Situated at the crossroads of the northern and southern routes of the ancient silk routes in western China, Dunhuang is one of the richest Buddhist sites in the world, with more than 500 richly decorated cave temples constructed between the fourth and fourteenth centuries. The sculptures, murals, portable paintings, and manuscripts found in the Mogao and Yulin Caves at Dunhuang represent every aspect of Buddhism. From its earliest construction to the present, this location has been visualized by many individuals, from the architects, builders, and artists who built the caves to twentieth-century explorers, photographers, and conservators, as well as contemporary artists.
Visualizing Dunhuang: Seeing, Studying, and Conserving the Caves is a paperback edition of the ninth volume of the magnificent nine-volume hardback set, and examines how the Lo Archive, a vast collection of photographs taken in the 1940s of the Mogao and Yulin Caves, inspires a broad range of scholarship. Lavishly illustrated with selected Lo Archive and modern photographs, the essays address three main areas--Dunhuang as historical record, as site, and as art and art history. Leading experts across three continents examine a wealth of topics, including expeditionary photography and cave architecture, to demonstrate the intellectual richness of Dunhuang. Diverse as they are in their subjects and methodologies, the essays represent only a fraction of what can be researched about Dunhuang. The high concentration of caves at Mogao and Yulin and their exceptional contents chronicle centuries of artistic styles, shifts in Buddhist doctrine, and patterns of political and private patronage--providing an endless source of material for future work.
Contributors include Neville Agnew, Dora Ching, Jun Hu, Annette Juliano, Richard Kent, Wei-Cheng Lin, Cary Liu, Maria Menshikova, Jerome Silbergeld, Roderick Whitfield, and Zhao Shengliang.
Published in association with the Tang Center for East Asian Art, Princeton University
Visualizing Dunhuang: Seeing, Studying, and Conserving the Caves, Dora C. Y. Ching (Editor), Princeton University Press, 400 pages, $68.00
Dora C. Y. Ching (editor) is associate director of the P. Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art at Princeton University.
CONTENTS: Visualizing Dunhuang: Seeing, Studying, and Conserving the Caves
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Preface and Acknowledgments
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7
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Contributors
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9
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Chronologies
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10
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Map
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14
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Introduction
DORA C.Y. CHING
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17
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DUNHUANG AS HISTORICAL ARCHIVE
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The Lo Archive's Place in Documentary, Expeditionary, and Art Photography During China's Republican Period
DORA C.Y. CHING & RICHARD K. KENT
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23
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The Dunhuang Collection in the Hermitage
MARIA L. MENSHIKOVA
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69
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The Significance of the Lo Archive
ZHAO SHENGLIANG
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89
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Buddhist Art at Dunhuang and the Lo Archive
RODERICK WHITFIELD
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115
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DUNHUANG AS SITE: ARCHITECTURE AND SETTING
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Architecture and Land on the Dark Side of the Moon: The Mogao Caves and Mount Sanwei
CARY Y. LIU
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149
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What Did "Architecture" Do in Visualizing Dunhuang?
WEI-CHENG LIN
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191
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Conserving the Mogao Grottoes: The Thirty-Year Collaboration of the Dunhuang Academy and the Getty Conservation Institute
NEVILLE AGNEW
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213
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DUNHUANG AS ART AND ART HISTORY
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Reflections on Early Dunhuang Caves: Textiles, Thrones, and Crowns ANNETTE JULIANO
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237
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Narrative, Architecture, and figuration in Mogao Cave 420 JUN HU
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265
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Dunhuang's Contribution to Chinese Art History: A Historiographic Inquiry JEROME SILBERGELD
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287
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Bibliography |
355 |
Index-Glossary |
373 |
Image Credits |
397 |
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