[ { "id": 204563, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1963", "page_number": 44, "title": "RAS-1963", "content_text": "PRINTING IN CHINA\n\n39\n\n5. The Japanese monk Shuyei left China in 865, after a three-year visit, with a considerable collection of Buddhist rolls, two of them bearing titles indicating that they were printed.\n\n6. Calendars, dated 877, 882, and 887, have been found in Tunhuang.\n\n7. A printed charm was recently discovered in a T'ang tomb in Ch’êng-tu.\n\n8. In 883 the T'ang court fled to Shu and there (at Ch'êng-tu) one of the courtiers recorded seeing a variety of books printed on paper from wood-blocks for sale.\n\nFrom the next century on, printing becomes widespread. The whole Confucian canon in 130 volumes was printed in the years 932-953. The Buddhist canon in 5,048 rolls followed suit in 971-983 and many times thereafter. Manichean works were printed by the year 1000, if not a century earlier. The dynastic histories (史記, 漢書, 後漢書, 三國志, 晉書, and 滷唐書) were all printed between 994 and 1004. The Taoist canon, in 4,565 rolls, was printed in 1019. Besides this, several works were printed privately, such as the herbal in 973 and collections of essays and poetry. So, by the early years of the Sung, a large body of material was available in print. From about A.D. 1000 on, the publication of books in this form accelerated throughout China, and spread to the Khitan, Tangut, Jurchen, Uigur, and Mongol, and to Korea, Japan, and Annam. Printing by movable type too came into being (at least by the 1040's); also printing by metal blocks, as well as by wood-blocks.\n\nThe different classes engaged in printing included the Buddhist, the Taoist, the Confucian, and the secular. The first two groups produced a great number of texts in order to help them reach the masses. The last group, which was beginning to develop new philosophical ideas, also wanted to reach the people. The Sung government became worried about this; hence its interest in the printing of Confucian literature to propagate Confucianism among the general public. It was also considered an imperial prerogative. The printing of the canon was forbidden to private persons, and was entirely held in the hands of the government. Besides the printing done by the Academy, books were", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1963.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214578, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1998", "page_number": 436, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "405\n\ndery of Shakyamuni preaching on Vulture Peak, with attendants. This is notable for the skill of the stitchwork, which flows with the contours of faces and draperies to add depth and texture. Some colours, such as the blues, are stunningly deep and fresh, but the reds and greens have faded with time. This item dates from the 7 or 8th century.\n\nA Japanese conservator mounted the paintings on silk in the 1910s at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Many were in an extremely fragile state and they survive today largely as a result of extremely fragile condition. Unfortunately some of the backing material is quite dark. One of the brighter paintings is of Kwanyin on a lotus base surrounded by swirling green draperies that bring the work to life. An inscription on the back of this exquisite piece, from 910, has aided scholars.\n\nA scroll painting also depicts Kwanyin waving a banner on a staff, with the figure of a deceased lady in the background. The scroll is believed to have been offered so that the lady might ascend to the halls of paradise, with Boddhisattvas leading the way. Posters of this work were used to publicise a past exhibition. The collection includes some of these banners - surprisingly modest pieces a metre or so long. One of these notably depicts a Boddhisattva holding a glass bowl of Middle Eastern design, clear evidence that the object, or at least knowledge of its form, was carried on the Silk Route.\n\nWe also saw a vibrant section of a scroll painting of a fierce guardian, originally larger than life size. Sadly only a fragment remains of what would have been a fabulous piece.\n\nIn a different medium altogether, another item is a window painting on paper backed with cloth. This depicts stylised lotuses on the outside and images of the Buddha on the inside.\n\nTo realise that these items, when Aurel Stein discovered them, were rolled, stacked up and abandoned in a cave in northern China only makes one grateful that this much has survived.\n\nFurther reading: The International Dunhuang Project website (http://idp.bl.uk) includes a vast amount of material. It says that an international conference, Dunhuang 2000, is to be held in Beijing to", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214579, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1998", "page_number": 437, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "406\n\ncoincide with the 100th anniversary of the opening of Cave 17 in June 2000. Another takes place at Dunhuang in August and the site has been getting a facelift in preparation. The website has a massive illustrated database of collections held in various parts of the world - those interested can sponsor a sutra for as little as £50 sterling. The money pays for the digital scanning and the sponsor's name appears beside the object. A newsletter reports on meetings of academics and recent research. Sadly, the BM does not appear to be part of the International Dunhuang Project, but Dr Farrer told us that the museum is trying to raise funds to put its collection on the Internet in the same way.\n\nREFERENCES\n\nRoderick Whitfield and Anne Farrer, Caves of the Thousand Buddhas: Chinese Art from the Silk Route, The British Museum, London 1990.\n\nPeter Hopkirk, Foreign Devils on the Silk Road, John Murray, London 1980.\n\nAnnabel Walker, Aurel Stein: Pioneer of the Silk Road, John Murray, London 1995.\n\nLife Along the Silk Road, Susan Whitfield, Hardcover - 253 pages (June 1999), John Murray; ISBN: 0719557577", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216513, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2003", "page_number": 272, "title": "RAS-2003", "content_text": "224\n\njade, spices, ceramics, horses and so on of the old days. This book is enormously revealing in the understanding that it provides about the cultural melting pots that extend today from western China to the Mediterranean Sea. We are in as much need today of the understanding that travellers along the Silk Road gained about the cultures they encountered as were those travellers of the past.\n\nELIZABETH KENWORTHY TEATHER\n\nThis point is the focus of Chung, Tan (ed.) (1994). Dunhuang Art: Through the Eyes of Duan Wenjie. New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts/ Abhinav Publications.\n\nTing, J.S.P. (ed.) (1996). The Maritime Silk Road. 2000 years of Trade on the South China Sea, Hong Kong: Urban Council.\n\nEbery, P.B. (1996). The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. See P. 120.\n\nI found the WorldWideWeb an invaluable source of maps to clarify the historical geography of the Silk Road. Readers may like to try searching Google for 'Bactria,' for example.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2003.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390", "rank": 0 } ]