uighur minority. 1 A Major Planning Project in Social Science at Renmin University of China: “Arrangement, excavation and urgent conservation of documents from the Western Regions (Xiyu Wenxian Zhengli, Wajue Yu Qiangjiuxing Baohu)”, project number: 20XNLG06. „Z Badań nad Książką i Księgozbiorami Historycznymi” – Udział zagranicznych recenzentów w ocenie publikacji; Stworzenie anglojęzycznej wersji wydawniczej publikacji; Digitalizacja tomów archiwalnych rocznika w celu zapewnienia otwartego dostępu do nich przez Internet oraz wdrożenie i utrzymanie cyfrowej platformy redakcyjnej – zadanie finansowane w ramach umowy nr 653/P-DUN/2019 ze środków Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego przeznaczonych na działalność upowszechniającą naukę.