Dunhuang Buddhist Canon Catalogue Compilation and (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Fang Guanglang (Editor and Compiler)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1997-08-01
Features: Since the discovery of Dunhuang manuscripts, scholars from both the East and the West have explored and studied numerous aspects such as politics, economy, culture, ethnicity, religion, language, literature, and science and technology, achieving significant accomplishments. However, due to historical reasons, Dunhuang manuscripts are scattered across libraries and museums worldwide, including Beijing, London, Paris, St. Petersburg, and others, with some privately held in secret collections, making it difficult for people to access them in their entirety. Since the 1950s, major collections from China, the UK, and France have been microfilmed and made publicly available, providing unprecedented convenience for readers. However, due to the scattered nature of the materials and often non-systematic editing methods, researchers still find it inconvenient to use them. In light of this, in the early 1980s, we began planning to categorize and organize the Dunhuang manuscripts into specialized volumes for publication. In 1983, the editorial committee was officially established, and this series was listed as a key project under the National Philosophy and Social Sciences "Six-Five Plan." Over the past decade and a half, the editorial committee has actively planned, contributed to scholars, implemented projects, reviewed manuscripts, and overcome various difficulties. Today, we finally present this series, Dunhuang Manuscripts: Categorized and Collected, to the academic community and the public. This is our contribution to the field of Dunhuang studies.