Stein's Third Central Asian Archaeological Expedition: Chinese Manuscripts (Non-Buddhist Portions) (Vol. 1 & 2)

Author: Sha Zhi, edited by Wu Fangsi
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-08-01
Features: This book collects a large number of ancient documents and artifacts discovered and excavated during Stein's Third Western Regions (Central Asia) Expedition from 1913 to 1916 in Xinjiang and Gansu (including Hetian, Loulan, Turpan, Dunhuang, Juyan Heishui, etc.). The documents are written in various languages, including Chinese, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Uyghur, Sogdian, Turkic, Khitan, Western Xia, and Persian (with Chinese accounting for four-fifths). The content covers politics, economy, culture, ethnicity, language, Sino-Western transportation, and more, including edicts, letters, household registration records, land tax records, ancient books, medical texts, children's learning materials, and talismans. The time span ranges from the Wei and Jin dynasties to the Western Xia and Yuan dynasties, with the majority from the Jin and Tang periods. The book contains 1,500 images, with facsimiles of the original texts and corresponding illustrations. The arrangement follows the itinerary of Stein's third expedition, sequentially including Han Chinese documents related to social content from the various sites surveyed during this investigation.