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Significant Archaeological
Discovery
at Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang
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10-year survey of the caves in the northern area of the Mogao Grottoes
has been completed. The Mogao Grottoes are also known as the "Thousand
Buddha Caves." In the southern area there are only 492 caves, far
from the original figure of one thousand. The 200 caves or more
in the northern area, with only a few wall paintings and statues
of Buddha inside, have been regarded as places of accommodation
for the artisans and painters working on the construction of the
southern caves. So they had previously been neglected. ????
???? In 1988, the Dunhuang Research Academy dispatched a team to the
northern area to carry out an overall archaeological survey and
excavations. In 1996, the "archaeological survey and study of Dunhuang
Mogao Grottoes program" was listed as a key subject in the state
social science research programs during the Ninth Five-Year Plan
period. The team surveyed and excavated the 243 caves in the northern
area one by one. Their first judgment is that the caves were used
mainly to accommodate visiting monks, or for meditation or funerals.
In these caves, a great deal of fragments of scriptures and sutras
were unearthed, written in at least seven languages--Han, Tibetan,
Uygur, Sanskrit, Western Xia, Mongol and Syriac, of which the last
three were found for the first time. The most valuable finds are
the "Gold Fragment " in the Western Xia language and fragments of
the "Original Sutra of Ksitigarbha," the only known existing copy
in the world. Also unearthed from the caves in the northern area
were a number of Persian silver coins, Western Xia coins, and well-preserved
Uygur wood-block type, pottery wares, wooden articles and textile
products, all of the highest academic value.
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