Stein and the Mogao Caves

    Used as a path for ideas, people, and objects, the Silk Road was one, if not, the, most important trade route that has ever existed. Connecting China with the West brought together two great civilizations, Ancient China and Ancient Rome. And relics from the past are still standing today. In the book Awakening, by Patrick Bresnan, the Mogao Caves are one of these great relics that is talked about by Bresnan. He states, “The justly famous Mugao Grottoes, one of the most splendid of all the remains from that distant time, are located near Dunhuang” (Bresnan 378). On the side of a cliff that used to be a front for a river, now dried up, holds art and sculptures dated back to around 300 B.C.E. The video titled “The Silk Road: Where East Met West” also mentions the Mogao Cave and the importance of the work done there. However, we then are transported back into the 20th century, as we are told about how paintings and documents were retrieved from the ancient site as the video states, “You are an explorer, an archaeologist, Hungarian born, British by choice. The year is 1907 and your name is Aurel Stein” (Silk, 29:50 - 30:00). It is then we are told the story of Stein. While the book covers information about this great Buddhist site, we are told of Stein and his intertwinement with the Mogao Caves. 

Mogao Caves (Entrance)

    These Caves, almost 500 of them, all have art lining the walls. From sculptures to paintings, the Buddhist themes and art are beautifully preserved. Bresnan states, “The walls and ceilings of the caves are decorated with very beautiful paintings of Buddhist themes that derive from the earliest period of Buddhism in China” (Bresnan 378). He goes on to talk about the interior of the Caves and how they represent the spread of Buddhism into China, which back in the day, was run by Confucianism. However, the video takes a different approach to the Caves, as it mentions Aurel and how he was able to get away with precious thousand-year-old documents and ripping paintings off of the walls inside the Caves. It states, “You discover that the Mogao Caves are in the charge of the abbot of the nearby Daoist monastery. You meet the abbot and you take a picture of him. He looks a bit simple and shabby, and that’s how you treat him - shabbily” (Silk, 30:14 - 30:31). When he is upon the Mogao Caves, he finds the abbot in charge of it. With what the video has told us, we can assume that he held no respect for the abbot. Instead, he looked down upon him as he used the word shabbily to describe this man. He then expends effort in order to gain this abbot’s trust, which we will see, he takes advantage of. 

Diamond Sutra, 868 C.E.

    The Mogao Caves are a beauty of their time. This is the focus that Bresnan takes in his book. He states, “Many of these paintings are pure enchantment” (Bresnan 378). Indeed they are. Aurel Stein also thought that as well. The video goes on to tell us how Stein took advantage of this abbot as it states, “And then you convince Abbot Wang that 130 pounds is more than enough for all of these treasures. You load 29 cases of your plunder onto the backs of camels and take everything back to Britain” (Silk, 31:17 - 31:33). Ripping paintings of the wall dating back to the Tang Dynasty, taking his pick of the documents held by the abbot, one of them being the Diamond Sutra which is the earliest printed book ever discovered, dating back from the ninth century, and only paying 130 pounds for his plunder, is a disgrace. To bring it back to Britain where Stein will get an appraisal for what he “found” or “discovered” is sickening. For the video to state this gives us knowledge into who Stein really was as a man, as a human. The covering of Stein in the video and not the book gives me more knowledge on the details of these discoveries made by Western archaeologists.

Works Cited:

Bresnan, Patrick. Awakening: an Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018.

Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. “Mogao Caves.” UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org/en/list/440/.

“Diamond Sutra.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Diamond-Sutra.

“The Silk Road: Where East Met West: Episode 1.” Films On Demand, Films Media Group, 2016, fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=237206&xtid=124992. Accessed 26 Apr. 2021.