Fan Jinshi: Unearthing the Spiritual Symbols of Chinese Civilization Contained in Dunhuang's Cultural Heritage
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out during a symposium at the Dunhuang Academy: "In researching and promoting Dunhuang culture, we must deeply excavate the philosophical thought, humanistic spirit, values, and moral norms contained behind the culture and historical remains of Dunhuang. We should promote the creative transformation and innovative development of excellent traditional Chinese culture, and even more so, reveal the cultural spirit, cultural breadth, and cultural confidence of the Chinese nation contained therein, providing spiritual support for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era." The broad and profound Dunhuang culture contains many spiritual landmarks of Chinese civilization, such as a strong and resolute pioneering spirit, an open and inclusive spirit of symbiosis, and a humanistic spirit of governing for the benefit of the people. Excavating and promoting these spiritual landmarks helps us perceive the wisdom of the ancients and protect the cultural roots of the Chinese nation. It is of great significance for enhancing national cohesion, increasing cultural influence, and promoting peaceful coexistence and mutual learning among different cultures in today’s world. Furthermore, it can inject spiritual momentum into the grand cause of advancing the building of a strong country and national rejuvenation on all fronts through Chinese-path modernization.
Embodying the Strong and Resolute Pioneering Spirit of Chinese Civilization
When discussing the major achievements of China's archaeological discoveries during the twenty-third collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping noted: "These major achievements demonstrate the enterprising spirit of the Chinese nation—pioneering and innovative, advancing with the times, and striving for self-improvement [1]. They are an inexhaustible treasure trove of rich knowledge, wisdom, and art, and an important source for strengthening cultural confidence." Our ancestors long ago proposed the idea that "as heaven maintains vigor through movement, a person of virtue should constantly strive for self-improvement" [2]. This is the internal drive for the Chinese nation to be proactive, vigorous, and courageous. The opening of the Silk Road, the stabilization of the Hexi region, and the creation of the Dunhuang caves and statues all reflect the strong and resolute pioneering spirit of the Chinese nation.
In 138 BCE and 119 BCE, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty twice dispatched Zhang Qian as an envoy to the Western Regions [3], opening the Silk Road. After the Battle of Hexi cleared the obstacles from the Central Plains to the Western Regions, the Han Dynasty took the measure of "establishing four commanderates and occupying two passes" in 111 BCE. Administratively, it established the four commanderates of Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang from east to west along the approximately 1,200-kilometer Hexi Corridor. Militarily, it built the Great Wall to the north of the four commanderates and established the Yumen and Yang passes to the west of Dunhuang, conscripting large numbers of soldiers for border defense and military land reclamation (tun-tian). Following the establishment of these two passes, Dunhuang became the western gateway for exchange between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions, a transit hub for East-West trade, and a confluence for religious culture and knowledge. Meanwhile, prominent families, literati, scholars, travelers, merchants, farmers, artisans, painters, and performers migrated here. They brought not only farming and irrigation techniques from the Central Plains but also Confucian and Taoist culture, laying a solid material and cultural foundation for the creation of the Dunhuang cave clusters represented by the Mogao Caves.
Looking at the history of the Dunhuang caves, there are countless figures who embodied the pioneering spirit, especially a group of eminent monks who sought and protected the Dharma. According to the "Stele of the Buddhist Niche in the Mogao Caves by Li Jun" from 698 CE, the earliest two caves at Mogao were established in 366 CE by the monk Lezun and the Dhyana master Faliang. Subsequently, countless anonymous cave-diggers, painters, and sculptors continued to pioneer and create the Dunhuang Mogao Caves for 1,000 years between the 4th and 14th centuries. On a cliff face over 1,700 meters long, 735 caves, more than 2,400 statues, and 45,000 square meters of murals have been preserved to this day. This has made the Mogao Caves an unparalleled group of Buddhist grotto art and a treasure house of excellent traditional Chinese culture and art. The footprints of these great pioneers recorded in the Dunhuang cultural heritage concentrate the strong and resolute pioneering spirit of Chinese civilization.
Embodying the Open and Inclusive Symbiotic Spirit of Chinese Civilization
The inclusivity of Chinese civilization fundamentally determines Chinese culture's open-mindedness toward absorbing and integrating world civilizations. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Looking back at history, only a nation with an open and inclusive mind like the Chinese nation would accommodate the integration and meeting of different world civilizations here" and "Dunhuang was an important hub where Eastern and Western cultures met in history." Located on the western frontier of ancient China, Dunhuang was the intersection of Chinese civilization and foreign civilizations. The Dunhuang cultural heritage, represented by the Mogao Caves art and the Dunhuang Library Cave manuscripts, is based on Chinese civilization while broadly absorbing and integrating various foreign civilizations—including Indian, Greco-Roman, Persian, and Central Asian civilizations—with an open mind and grand stature, reflecting the cultural characteristics of openness, inclusivity, mutual learning, and a spirit of symbiosis.
Dunhuang cultural heritage not only preserves cave art and documents concerning Chinese architecture, history, literature, painting, music, dance, medicine, etiquette, customs, and systems, but also integrates cultural and artistic elements from different countries and regions along the Silk Road. Most representatively, caves from the first half of the 5th century feature Greek Ionic columns, a result of Central Asia's reception of Greek culture which subsequently influenced Dunhuang. The architectural forms of the early meditation caves and central pillar caves at Mogao, the images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in sculptures and murals, and images of Hindu deities such as the elephant-headed Vinayaka, all blend artistic styles with elements from Gandhara, Mathura, and the Gupta Empire. There are also a large number of translated Buddhist scriptures, representing influence from South Asia and India. The images of kings from various countries dressed in different costumes in the murals, and the Sogdian Whirl Dance performed by women from the Kang Kingdom [4] depicted in murals from 642 CE, are presentations of Central Asian culture. Persian silver coins unearthed at Mogao, Persian Manichaean scriptures, Zoroastrian goddess images, and Nestorian Christian (Jingjiao) scriptures found in the Library Cave, all stem from the influence of West Asian Persian culture... These examples illustrate that the Mogao Caves are the crystallization of the convergence and fusion of multiple cultures and civilizations, embodying the open and inclusive symbiotic spirit and grand stature of Chinese civilization.
Embodying the Humanistic Spirit of Governing for the Benefit of the People
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The ancient Silk Road was not only a path for trading goods, but also a path for the exchange of knowledge." As a "bottleneck" on the ancient Silk Road, Dunhuang's geographical location was vital. With the prosperity of the ancient Silk Road, Eastern and Western civilizations converged here over a long period. There was not only the introduction of foreign cultures but also the dissemination and infiltration of Chinese culture into broader regions. Historically, Confucian classics, laws, medicine, and primers [5] introduced from Dunhuang to the Western Regions spread the philosophical concepts, justice values, humanistic sentiments, and educational wisdom of the Chinese nation, reflecting the humanistic spirit of Chinese civilization in governing for the benefit of the people and bestowing blessings in all directions.
Among the preserved manuscripts in the Dunhuang Library Cave, there are more than 30 types and 300 pieces of Confucian classic copies, dating from the Wei and Jin dynasties to the Five Dynasties and early Song period. These include the Book of Documents (Shangshu), The Analects, and the Classic of Poetry, as well as ancient books now lost to history such as the Annotated Analects. Furthermore, historical category (Shibu) texts were introduced to the Western Regions, such as manuscript copies of the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), the Book of Han (Hanshu), and the Sequel to the Speeches of the Warring States (Chunqiu Houyu), which had been lost since the Yuan and Ming dynasties. This indicates the continuous influence of Confucian culture and Chinese classics on the Western Regions.
The Tang Code integrated the great achievements of Chinese law prior to the Tang Dynasty and is known as a representative of the Chinese legal system—one of the world's five major legal systems. It has had a profound impact on the legal history of China and Southeast Asia. The Tang Dynasty legal documents from Dunhuang mainly consist of manuscripts of Lu (Laws), Ling (Orders), Ge (Regulations), and Shi (Ordinances). Lu were punitive articles for various illegal acts; Ling were provisions for systems and rules; Ge were prohibitions used to prevent wickedness and served as supplements or adaptations to the Lu; Shi were various rules and details for government agencies. these were the basic manifestations of law during the Sui and Tang dynasties. Among the "Law" category documents from the Library Cave are the "Law on Nomenclature and Objects" and "Law on Official Systems." There are fewer "Regulations," though fragments like the "Regulations of the Ministry of Justice Issued in the Shenlong Era" and "Regulations of the Ministry of Revenue of the Kaiyuan Era" exist.
Medical manuscripts transmitted from Dunhuang to the Western Regions include three categories: medical classics, materia medica, and prescriptions. Medical classics include fragments such as the "Methods of Pulse Differentiation" from the Treatise on Cold Damage (Shanghan Lun), which is one of the earliest extant versions of the text. Important materia medica documents include fragments of the "Preface and Records of the Collected Annotations to the Classic of Materia Medica," where only a few lines are missing from the beginning. In the Library Cave, prescriptions are the most numerous medical fragments, with a total of 34 prescriptions preserved.
Dunhuang also saw the discovery of primers and family instructions (jia-xun) introduced to the Western Regions. Many primers were preserved among the Dunhuang manuscripts. Content-wise, there are basic literacy materials like the Thousand Character Classic, Important Instructions for Beginning Learners, and the Hundred Family Surnames. There are also knowledge-based materials intended to broaden one's horizons, such as Seeking Primers, the Ceyuan Prefecture Strategy, Miscellaneous Excerpts, and the Collection of Ancient Sages. Finally, there are moral education materials focused on admonition and character cultivation, such as Grand Duke’s House Teaching, Madame Cui’s Instructions to Her Daughter, Chapter on a Hundred Deeds, and The Master’s Words to Admonish the World. From these, it is easy to see the basic landscape of educational prosperity in the Dunhuang region at that time.
Dunhuang culture belongs to China, and Dunhuang studies belong to the world. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "To protect the Mogao Caves well and to inherit Dunhuang culture well is the responsibility the Chinese nation should bear for the progress of world civilization." Facing the future, we must continue to extract more spiritual landmarks of Chinese civilization from Dunhuang culture, carry out various forms of international exhibitions and cultural dialogues, and showcase China's achievements in the protection of Dunhuang relics and research in Dunhuang studies. At the same time, we should make good use of high-tech means such as digitalization and information technology to promote the "digital return" of Dunhuang manuscripts and other relics scattered overseas. This will realize the global digital sharing of Dunhuang cultural and artistic resources. Together with scholars from all over the world, we will tell the Dunhuang story well, spread China's voice, and demonstrate a credible, loveable, and respectable cultural image of China to the international community through cultural communication.