Dunhuang Grottoes Collection — Transportation Scroll (26)

Author: Compiled by the Dunhuang Academy, Chief Editor Ma Deběn
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-12-01
Features: This book aims to comprehensively and systematically introduce the historical records revealed by the murals. However, the images in the cave murals are mostly used to depict Buddhist doctrines. At the same time, the murals have been artistically processed, naturally containing many imaginative elements. Especially for some mural artists, they may not have seen the actual means of transportation they depicted, which creates a certain distance between the transportation images in the murals and the real transportation conditions. Moreover, the ancient transportation images in the murals do not equate to an encyclopedia of ancient Chinese transportation, as many means of transportation and road facilities are not depicted in the murals, which limits the content of this volume. On the other hand, due to limitations in format and length, some other content in the murals, such as urban streets, palace courtyards, garden paths, cave scaffolding, as well as cave figures related to transportation, and many other documented materials about ancient transportation outside the murals, cannot all be included in this volume. Therefore, this volume only provides readers with some materials for research and appreciation.