was a serious issue, several of the international donors initiated an British Library Symposium on “The inadequately funded, poorly- managed, and characteristically Kingdom of Khotan to AD 1000: A trickle-down Poverty Alleviation Program, which proclaimed at its Meeting of Cultures” inception in 1994 that by 2000 it would reduce those living below the Richard Salomon poverty line to 10%; instead a World University of Washington, Bank survey conducted in 1998 Seattle classified more than 35% of the population as living below the An important scholarly meeting on Niya site dovetailed with Richard poverty line, and in 2002 two the archaeology, literature, Salomon’s discussion of the respected specialists on pro-poverty languages, history and culture of documents discovered there. economic growth have questioned ancient Khotan took place at the Historical and cultural relations the efficacy of a recently created British Library, London, on May 10 between Khotan and its Tibetan and poverty program. and 11, 2004. The symposium, Chinese neighbors were reflected in A few of the international donor organized by Ursula Sims-Williams the presentations by Tsuguhito agencies have intruded even in and Susan Whitfield, was held in Takeuchi and Hiroshi Kumamoto, and Mongolian government decision- conjunction with the library’s Klaus Wille’s paper authoritatively making. When Mongolian officials did spectacular special exhibit on “The summarized the extent and variety not abide by the policies prescribed Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and of the finds of Indian Buddhist by a particular agency, its repre- Faith” (May 7 to September 12, literature in Khotan and adjoining sentatives would sometimes 2004). Thirteen prominent scholars regions of the southern Tarim Basin. suspend aid that had already been from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Finally, special presentations pledged. This was a strange way of Switzerland, United Kingdom, and were given by Franz Grenet, promoting democracy and autonomy the United States presented regarding the Sogdian community in for a country that had been illustrated lectures on such diverse the silk road regions, and by Prods dominated by China for three topics as art history, numismatics, Oktor Skjærvø. The latter was the centuries and by the U.S.S.R. for geography, recent archaeological self-described “Alpha and Omega” of seventy years. How can Mongolian explorations, folk legends, historical the symposium, who with char- government officials develop chronology, and manuscript studies. acteristic vigor and energy gave both independence if several of the (See the full list of presenters and the opening and concluding lectures, international donor agencies, on lecture titles at the end of this presenting fascinating glimpses of occasion, dictate policy? article.) The audience consisted, in the literature and folklore of Khotan. addition to the participants All in all, the symposium was a great In short, international visitors and themselves, of some forty invited success. All of the speakers pre- consultants have often provided a guests, many from abroad. Many sented new and original data and rosy portrait of Mongolia in the post- specimens of the types of materials interpretations, demonstrating the communist era. Observers who — manuscripts, paintings, coins, vitality of the study of Khotan and the travel outside the capital city have a textiles, and the like — that were other related cultures of the Silk Road less sanguine view. discussed in the lectures were also regions. represented in the accompanying exhibits, which had the effect of About the Author vividly bringing to life the Lectures in order of presentation presentations about the world of Morris Rossabi has written Khubilai Khotan. Prof. P.O. Skjærvø (Harvard Uni- Khan, Voyager from Xanadu, and Several of the many interesting versity): Khotan between other books on Inner Asia. He has presentations complemented each Iran and China — Legends contributed to “Legacy of Genghis other, for example Joe Cribb’s lecture on the Silk Road. Khan,” an exhibition that opened at on the historical and numismatic the Metropolitan Museum of Art and context of early Khotanese coins and J. Cribb (British Museum): The Sino- will be on display at the Los Angeles Helen Wang’s addressing broader Kharosthi coins from Yotkan. County Museum of Art from mid-April issues of the monetary system of to mid-July of 2003. In 2003 and Khotan. Similarly, Christoph Baumer’s Dr. C. Baumer (Hergiswil, Switz- 2004, he will publish two books, one illustrated description of his recent erland): 1998 expedition to on China’s national minorities and expedition to Dandan Uiliq Dandan-Uiliq. one on post-communist Mongolia. complemented Madhuvanti Ghose’s re-evaluation of the murals found in Dr. M Ghose (Ashmolean Museum, earlier excavations at the same site, Oxford): A reappraisal of the while Mariner Padwa’s insightful iconography of the murals at lecture on residential patterns in the Dandan-Uiliq. 38 M. Padwa (Harvard University): The Geography of the Niya Oasis: Guidelines for Contributors a comparison of textual and archaeological evidence. We welcome contributions, which may be submitted either to the Silkroad Foundation at its address in California, or, better, sent directly to the current Prof. F. Grenet (École Pratique des editor of The Silk Road: Hautes Études, Paris): Samarkand to Xi’an: the Prof. Daniel C. Waugh Sogdian self-image (evening Department of History Box 353560 public lecture). Smith Hall 315, University of Washington Seattle, Wa. 98195 USA Prof. M. Maggi (University of Naples): e-mail: [email protected] The Book of Vimalakirti and fax: 206-543-9451; tel.: 206-543-5790 (msg.); 616-8408 (direct) Buddhism in Khotan [can- (Be sure to indicate Prof. Waugh’s name on any faxes.) celled due to illness]. The normal publication schedule is two issues a year, appearing in June and Dr. K. Wille (Akademie der Wis- December. It is desirable, therefore, that material be received no later than senchaften zu Göttingen): early May for the June issue, and early November for the December one. Buddhist Sanskrit sources Where we have enough lead time we are happy to print information that is from the Southern Silk Road. time-sensitive (e.g., announcements about art exhibits or upcoming conferences); however we cannot guarantee production in a timely fashion. Prof. R. Salomon (University of Decisions regarding whether submissions are to be published are made Washington): Buddhist and by the editor in consultation with the Director of The Silkroad Foundation, secular documents in members of its Board of Directors, and, as appropriate, academic specialists. Kharosthi script from Niya, Contributions should be in English and generally should not exceed 8000 Khotan and other Tarim Basin words in length, including notes and bibliography. In normal circumstances, sites. we will not accept unsolicited book reviews; however, you may ask the editor whether your reviewing a particular book would be acceptable. Dr. Helen Wang (British Museum): Money in Khotan: archaeo- Our newsletter is intended for a general readership. While it is important logical and documentary that contributions be well informed and be of interest to specialists, they evidence. should be written with a non-specialist audience in mind. This means, among other things, keeping footnoting to a minimum, using non-technical language, Prof. H. Kumamoto (Tokyo University): including transcription or transliteration of source texts only if essential to The St. Petersburg bilingual the reader’s understanding, and avoiding transliteration using diacritical documents and problems of marks. chronology. The production of the newsletter is by volunteers. Most of the editing and formatting is done personally by the editor. Be aware that the editor Prof. T. Takeuchi (Kobe University): does take an “activist” stance in regard to clarity and style, but his preference Khotanese/Tibetan and would be not to spend a lot of time re-writing. He is not in a position to Tibetan/Khotanese cultural check all your facts and references. It is essential that submissions follow relations. some standard rules in order to minimize time-consuming problems. In particular, Prof. P.O. Skjærvø (Harvard University): Perils of princes and ambassadors in tenth- • Submit text formatted in Microsoft Word, not in another word- century Khotan. processing program. Send the editor both electronic copy (this may be done as an e-mail attachment, which should have a .doc file About the Author extension) and hard copy. References to sources should be included in the text in parentheses — e.g. (Smith 1992: 25). Endnotes should be used only if they contain some essential explanation that does The director of the Early Buddhist not fit in the main text. A list of references should be included, with Manuscripts Project, Richard Salomon full bibliographic citations (author, including first name where is a Professor in the Dept. of Asian available; title; vol. and number if a journal; place and publisher if a Languages and Literature at the book; date; pages if an article or section of a book). Please include University of Washington, His books authors’ or scholars’ first names if referring to them in your text. include Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in the Indo- • In references use standard transliteration (e.g., for Chinese, pinyin; Aryan Languages (1998), Ancient for Cyrillic, modified Library of Congress system). It is preferable for Buddhist Scrolls from Gandhara: the citations in other than West European languages that you provide British Library Kharosthi Fragments both transliterated titles and, in parentheses, translated titles. We (1999); A Gandhari Version of the generally prefer not to include Chinese or other non-Latin characters Rhinoceros Sutra (2000). (which may present problems in printing and formatting), but you 39.