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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The Georgetown-IDP Lecture Series: Following the Silk Roads to North America

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We are pleased to announce the Georgetown-IDP Lecture Series: Following the Silk Roads to North America, co-organised by the International Dunhuang Project and Georgetown University.

This series was organised to celebrate the upcoming completion of the Georgetown-IDP project, which has worked to incorporate images of Silk Road items in North American collections into the IDP’s public database and to expand the IDP's partnership with North American institutions. Generously supported by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Dunhuang Foundation, the project began in 2016 and will virtually bring together manuscripts and various types of objects dispersed widely in North America through over 1000 images. Learn more about the project here: The Georgetown-IDP Project.

The lecture series is supported by the Henry Luce Foundation.

The talks in this series are below:

July 28 (11am PDT/2pm EDT/7pm BST): Dr Miki Morita and Dr Michelle Wang
‘The Georgetown-IDP Project: Prospects for Collaboration and Research’
https://www.bl.uk/events/the-georgetown-idp-project-prospects-for-collaboration-and-research
Watch this lecture on YouTube here.


August 4 (10am PDT/1pm EDT/6pm BST): Dr Amanda Goodman
‘The Many Lives of a Buddhist Devotional Print: A Dated Dunhuang Document in the Royal Ontario Museum Collection’
https://www.bl.uk/events/the-many-lives-of-a-buddhist-devotional-print
Watch this lecture on YouTube here.
Image Credit: Courtesy of the Royal Ontario Museum, ©ROM

August 11 (10am PDT/1pm EDT/6pm BST): Dr Xin Wen
‘A Traveler’s History of the Silk Road: Revelations from Dunhuang Materials’
https://www.bl.uk/events/a-travelers-history-of-the-silk-road
Watch this lecture on YouTube here.


August 18 (10am PDT/1pm EDT/6pm BST): Dr FOONG Ping
‘Dunhuang in Seattle’
https://www.bl.uk/events/dunhuang-in-seattle
Watch this lecture on YouTube here.
Image Credit: Fragment of a manuscript of the Sutra on Solemn Attainment of Buddhahood by Means of Repentance to Extinguish Sins in a Great, Thorough, and Broad Way (Datong fangguang chanhui miezui zhuangyan chengfo jing), ca. 7th–8th century – Handscroll; ink on mulberry fiber paper – Chinese, Tang dynasty (618–907), attributed to Mogao, Dunhuang – Gift of Anna M. Bille, Fook-Tan, and Clara Ching, 2017.21

August 25 (10am PDT/1pm EDT/6pm BST): Dr Fan Jeremy Zhang
‘Exploring Eastern Silk Roads: A Journey Through the Collection at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco’
https://www.bl.uk/events/exploring-eastern-silk-roads
Watch this lecture on YouTube here.
Image Credit: Camel, approx. 690-750. China; Shaanxi or Henan province, Tang dynasty (618-907). Earthenware with glaze. Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, The Avery Brundage Collection, B60S95. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.



Edit 15 October 2021: YouTube links for each of the published lectures have been added. You can also see these videos by visitng our International Dunhuang Project YouTube channel.

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