Review & Analysis
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Chinese Social Sciences Today Review & Analysis THURSDAY DECEMBER 26 2019 5 edge. As scholars write papers or The Mogao Caves, part of the monographs today, they might col- Dunhuang Grottoes, are situated Dunhuang studies renowned lect lots of historical materials, but on the eastern slope of the Mingsha only a few, perhaps merely a tiny Mountain 25 kilometers southeast part of the collected materials, will the center of Dunhuang. From the globally for unique history be applied to their works. 4th to 14th centuries, people carved After a long course, historical caves and built Buddha statues here books like the Twenty-Four Histo- continuously, bringing into being a ries and Comprehensive Mirrorr group of grottoes spanning about DUNHUANG STUDIES to Aid in Government have been 1,700 meters from south to north. passed down, but not original ar- Now the Mogao Caves are gener- By LIU JINBAO chives. Moreover, most of the histor- ally divided into the southern and ical documents were outlines due to northern sections and composed In the global academic community, historians’ varying knowledge, talent of 735 caves. The 487 caves at the Dunhuang studies is distinguished and morals, in addition to their posi- southern section were places of among research areas that are tions and political preferences, the pilgrimage and worship, with more named after places. Today, Dun- ruler’s ideology, and restrictions on than 2,400 painted statues, more huang is simply a county-level genre, format and length. than 45,000 square meters of mu- city in northwestern China. It is For example, the equal-field sys- rals, and five wood-structure eaves incomparable to domestic me- tem, or land equalization system, from the Tang and Song dynasties tropolises such as Beijing, Shanghai a system of land ownership and (907–1279). The 248 caves in the and Guangzhou, not to mention distribution practiced from the north were living quarters, medita- international cities such as London, Northern Wei to mid-Tang dynas- tion chambers, and burial sites for Paris and Tokyo. However, there is ties (485–780), was briefly outlined monks. Inside were facilities for no London studies, Paris studies, in such books as The Old Book of practice and living, such as earthen Beijing studies or Guangzhou stud- Tang, The New Book of Tang and beds, cooking pits, flues, niches and ies in the world. Why is Dunhuang Comprehensive Mirrorr to Aid in lamp stands, and most of the caves so special as to entitle an area of Government. The lack of specific had no painted statues or murals. research all by itself and to draw at- content raised doubts among later It is not an accident that such tention from all over the world? historians whether the system was magnificent cave arts were created in ever implemented or not. Dunhuang, a border prefecture in the Unique status Manuscripts discovered in west of China then. They are the re- Dunhuang attracts the attention of Dunhuang, which were original sult of a combination of various fac- the world for its uniqueness. With- documents neither processed nor tors. The culture of the Central Plains out the Dunhuang Grottoes, few changed by later generations, con- started to accumulate in Dunhuang international organizations, or even A scholar digitizes a Dunhuang manuscript. Photo: WIKIPEDIA tained details of the equal-field sys- in the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220), China’s general public, would know There were many routes from the and East-West cultural exchanges tem, such as land granting, return particularly in the Wei and Jin dy- the city. And without Dunhuang capital Chang’an, present-day Xi’an has endowed Dunhuang with condi- and default. Regarding land return, nasties (220–420) when cultural studies, few global scholars would in Shaanxi Province, to Dunhuang. tions worthy of detailed study. detailed stipulations were provided exchanges between China and the know it so deeply. After entering the Western Regions saying that land should be returned West prospered. As the throat of the The geographic location of Dun- from Dunhuang, there were the Incomparable academic value when one grew old, got married or Silk Road, Dunhuang was the first to huang determines its special histori- northern, central and southern The distinctive status of Dun- died. be exposed to the cultures and arts of cal status. During the Han and Tang lines, all of which Dunhuang served huang determined its crucial role in By studying and interpreting these Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia dynasties (206 BCE–907), it was the as a mouth. Therefore it was a nexus ancient China, yet the emergence documents, we have learnt that the and Europe, so that Buddhist arts “throat” of the Silk Road, and the Silk for exchanges between the East and of Dunhuang studies and its far- system was indeed carried out. and cultures took root here. Road was the major route for China’s the West. reaching influence should be attrib- The Dunhuang manuscripts are Dunhuang arts are Buddhist arts foreign contact for a long period. Because Dunhuang was the throat uted to the discovery of invaluable so wide-ranging that they are called that originated from India and were Over the thousand years during of the Silk Road and the hub for manuscripts. an “Academic Ocean” or “Encyclo- introduced to China via Central Asia. the Han-Tang era, northern China East-West communication, the Han In 1900, Taoist priest and abbot pedia of Medieval China.” Though Thus there are necessarily many was the economic center of the Empire set up the Yumen Pass and Wang Yuanlu, who was a self-ap- found in Dunhuang, they are by traces of Indian and Central Asian country, while the political hub lay Yangguan Pass to the west of the pointed caretaker of the Dunhuang no means merely local documents arts in the Dunhuang Grottoes. For in the northwest. The Silk Road in critical prefecture, exercising control Grottoes, discovered the “Library about the city. They are national. example, the Mogao Caves are an the west was the thoroughfare for over the East-West travel of mer- Cave,” or No. 17 Cave, which housed Not only were they transcribed in integration of architecture, mural external exchanges. chants. more than 50,000 volumes of Dunhuang, but many were brought and sculpture arts. Regarding the During the reign of Emperor Via Dunhuang on the Silk Road, Chinese medieval manuscripts of to Dunhuang after being transcribed murals alone, they portray ethnic Wu of Han (141–87 BCE), around exotic species and cultures were various fields. The documents were in Chang’an, Luoyang, and even groups and all walks of life in China the time when the military general introduced to China, including mostly Buddhist, alongside Taoist, southern China. The manuscripts from multiple perspectives, such as Huo Qubing defeated the Xiongnu products like grapes, alfalfa, wal- Nestorian and Manichean records. reflect not only local history and productive labor, customs and rites; nomadic confederation and the dip- nuts, flax, broad beans, cucumbers Apart from religious manuscripts, the culture of Dunhuang but also emperors, generals and ministers; lomat Zhang Qian was dispatched and pomegranates; religions such as there were also materials spanning national history and culture. Besides noble women; traveling merchants; on missions to the Western Regions, Zoroastrianism, Nestorianism and politics, economics, military, geog- Chinese manuscripts, there are San- tributary envoys received at court; the Prefecture-County system was Manicheism; and arts such as West- raphy, linguistics, literature, music, skrit, Sogdian, Syrian and Hebrew ethnic relations; music and dance; replicated in modern-day Hexi Cor- ern music, painting and sculpture. dancing, astronomy, mathematics documents mirroring the histories garments and accessories; astrono- ridor in Gansu Province after the in- In the meantime, Chinese silk and medicine, among other fields. and cultures of other countries. They my and geography; and health care. land. It established Wuwei, Zhangye, and silk fabrics, steel and smelt- The Dunhuang manuscripts have are excellent materials for under- That is why the French called them a Jiuquan and Dunhuang prefectures, ing techniques, as well as exquisite incomparable academic value be- standing and researching world his- library on a wall. which were dubbed the “Four Pre- handicrafts like lacquerware, bronze cause in the Chinese historiographi- tory and cultures. The Dunhuang Grottoes crystal- fectures of Hexi.” mirrors and porcelain were brought cal tradition, it was later generations ize the Buddhist arts. In addition to At the time, Dunhuang Prefecture via Dunhuang to the north and that wrote the history of the previ- Colorful cave arts Buddhism, there are many other ruled six counties, namely Dun- south of the Tianshan Mountains in ous dynasty, rather than contempo- Apart from its special geographic themes. The glassware discovered on huang, Ming’an, Xiaogu, Yuanquan, Xinjiang and Central Asia, and they raries compiling the history of the location and encyclopedic manu- a mural exemplifies the artistic style Guangzhi and Longle, including spread to Europe via Central Asia. current dynasty. scripts, the grottoes have also con- of Sassanian Persia, based on which today’s Dunhuang City, Guazhou Later the papermaking, printing and In this tradition, historians usually tributed to Dunhuang’s prominent one could carry out a study on the County, Yumen City, the Kazak Au- gunpowder of the Four Great Inven- extracted, analyzed and explained status in global academia. In this re- making of glassware in West Asia. tonomous County of Aksay and part tions of China were also exported to official records from the previous gard, it is unrivaled by regional stud- of the Subei Mongolian Autono- the West via this route. dynasty based on the ruler’s order ies such as Tangut studies, Huizhou Liu Jinbao is vice chairman of the mous County.