Shaping the Stein collection’s Dunhuang corpus (2): the items from Cave 17’s ‘miscellaneous’ bundles

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In a previous blog post , we looked at the instrumental role played by Wang Yuanlu during the selection of the items from the Cave 17. Wang, who directly chose from the small repository what to hand over to Stein for inspection, was very keen to divert his attention from the so-called ‘regular’ bundles, which were composed for the most part of Buddhist sutras in Chinese and Tibetan. During their first ever transaction, which took place between 21 May and 6 June 1907, Wang Yuanlu therefore began by handing over the ‘miscellaneous’ bundles, which he seemed to hold in low estimation. To Stein’s delight, these contained mixed and diverse materials, such as manuscripts in non-Chinese languages, illustrated scrolls, paintings, drawings, ex-votos, textiles, etc. Stein picked out any of the items that jumped at him as being particularly interesting and made sure to put them aside for ‘further examination’, the phrase that he used to refer to their removal in his transaction with Wang. This
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Seminar day on the Christian library from Turfan and the ‘mother church’ in Mesopotamia

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Between 1902-1914 the German Turfan Expedition unearthed a library at the monastery site of Bulayïq in Turfan (north-west China) that yielded over 1000 Syriac, Christian Sogdian and Christian Uighur manuscript fragments written in the Syriac script. This wealth of material was brought to Berlin where it was preserved in various locations. Since April 2008, this remarkable collection has been catalogued by an AHRC-funded project, The Christian Library from Turfan.

SATURDAY 28th MAY 2011 at The Khalili Lecture Theatre
SCHOOL of ORIENTAL and AFRICAN STUDIES Thornhaugh St., Russell Square London WC1H 0XG

PROGRAMME

Morning Session. [10.30 A.M. –1.00 P.M.]
Dr. Erica C D Hunter (SOAS) Syriac prayer-amulets from Turfan.
Prof. Peter Zieme (Berlin) Old Uighur Christian texts between Turfan and Kharakhoto.
Dr. Mark Dickens (SOAS) Biblical texts from Turfan: Psalters and lectionaries.
Prof. Nicholas Sims-Williams FBA (SOAS) The contribution of Christian Sogdian texts to Syriac literature.

Afternoon Session. [2.00 – 4.30 P.M.]
His Grace, Mar Awa, bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East, California, USA will deliver the keynote address:
The importance and impact of the liturgical texts from Turfan on liturgy today.

This address will be followed by discussions and presentations from the various Christian communities in London.

Download full details and a registration form from: http://www.indiran.org/Christianity2011.pdf

You can also register and pay on-line at www.easternchristianity.com

For further details e-mail: eh9@soas.ac.uk

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