The Dunhuang Grottoes and Global Education

Philosophical, Spiritual, Scientific, and Aesthetic Insights

Xu Di

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9783030133566
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Theory & Practice

This book analyzes the murals and texts of the Dunhuang Grottoes, one of the most famous sites of cultural heritage on the Silk Road in Northwest China, from an educational perspective. The Dunhuang Grottoes are well-known in the world for their stunning beauty and magnificence, but the teaching of Dunhuang advocates a philosophical perspective that cosmos, nature, and humanity are an interconnected whole, and that all elements function interactively according to universal and relational principles of continuity, cause-and-effect, spiritual connection, and enlightenment. Xu Di and volume contributors highlight the moral education and ethics found throughout the Dunhuang with numerous stories of the personal journeys and growth of the Buddha and bodhisattvas, discussing and analyzing these teachings, and their possible implications for modern education systems throughout China and the world today.

© The Author(s) 2019

Xu Di (ed.)The Dunhuang Grottoes and Global EducationSpirituality, Religion, and Educationhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13356-6_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction: Dunhuang and Education—The Missing Piece

Xu Di (许笛)¹

(1)

Department of Educational Foundations, College of Education, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

Xu Di (许笛)

Email: [email protected]

End Abstract

Introduction

Throughout the thousands of years of documented Chinese culture and human civilization, the well-known UNESCO World Heritage site Dunhuang, an oasis in the Gobi Desert along the historic Silk Road, continues to shine like a bright jewel. It is famous for its grottoes full of colorful ancient Buddhist frescoes, sculptures, and scriptures, created over a thousand years from the Northern Liang (北凉, AD 366) to the Yuan dynasty (元朝, AD 1279–1368) (Fan and Liu 2009; Treasures of Dunhuang Grottoes 2002). The beauty and magnificence of these treasures have captured spiritual beings of the highest realm, human beings and other creatures on earth, the underworld, and those between dimensions and realms.

Situated in the current Gansu Province, in the northwestern part of China, Dunhuang’s establishment, expansion, and sustainability appear to be rather accidental. In AD 366, a roaming Buddhist monk named Le Zun (乐僔) arrived from the western region. He happened to see a brilliant sunrise on Mt. Mingsha (鸣沙山), a desert sand mountain on the edge of Dunhuang. The reflection of the sunlight on the infinite grains of sand on this mountain created an unforgettable and powerful natural and spiritual experience for the traveling monk. Le Zun dug a small grotto on the spot in order to meditate. That simple decision and very personal action ignited a tradition of constructing grottoes on Mt. Mingsha and nearby areas over ten dynasties, from Beiliang (AD 304–439) to Yuan (AD 1279–1368).

The second accidental incident occurred in 1900 when the hired helper of a Daoist disciple, Wang Yuan Lu (Wang Yuan Lu, 王圆箓, 1889–1931), unwittingly discovered the manuscripts hidden inside Cave #16 in Library Cave #17, which held over 50,000 significant Buddhist scriptures, historical documentations, and other works and artifacts (Cangjingdong 2015; Fan and Luo 2010). Wang sold a large number of these scriptures, paintings, and sculptures to British, French, German, American, and Japanese adventurers in the early twentieth century. Marc Aurel Stein (1862–1943), who was the first to arrive, in 1906 left with 29 carts of Dunhuang’s treasures from Library Cave #17 (ibid, p. 22). Paul Pelliot (1878–1945) arrived in 1907 and took 6000 volumes of texts and paintings (ibid). He was followed by Albert von le Coq (1860–1930) of Germany, Langdon Warner (1881–1955) of America, Sergei Oldenberg (1963–1934) of Russia, and Otani Kozui (大谷 光瑞, 1876–1948) and Zuico Tachibana (橘 瑞超, 1891–1968) of Japan (Library Cave and Its Museum 2014). This major exodus of Dunhuang’s treasures and works from China brought Dunhuang and its arts into the world’s limelight for the first time, establishing its prominent place in the modern world. To date, the rediscovery of Dunhuang is the largest and richest archaeological find in the world (Winchester 2008, Disc. 4). Dunhuang studies have become a global phenomenon.

The last of Dunhuang’s caves was constructed in the Yuan dynasty. As China declined through the last three imperial dynasties Yuan (元), Ming (明), and Qing (清)—with divisions, wars, and foreign colonial invasions—Dunhuang seemed to be lost and forgotten. Surprisingly, Dunhuang survived the decaying feudal dynasties, then conflicting warlords, the emerging republics, World Wars I and II, and, most of all, it was miraculously untouched during the Cultural Revolution of 1966–1978, when the Red Guards were destroying all the ancient antiquities. Its remoteness in the Gobi Desert, far away from the major cities, enabled Dunhuang to avoid the fate of most historical sites in Mainland China, which were seriously desecrated or completely destroyed.

However, the seemingly accidental series of events in Dunhuang was in many ways actually inevitable because of its unique geographic location, which lead to the intersection of many cultures. First of all, as an oasis in a desert on the Silk Road, it was and still is a critical place that connects the West and the East, a required stop for those traveling by land between western nations or regions and eastern China. With its lush greenery and water, Dunhuang was a striking contrast to the thousands of miles of the Gobi Desert that surround it, and like a magnet draws all travelers for pure survival, nourishment, and renewal. It was a center of political and military interaction and the intersection of cultures, commerce, and religions. Le Zun, who started the grottoes there, was one of many—like a grain of sand—who have traveled and sojourned in Dunhuang over the ages.

With the harsh landscape and the challenges to human existence, there was a natural need for metaphysical understanding and spiritual support and guidance. The local and regional belief system over Dunhuang’s long history mingled with the various ethnic cultures in China as well as those in the neighboring countries, especially the Buddhist religion from India to the West. Scholars believe that Buddhism began to reach China in the third century BC (Broughton 1999; Rong 2004) and the consensus is that it became a common practice among people in the Han dynasty, with the White Horse Temple, which was built in Luoyang, the capital of Eastern Han in AD 68 (Maspero 1981; Dumoulin 2005), as solid evidence. The first documented translation of Buddhist scripture into Chinese occurred in AD 148 by An Shigao (安世高, AD ?–168) a Parthian/Iranian Buddhist priest (Dumoulin 2005; Broughton 1999). Le Zun’s appearance is deeply associated with changes brought by the multiple ethnicities and nations that were inevitably interacting in Dunhuang at the time. The multicultural interactions integrated Buddhism into the daily lives of those in transit through Dunhuang along the Silk Road and those who migrated and lived there. As vividly and indisputably captured in the frescoes, the influence of Buddhism touched everyone, including the poor, the rich, the highest officials, and military generals.

As the feudal dynasties in China rose and fell, so did Dunhuang. Its grottoes reached the height of construction and prosperity in the Tang (唐, AD 618–907) and Song (宋, AD 918–1127) dynasties, and then withered gradually till the Yuan (AD 1279–1368). However, it continued to be an important transit place between Western China and the Chinese Central Plain for travelers of all sorts. The presence of Daoist disciple Wang Yuan Lu, illustrates the continuous attraction of Dunhuang as a gathering place for adventure seekers even during its decay, as was true for the British, French, German, American, and Japanese explorers, who came because of Dunhuang’s fame and its treasures (Dunhuang Academy 2014; Fan and Luo 2010). For those who understood the meaning and value of the antiquities of this remote place in the northwestern part of China, the treasures called and inspired them to travel in the harshest conditions for months or even years in the Gobi Desert. Those who did not understand the spiritual depth and wealth of Dunhuang ignored and abandoned this seemingly backward place, which was a true blessing in disguise, as it has enabled Dunhuang to survive to the present day.

Dunhuang Studies

As one of the brightest and most renowned sites of Chinese cultural heritage, Dunhuang has been a phenomenon ever since the first grotto was built in AD 366. The study of Dunhuang persisted throughout the vicissitudes of Chinese history, even in times of war. For instance, during World War II, the famous Chinese artist Zhang Daqian (张大千) spent over two years in Dunhuang copying the frescoes (Li 2013) and completing 276 paintings with Xie Zhiliu (谢稚柳) and Chang Shuhong (常书鸿). Chang Shuhong was so mesmerized by Dunhuang’s art that he gave his entire life to the preservation of Dunhuang and was buried there (Chang Shuhong 2018; Ye 2001). Joseph Needham, the famous British chemist from Cambridge who visited Dunhuang in 1943, later became a Sino Science and Technology historian (Winchester 2008). The richness and beauty of Dunhuang has manifested its irresistible attraction to the scholars and artists in the East and the West alike.

Outside China Dunhuang became known through the publication of its paintings and scriptures in the West as a result of the British, French, and American adventurers who obtained these works in Dunhuang from Wang Yuan Lu between 1907 and 1924. This loss of Dunhuang antiquities brought the re...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction: Dunhuang and Education—The Missing Piece
• Part I. Dunhuang and Educational Philosophy
• Part II. Dunhuang and Contemporary Educational Practices
• Back Matter