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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IDP Beijing — Tenth Anniversary Celebrations

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We were in Beijing last week for celebrations at the National Library of China (NLC) of the 10th anniversary of the launch of the IDP Beijing Chinese language website in November 2002. Colleagues joined us from IDP Dunhuang and from Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology along with scholars and press. Opening speeches were given by Zhang Zhiqing, Deputy Director of the NLC, Baroness Blackstone, Chair of the British Library Board, HE Sebastian Wood, British Ambassador to China, Luo Huaqing, Deputy Director of the Dunhuang Academy, and Susan Whitfield, Director of IDP at the British Library.

The celebrations continued over two days, with Joanna Burke, Regional Director of the British Council, hosting a lunch for Chinese and British guests at the Ambassador's residence.

The picture above shows guests at the UK Ambassador's Residence in Beijing. From l. to r. (seated): Wu Xinyi, Emma Goodliffe, Vic Swift, Zhang Zhiqing, Susan Whitfield, Yu Zhiyong, Idris Abdurusul, Anwar Abulkasim. From l. to r. (standing): Luo Weiyan, Matkasim Tomur, Liang Xushu, Liu Bo, Sheng Yanhai, Lin Shitian, Chen Hongyan, Zhang Xu, Colin Chinnery.

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