Studies on Dunhuang Manuscripts

Author: Xu Jianping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: The 21 articles included in this collection of essays were selected from papers on Dunhuang studies. If there is any achievement, it is an account of the past eighteen years of work. However, with the abundance of tedious textual research in the collection, the author is inevitably labeled as such. One of my colleagues once compared my work to this: If ancient books are like pieces of torn clothing, my work is akin to mending those with numerous holes. After much reflection, I had to agree with his analogy. God has given me a brain that lacks creativity—I can’t be a fashion designer or sew trendy, beautiful clothes, but only a street tailor, patching up torn clothes. However, the skill in patching clothes varies, and I certainly don’t possess the mastery of Qingwen in repairing brocade. I just hope that the few torn clothes I’ve encountered can be made a bit less torn through my efforts, rather than getting worse. As for how well I’ve patched them, I must ask the advanced scholars in academia for some criticism, so that I may "correct the flaws and strive for excellence." Thank you in advance.