Interpretation
1.Alsoknownas"DunhuangGrottoes".2.IncludingtheMogaoGrottoes,WestThousandBuddhaCaves,YulinGrottoesandShuixiakouSmallThousandBuddhaCaves,whichbelongedtoDunhuanginancienttimes.GenerallyreferstotheMogaoGrottoes,commonlyknownastheThousandBuddhaCaves.InthefoothillsofMingshaMountaininDunhuangCounty,GansuProvince.ThereistheSanjieTemple,withmorethanathousandstonechambersnexttothetemple,andmanymuralsandstatues(manyofBuddhastatues).FromtheEasternJinDynastytotheYuanDynasty,therehavebeenconstructions.Inthetwenty-sixthyearofGuangxu,QingDynasty(AD1900),aBuddhistscriptureroomwasfoundinthecomplexwall,whichcontainedhandwrittenBuddhistscripturesandartworks,whichwasextremelyrich.ThemanuscriptwasfirstwritteninthesecondyearofYixi,EmperorJin’an(AD406),andlastedinthethirdyearofEmperorTaizong’stoDaooftheSongDynasty(AD997),andtheTangDynastyandtheFiveDynastieswerethemost.EnglishmanStein,legalpersonBoschheandotherswentthereoneafteranother,plunderingalargenumberoffineproducts.Thestoneroommanuscripthasbeensortedandprinted.Aftertheliberationofthecountry,itwaslistedasoneofthekeyculturalrelicsprotectionunits.
Features
DunhuangMogaoGrottoesisthegeneralnameofMogaoGrottoesandWestThousandBuddhaCavesinDunhuangCity,GansuProvince.Itisoneofthefourfamousgrottoesinmycountryandalsointheworld.Thelargestandbest-preservedBuddhistarttreasurehouseinexistence.MogaoGrottoesislocated25kilometerssoutheastofDunhuangCity,excavatedonthecliffattheeasternfootofMingshaMountain.Itismorethan1,600meterslongfromnorthtosouth,arrangedfivefloorsupanddown,andtheheightsarestaggered.Itisthelargestandrichestexistingtreasurehouseofclassicalcultureandartinmycountry,anditisalsoaworld-famousBuddhistartcenter.InDecember1987,itwaslistedasaworldculturalheritagebyUNESCO.
InthesecondyearofthefoundingofFujianintheformerQinDynasty(366AD),VenerableSamanthawalkedhereandsawthegoldenlightonMingshaMountainandthousandsofBuddhas,sohesproutedaheart.Aftercontinuousconstruction,itbecametheholyplaceofBuddhism,namedDunhuangMogaoGrottoes,commonlyknownastheThousandBuddhaCaves.
AlthoughtheMogaoGrottoeshavebeeninvadedbynatureanddestroyedbyhumansduringthelongyears,theyhavebeenpreservedfromtheSixteenKingdoms,NorthernWei,WesternWei,NorthernZhou,Sui,Tang,FiveDynasties,Song,Xixia,Thereare492cavesintendynastiesincludingYuan,withmorethan45,000squaremetersofmuralsandtwothousandcoloredstatues.ItisthegreatesttreasurehouseofBuddhistartintheworld.Ifthemuralsarearranged,itcanstretchformorethan30kilometers,makingitthelongest,largest,andrichestgalleryintheworld.Inrecentdecades,scholarsathomeandabroadhavebeenextremelyinterestedinDunhuangart,havecontinuedtoconductresearch,andhaveformedaspecializedsubject"DunhuangStudies".
MogaoGrottoesisanartpalacethatcombinesancientarchitecture,sculpturesandmurals.Itisespeciallyfamousforitscolorfulmurals.TherichnessandrichnessoftheDunhuangfrescoesareunmatchedbyanyreligiousgrottoes,templesorpalacesintheworldtoday.Lookingaroundthecaveandthetopofthecave,therearepaintingsofBuddhastatues,flyingheavens,JiLe,fairies,etc.everywhere.TherearepaintingsofBuddhistscriptures,scripturesandhistoricalsitesofBuddhism,aswellaspaintingsofgodsandmonstersandportraitsofsupporters,aswellasvariousexquisitedecorativepatterns.ThesculpturesofMogaoGrottoeshavelongbeenfamous.Thereare33-meter-highseatedstatues,aswellassmallBodhisattvasmeasuringmorethantencentimeters.Mostofthecavesarepreservedwithstatues,andtherearealargenumberofthem,whichcanbecalledalarge-scalesculpturehall.
AchievementsofDunhuangResearch
Theworldsaidthatattheturnofthelastcentury,therewerefourmajordiscoveriesinhistorians:Oracleboneinscriptions,Hanbambooslips,Dunhuangposthumouswritings,andMingandQingarchives.Today,onehundredyearslater,whenwereviewtheresearchresultsofthefournewhistoricalmaterialsmentionedabove,wehavetoadmitthatalthoughtheYinandShangoraclebones,thebambooslipsoftheHanandJinDynasties,thearchivesoftheMingandQingDynastieshavemadegreatachievementsandthehistoricalresearch,theyarethemostinternational.IamafraidthatthereputationandinfluencewillpushthesortingandresearchoftheDunhuangShishiposthumouswritings.
ThesortingoutofDunhuangmanuscriptsoverthepastcentury
Thecollection,rectification,publication,anddiscussionofDunhuangmanuscriptsstartingfromthedaywhentheDunhuangmanuscriptswerere-discoveredonJune22,1900,Experiencedahundredyearsofvicissitudes.First,theEnglishmanSteincoaxedalargenumberofscriptures(someestimatedtobeabout15,000)fromtheroyalpriestguardingtheThousandBuddhaCavein1906,andthentheFrenchmanBoschhealsocametoDunhuangin1908.Takeawaymorethan6000volumesofsuicidenotes.In1910,theQingDynastyAcademyorderedtheDunhuangposthumousmanuscriptstobetransportedbacktoBeijing,withmorethan10,000volumesremaining.TheJapaneseandRussiansfollowedoneafteranother,andabatchofpapersscatteredamongthepeoplewerecollected.In1944,theNationalInstituteofDunhuangArtwasestablished,andabatchofnewdocumentswereinventedintheQianfodongDidiTemple,whichenrichedthecontentofDunhuangliterature.ItisestimatedthatthetotalnumberofDunhuangmanuscriptsisasmanyas50,000volumes,andthereareafewwoodcuts.MostofthemareChinesedocuments,buttherearealsootherWesternlanguages.InadditiontoalargenumberofBuddhistscriptures,therearealsomanyseculardocuments,suchascontracthouseholdregistration,ConfucianandTaoistclassics,poetry,poetry,andmedicalrecords.Theyarevaluablefirst-handmaterialsforthestudyofmedievalsocietyfromthe4thtothe11thcenturies.
Fromtheperspectiveofhistory,DunhuangStudiesisastudyofhistoricalmaterials.Inthecurrentclassificationofdisciplines,DunhuangStudiesbelongstothescaleofhistoricalphilology.DunhuangmaterialsfromexpertsinDunhuangstudiestohistoriansaredependentontheprogressoftherectificationofDunhuangdocuments.TherectificationofDunhuangdocumentsoverthepastcenturyhasachievedremarkableresults.Whetheritisthecompilationofthecatalog,thepublicationofrecords,andeventhephotocopyingandpublishing,therearehigh-levelresults.Initially,LuoZhenyu,WangRenjun,JiangAxeandotherscouldonlycompileandpublishdocumentswrittenbyBoshyandthereorphotosofpaperssentbyBoss.LuoFubao's"ShazhouWenluSupplement"(1924)andLiuFu's"DunhuangSuo"(1925)notonlyautomaticallycompiledEnglish,FrenchandotherforeignDunhuangdocuments,butalsobegantojumpoutofthescaleoffourbooks,payingattentiontotheinclusionofsocialdocumentsandfolkpopularliteraturework.ChenYuan’s"DunhuangJieyulu"(1931)compiledacatalogofDunhuangdocumentsintheBeijingLibrary,andXuGuolin’s"DunhuangStoneChamberManuscriptsandDunhuangMiscellaneousRecords"(1936)compiledsocialhistory,literaryhistory,andThelanguagehistorymaterialsprovideconveniencefortheworldtounderstandandapplytheDunhuangmanuscriptsretainedbytheBeijingLibrary.
StudyonDunhuangStoneChambers
Fromthe"TangDynastyHouseholdRegister"seriespublishedinthe"Shihuo"magazineinthe1930stotheInstituteofHistoryoftheChineseAcademyofSciencesThefirstseriesof"DunhuangMaterials"compiledinthe1960s,Dunhuangdocumentsthatgatherthematiccontentsofsocio-economichistoryhavereceivedincreasingattention.Therecordof"AncientChineseBookofRecords"byProfessorIkedaofJapanhasbeenmorerefinedandthescopehasalsobeenexpanded.Atpresent,themostpracticalrecordedtextis"ExplanationandRecordsoftheRealRelicsofDunhuangSocio-economicDocuments"(1986-1990)compiledbyTangGenghouandLuHongji,whichcontainsmoreextensivecontent.Theclassifiededitorsincludethe"DunhuangDocumentsClassificationandProofreadingSeries"publishedbyJiangsuAncientBooksPublishingHouse,whichpublishesspecialtopicssuchasastronomicalcalendars,socialtowns,calligraphy,andcontracts.TheDunhuangTreasuresbyHuangYongwufromTaiwanaretheonesthatusedmicrofilmtophotocopyandpublishDunhuangdocuments.Unfortunately,theplatesarenotveryclear.ThebestcopiesofthephotocopyaretheDunhuangmanuscriptscollectedbySichuanPeople'sPublishingHouseinBritainandtheFrenchcollectionssuccessivelypublishedbyShanghaiAncientBooksPublishingHouse,Russiancollections,anddocumentscollectedbyShanghaiMuseum,TianjinArtMuseum,PekingUniversityandotherplaces.Inaddition,therearemanyspecialrecordswithresearchnature,suchas"HongKongDunhuangTurpanResearchCenterSeries"publishedbyTaipeiXinwenfeng,"DunhuangManuscriptSeries"publishedbyGansuPeople'sPublishingHouse,andsomecompilationspublishedbyGansuEducationPublishingHouse.Wenetc.Inshort,notonlytheDunhuangdocumentstakenawaybytheBritishStein,Percyandothershavealreadyhadmicrofilmsfortheworldtouse,butalsohigh-resolutionphotocopiesareavailableforreview,andtherearemorehigh-levelrecordedtextsthatcanbeusedbyordinaryscholars..ThroughtheeffortsofseveralgenerationsofDunhuangscholars,Dunhuangdocumentshavegraduallychangedfromthe“patents”ofafewscholarstothecommonwealthofthemajorityofhistorians.
ResearchonDunhuangSocialHistoryinthePast100Years
StudyonthehistoryoftheMiddleAges,itsdataisundoubtedlyricherthantheancientQinandHanDynasties,butcomparedtotheSong,Yuan,MingandQingDynastiesaftertheinventionofprintingThepastmoderntimeshavebeendwarfed,soitmaybesaidthatthemanagementoftheMiddleAgesisastudythatisnotthesameasthepresentandtheancient.Sincesocialhistoryismainlyconcernedwiththelowerclassandcivilsociety,mostofficialrecordspayattentiontotheriseandfallofthe"emperors,generals,andministers".Therefore,tostudythesocialhistoryoftheMiddleAges,especiallytheregionalhistory,populationhistory,marriagehistory,familyhistory,etc.,theofficialrecordsaloneareindangerofbeingstretched,andDunhuangdocumentsjustmakeupforthisdeficiency.TherearemanyworksintheChineseandforeignacademiccirclesthatuseDunhuangdocumentstostudytheMiddleAges.TheJapanese"LectureDunhuang"hasavolumeof"DunhuangSociety"(1980),whichisdividedintothreeparts:socialcompositionanddevelopment,productionandcirculation,andtemplesandlife.ItisafoundationalworkforthestudyofDunhuang'smedievalsociety.JiangBoqin's"IntroductiontoDunhuangSocialDocuments"(1992)brieflydiscussedthemedievalsocietyinDunhuangdocumentsontheeightaspectsofetiquette,clan,schoolandritualstudents,election,Liangjian,urbanandrural,religiousgroup,andsociety.ATaipeischolar’s"DunhuangBianwenSocialCustomsandThings"(1974)collectedinformationaboutsocialcustomsfromDunhuangpopularliteratureandsummarizeditintofourteencategories,namely,food,clothing,architecture,travel,familyandservants(withwomen)Familylife),marriage,funeral,education(withchildbirth,parenting),faith,economy,entertainment,socialetiquette,proverbs,andprisonlitigation.Japan'sKanokaTeruguang"ThePeopleofDunhuang-TheirLifeandThoughts"(1972)studiedtheBuddhistbeliefsandpreachingmethodsoftheDunhuangpeople.FrenchXieHernai's"MonasteryEconomyinthe5th-10thCenturyinChina"(Chinesetranslation1987)studiestheissuesoftaxation,property,landmanagement,andcommerciallendinginmonasteriesandmonksandnunsfromasociologicalperspective.GaoGuofan's"DunhuangFolklore"(1989),"DunhuangAncientCustomsandFolkloreEvolution"(1989),"DunhuangSecularCulture"(1999)andotherseriesofworks,concentratedonthestudyofthehistoryofsocialcustomsinDunhuang.