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 Interns: Shaochen Wang and Na Zhang (UCL)

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IDP interns Shaochen Wang (left) and Na Zhang (right).

SHAOCHEN WANG

I am a postgraduate student from Institute of Archaeology in UCL and major in managing archaeological sites. I have spent one month working with the IDP, it is very interesting and attractive. Since I come from Xi’an, China, the starting point of the Silk Road, I found the most fascinating work experience in IDP was when we were rehousing some slides of old Xi’an, the City Wall, the Great Wild Goose Pagoda and so on. Most of the slides are made in 1980s or earlier, so I got a chance to know my hometown better and appreciate the vintage photographs, especially some ancient architecture that I am familiar with. Besides this, other interesting work in the IDP involved typing some documents regarding the Dunhuang Mogao Caves and translating some Buddhist words. It can be difficult sometimes but I have learnt a lot about Dunhuang and Buddhism through this experience and after this, I really want to visit Dunhuang by myself and see the caves and wall paintings that I have documented and translated.

And I also think that all the digital works and the online database of IDP are really wonderful. Having been shown the workflow of digital studio and some basic training of XML, I realized how complicated it can be and how difficult to maintain a database like that and I am really impressed. And special thanks to Emma Goodliffe, she was really kind and helpful and I really enjoyed the time working with the staff of the IDP and my classmate!

NA ZHANG

I am a full-year postgraduate student at the Institute of Archaeology at the University College London majoring in managing archaeological sites. I became an intern in the IDP at the British Library after a very friendly interview. Then I knew there would be an interesting journey with IDP waiting for me.

I studied archaeology in Xi’an which is the starting point of Silk Road and Dunhuang is a significant part of Silk Road as well. There is no denying that the manuscripts and murals at the Dunhuang Mogao Grotto are attractive and fascinating. People in that period were smart and creative. Based on these things, when I rehoused the slides about Dunhuang and the Silk Road, it seems like I am walking on that road. I enjoy the beautiful landscapes, chat with local people and touch the mysterious caves. After I knew the development of the conservation and preservation of the manuscripts, I realized that IDP did a great thing for both scholars and general public.

From the traditional method to the modern technology, people who are interested in the Dunhuang culture try their best to present this to the world. How nice that I can do the placement here!

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