Cross the Taklamakan Desert (Figure, photo)

Author: [British] Stein
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-10-01
Features: A hundred years ago, the British Stein came to China, bringing the silent Western Regions back to life. In 1908, Stein, accompanied by his assistants and his camel caravan laden with cultural relics, braved the sandstorms and traversed the Taklamakan Desert along the route once traveled by Xuanzang, eventually returning to London. The text and numerous illustrations in this book vividly recreate the prosperous Buddhist civilization and geographical features of ancient Taklamakan. Today, we can follow in their footsteps, traveling through time to enter the mysterious and rich "Valley of Death." Across the Taklamakan is the sixth volume in the Journey Through the Western Regions series. Journey Through the Western Regions is a detailed report of Stein's archaeological surveys and excavations in western Xinjiang and Gansu, China, from 1906 to 1908. It is also a continuation of the Ancient Khotan report, which resulted from Stein's first archaeological surveys and excavations in Xinjiang from 1900 to 1901. The Journey Through the Western Regions covers a vast geographical area, from west to east, including the current Hetian Prefecture, Aksu Prefecture, Bayinbuluke Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Turpan Prefecture, Hami Prefecture, and the Hexi Corridor. Important sites surveyed and excavated in these regions include Akterek, Kadayik, Mazatage, Niya, Andir, the Milan Buddhist Temple, the Tibetan Fortress, the ancient city of Loulan and its nearby sites, Yanqi Mingwu and its nearby grottoes and ruins, the Han Great Wall and beacon towers in western Gansu, the Dunhuang Thousand Buddha Caves and the Library Cave. Stein discovered a wide range of artifacts at these sites, including sculptures, paintings, inscriptions (including Chinese, Sanskrit, Kharosthi, Hetian, Kucha, Tibetan, Turkic, Sogdian, and Uyghur scripts), textiles (silk, wool, hemp, cotton, etc.), coins, inscriptions, fragments of Buddhist scriptures, as well as a large number of daily utensils, tools, decorations, and weapons made of materials such as pottery, wood, stone, metal (gold, silver, copper, iron, etc.), glass, and semi-precious stones. The book is also accompanied by numerous illustrations of ruins, site plans and cross-sections, as well as one volume of artifact illustrations and one volume of maps of the surveyed regions. The entire work is centered on archaeology and covers the many academic fields mentioned above, making it extremely rich in content.