The Buddhist Diamond Sutra is the world’s oldest surviving complete printed book, dating back to 868 AD. The book is a sacred text of Mahayana Buddhism, which teaches the wisdom of emptiness and compassion. The book was discovered in a hidden cave in Dunhuang, China, in 1900, along with thousands of other manuscripts and artworks. The book is now preserved in the British Library and is available online for anyone to read.

#Buddhism #DiamondSutra #Dunhuang https://www.openculture.com/2023/08/discover-the-buddhist-diamond-sutra-the-worlds-oldest-surviving-complete-printed-book-868-ad.html?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=shaneless%2Fmagazine%2Fancient+historicity+

People visit the #Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring scenic spot with a herd of camels in #Dunhuang, northwest China's #Gansu Province, April 24, 2023.

Found a great blog post by a #China scholar about the excavation of Sir Marc Aurel Stein in #Dunhuang https://silkroaddigressions.com/2021/03/01/aurel-stein-at-dunhuang/ #history

Ik heb mijn slag geslagen deze #Boekenweek: "De klacht van de buffel", dierenfabels uit het oude China vertaald door Wilt Idema, vooral uit Dunhuang. Idema vertaalt serieus al zeker 50 (!) jaar oude Chinese verhalen en poëzie in het Nederlands. Ben heel benieuwd naar dit nieuwe boek!
#China #literatuur #dieren #Dunhuang @boeken

What a beautiful Chinese classical #dance performance from #Dunhuang, inspired by many cultural influences beyond Han Chinese.

#China could be so much richer if it respected #diversity instead of assimilating it in re-education camps in #Xinjiang, boarding schools in #Tibet or by ending local autonomy in #HongKong. It is no surprise that the people of #Taiwan would fiercely resist any attempt to assimilate their island.

https://youtu.be/bgGqgjkBLek

The newly opened Central Asian Gallery of National Museum of #India at #NewDelhi holds one of the largest collections on #Buddhism #Art from #CentralAsia like this c 7-10th century Stucco #Painting of 'A Seated (Paryanka pose) #Buddhist Monk Holding a Scroll'

Such objects, discovered (& plundered) by Sir Aural Stein, once adorned the colorful #Dunhuang Caves of #Xinjiang region of #Turkistan #China

#Buddha #Paintings #IndianCulture #IndianHistory #IndianHeritage #Religions #History #Heritage

#BOTD: Lao Gan 勞榦 (1907–2003), #Chinese historian of the early imperial (Qin-Han #秦漢) and early medieval (Wei-Jin-Nanbeichao #魏晉南北朝) periods. Conducted groundbreaking research on Juyan Han wooden strips #居延漢簡 and #Dunhuang art #敦煌藝術. #Chinesehistory #ModernChina

The Mausolea of Xi Xia kingdom near Yinchuan. A Chinese/Tungut kingdom that controlled the easternmost part of the #silkroad to the Ordos from 1038 to 1227. This #Buddhist kingdom created some of the later caves at #Dunhuang such as at Yelun and is contemporary with Chwarezm. #archaeology #histodon #china

#silkroad. Everybody talks about the Mogao caves at #Dunhuang, but this is only one of five Buddhist cave monasteries in the area. The equally fabulous Yulin caves further east continue into the Qing period but have some beautiful statue groups. Picture from Google as private photography is rarely permitted. #archaeology #buddhism #china

#DOTD: Xiang Da 向達 (1900–1966), #Chinese historian of the #MiddleAges, #Dunhuang #敦煌 scholar, translator, #bookhistorian. #MedievalChina #ModernChina #ChineseHistorians #Buddhism #EastWestExchanges #BertoldLaufer