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

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

Post-doctoral Fellowship in Silk Road Studies — Silk Road Studies at Georgetown University

Applications are invited for a one-year, non-teaching postdoctoral fellowship at Georgetown University beginning Fall 2014. The postdoctoral fellow will play an active role in the year-long John E. Sawyer Seminar titled "Critical Silk Road Studies," funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and organized by Georgetown faculty members James Millward (Department of History, School of Foreign Service) and Michelle C. Wang (Department of Art and Art History). Applicants whose scholarly work addresses any of the geographical regions covered by the Silk Road, from ancient to contemporary, and represents any discipline in the humanities or social sciences are encouraged to apply. The fellow will be expected to attend all sessions of the Sawyer Seminar and to be an active participant in the Sawyer Seminar and University community. Additionally, the fellow is expected to pursue an active research agenda by making use of the resources of Georgetown University and the greater Washington, DC area. Read more here…

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