New publication of French literature, new chapter in Dunhuang Studies
2024-01-24
In September 2021, visitors visited the Dunhuang Diaspora Overseas Boutique Cultural Relics Reproduction Exhibition. On March 3, 1908, French explorer Percy and entered the Dunhuang Scripture Cave. More than two months later, he packed and shipped thousands of precious documents he had selected, leaving Dunhuang. On April 26, 1910, the Manuscript Department of the French National Library (hereinafter referred to as the French Library) welcomed the library's richest collection of Eastern artifacts - the Burch and Dunhuang collections. Afterwards, the Dunhuang documents in the French collection were either scattered photocopies, or published through microfilm and black and white images for use by the academic community. More than 100 years later, this collection of treasures was compiled into the Dunhuang Documents of the National Library of France, which was first published in China in high-definition color catalog form, opening a new chapter in the history of Dunhuang literature publication and research. According to Sheng Jie, deputy editor and reviewer of Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, the Dunhuang Documents in the National Library of France will publish graphic plates of Dunhuang documents P.2001 to P.6040 in the French collection, involving more than 4000 document numbers, nearly 40000 graphic plates, and over 6000 named documents. Currently, 60 volumes have been published, with an estimated total of 160 volumes. The publication is expected to be completed by 2025. The academic value is extremely high. "If the number of Dunhuang collections is calculated by numbering, according to the order of acquisition, the top four are the National Library of the United Kingdom, the National Library of France, the National Library of China, and the Institute of Oriental Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences. However, if the quality is measured by the proportion of comprehensive academic value, the French collections should be ranked first." Rong Xinjiang, President of the Dunhuang Turpan Society in China, told a reporter from Global magazine. Rong Xinjiang is the editor in chief of the book "Dunhuang Documents in the National Library of France", and also a historian who has visited the four major Dunhuang document collection sites and "searched the world for Dunhuang". He said that Berch and his predecessor, the British man Stein, were proficient in Chinese and were ahead of Chinese Qing government officials and Russian Odenberg. On June 22, 1900, Taoist Wang of the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang discovered the Sutra Cave, now numbered Cave 17, by accident while clearing the sand accumulated in the caves. There are tens of thousands of documents and paintings written in Chinese, Tibetan, Khotan, Turkic, Sogdian, Uyghur, Sanskrit, Hebrew and other languages preserved in the cave. In 1908, Bo Xihe arrived at the Mogao Grottoes, according to the Dunhuang document P.2683 in the French collection. Due to his proficiency in Chinese and familiarity with Chinese culture, he was granted permission by Taoist Wang to enter the cave and read through all the Chinese books in the cave. He knew he couldn't take away all the treasures and established three major selection criteria: non Tibetan Buddhist scriptures that were not collected in the Buddhist Tripitaka, written books with chronological records, and non Chinese language books. Therefore, the academic value of the Dunhuang Chinese documents and non Chinese language books such as Tibetan, Uyghur, Khotan, and Sogdian obtained by Boxi is extremely high. Rong Xinjiang told reporters that in the collection of Dunhuang documents, early 6th century classics, various chronological manuscripts, a large number of Buddhist scriptures from outside the collection, Confucian classics such as the Analects, Shangshu, and Taoist texts such as the Laozi Huahu Jing have supplementary and important proofreading value for passed down literature. The geographical documents, temple calendars, divination documents, and legal documents such as the Shazhou Governor's Mansion Atlas reflect the social and economic outlook of the time. large
Edit：GuoGuo Responsible editor：FangZhiYou
Source：people.cn
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