Dunhuang and Its Library Cave, Ca. 430-1000 CE

Origins of Chinese Control Over Gansu

Han Dynasty Campaigns against Xiongnu

Gansu (Hexi) Conquered

Colonization by over 1 million, , 115-72 BCE

Dunhuang

Han Conquest in 111 BCE

Garrison established

“China” Divided

Three Kingdoms Period (220-80)

Wei Dynasty (220-65)

W. Jin Dynasty (265-317)

16 Kingdoms Period (311-386) in Gansu

Former Liang (314-376)

Chinese founder

Later Liang (386-403)

Di founder

S. Liang (397-414)

Xianbei (Särbi) founder

W. Liang (400-422)

Chinese founder

N. Liang (398-439)

Xiongnu? Founder

*Gansu

W. Jin Dynasty (265-317)

Official Seals of Tribal Leaders discovered in Tianshui, Gansu

Sheep
“Marquis of the Loyal Qiang of the Jin”
Camel
“King of the Loyal Di of the Jin”

Painted Tomb Bricks

Gansu province, 3rd-to-5th-c. tombs

N. Wei (439-534) Control over Dunhuang

Tabghach (Tuoba) of Xianbei (Särbi)

Capital at Pingcheng (Datong)

Completed reunification of North China

Conquest of N. Liang in 439

*Dunhuang’s Cave Temples

First Cave at Dunhuang

N. Liang (398-439)

Origins of cave temple complex

N. Wei conquest of N. Liang in 439

Forced migration of 30,000 “servile households” to Pingcheng

China-Based Imperial Rulers of Dunhuang and Gansu

Northern Zhou Dynasty, 557-587

NW Xianbei (Särbi) dynasty

Sui Dynasty 591-618

Tang Dynasty (618-ca. 755)

Overlords of Dunhuang during Height of Library Cave

Tang Dynasty (618-ca. 755)

An Lushan Rebellion, 755-63

Turk mother and Sogdian father

Lushan (Chinese)=Rokshan (Sogdian)

“Light”

Tibetan Empire, 768-848                                                                    

Tang Vassal Military Governors (Hansen, Table 6.1)

Zhang Family, 851-910

Library Cave 16 Constructed

Cao Family, 914-1002

Dunhuang’s Mogao Grottoes: Online visit!

Foreign Kings Mourning Buddha with Maitreya

Robbers and Merchants in Lotus Sutra Illustration (Cave 45, 8th c.)

Painter’s Cave

Undeveloped Caves

*Library/Archive Cave 17 inside Cave 16

Constructed 862

40,000+ scrolls

Dated documents: 405-1002 CE

Discussion: Dunhuang Cave 17 Documents in
Hansen 285-324, 333-335 (docs. 32, 37a-b);

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Hansen thesis

“The Silk Road trade was largely the byproduct of Chinese government spending—not long-distance commerce conducted by private merchants” (Hansen, p. 175, last sentence of Chapter 3 on Turfan).

1. How does Hansen support her thesis in Chapter 6 (pp. 305-21)?

2. How did Aurel Stein obtain manuscripts from Cave 17? Were his actions ethical?

3. What can we learn about Chinese society at Dunhuang from the “Women’s Lay Association Charter” and model divorce agreement?