Dunhuang--August 5

In Xinjiang province, the Silk Road splits in two: the southern route less traveled but dotted with the crumbling ruins of ancient "lost" towns. The northern route has its air share of ancient sites as well. The two routes rejoin in the town of Dunhuang before continuing eastward through the Gansu corridor, a narrow valley protected by mountains to the north and south. Through this corridor was the major route that Buddhism reached China from India. Even the culture of ancient Greece and Rome made it out here.

Dunhuang, or rather the Mogao Caves, is one of the great archaeological sites of the world. It is a series of over 700 caves, which hold the largest collection of Buddhist art in the world. Dates are from 366 to about 1227 AD. In its heyday, 100s of Buddhist monks lived here, creating a great center of learning, culture, and worship. Silk Road traders stopped by to pray or give thanks for safe journeys.

In the earliest caves, you can see art heavily influenced by India, with a stronger Chinese appearance through the later dynasties. Visitors today are shown about a dozen caves, and these are rotated to help protect them. Photos are forbidden, so none to post. When I get home, I'll scan some and put them up.

In 1900, a Daoist monk and self-appointed guardian of the caves, Wang Yuanlu, accidently discovered a cave filled with over 50,000 manuscripts and paintings, including the oldest known book in the world--the Diamond Sutra. Not exactly knowing what he had on his hands, he sold off a few items to help pay for the caves' upkeep. Sir Aurel Stein, the Hungarian-born British archaeologist came upon these manuscripts while in Xinjiang, realized that this was something huge, and hightailed it to Dunhuang. He convinced Wang Yuanlu to let him remove about 20,000 manuscripts from the library for protection in exchange for less than 200 British pounds. The French, Japanese, and Russians soon followed, carting off what they could, as well. Chinese officials of the time helped themselves, too, so less than 8,000 manuscripts remain in China. Of course, arguments can be made that much of the Mogao Caves would have been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.

The story of the "discovery" of the Mogao Caves is every bit as intriguing as Howard Carter's discovery of King Tut's tomb. Great book to read: Foreign Devils on the Silk Road, by Peter Hopkirk, the same author of The Great Game.

I love days like today. There's so much to learn in the world.