On This Day In History: Taoist Monk Discovers Dunhuang Manuscripts In Mogao Caves, China – On June 25, 1900

| June 25, 2016 | On This Day In History | No Comments

MessageToEagle.com –  On June 25, 1900, the Dunhuang manuscripts were discovered in one of the sealed caves of the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China.

They are important religious and secular documents dated back to the period between the 5th to early 11th centuries and contain historical and mathematical works along with folk songs and dance.

At the very beginning of the twentieth century a huge cache of ancient manuscripts was discovered in a Buddhist cave complex near the desert town of Dunhuang in China. Famously, the monk who guarded the caves, Wang Yuanlu, was persuaded by the archeological explorers Aurel Stein and Paul Pelliot to sell them a large portion of the manuscripts so they could be acquired by the British and French governments.
At the very beginning of the twentieth century a huge cache of ancient manuscripts was discovered in a Buddhist cave complex near the desert town of Dunhuang in China. Famously, the monk who guarded the caves, Wang Yuanlu, was persuaded by the archeological explorers Aurel Stein and Paul Pelliot to sell them a large portion of the manuscripts so they could be acquired by the British and French governments.

The discovery was made by the Daoist monk Wang Yuanlu, who began to sell them to Western explorers, especially Aurel Stein, a Hungarian-British archaeologist, who explored Central Asia and made many important discoveries.

See also:

Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China – Fascinating Statues, Manuscripts And Wall Paintings

Sir Marc Aurel Stein: Famous Fascinating Expeditions To Ancient Places Of The Silk Road

Most of religious documents, are Buddhist, but other religions including Daoism, Nestorian Christianity and Manichaeism are also represented.

By far the largest proportion of manuscripts from the Dunhuang cave contain Buddhist texts.
By far the largest proportion of manuscripts from the Dunhuang cave contain Buddhist texts.

The majority of the manuscripts are in Chinese but a number of them were written in Khotanese, Sanskrit, Sogdian, Tangut, Tibetan, Old Uyghur language, Hebrew and Old Turkic.

Most of the remaining Chinese manuscripts were transported to Beijing and are now in the National Library of China. Several thousands of folios of Tibetan manuscripts were left in Dunhuang and are now located in several museums and libraries in the region.

Those purchased by Western scholars are now stored in institutions around the world, such as the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

All of the manuscript collections are being digitized by the International Dunhuang Project, and can be freely accessed online.

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