Photo:
Aurel Stein's
explorations along the Silk Road
A
fascination with Buddhist writings introduced Stein to the Silk Road - a
collection of trade routes across Central Asia connecting China and the Far
East with the Mediterranean and the West. While his first expedition across
the Taklamakan Desert was arguably the most arduous, it was the second to the
Caves of One Thousand Buddhas at Dunhuang, where he uncovered thousands of
manuscripts and prized paintings on silk, which was to be the most important.
Whole fields of research in ancient China and the history of Buddhism in the
region developed from his findings alone. During his life Stein journeyed
extensively through Central Asia and the Middle East, intent on furthering the
world's knowledge of past civilization and bagging even more heritage in the
process. Yet his determination always drove him onto new pastures. Aged 81,
the prodigious scholar arrived in Kabul for the first time, intent on
exploring Afghanistan's pre-Islamic past. He became ill and died within a
week.
TREASURES
Photo:
Stein's grave in Kabul
Most of the Stein artifacts at the museum are not on permanent
show because of their delicacy. The Stein room is where the collection's most
prestigious silk paintings live, far from public gaze. And in the vaults of
the museum lie several thousand more artifacts - carved tablets, pots, figures
- in darkness. But not for long. Through the museum's digitization process the
whole collection will soon be accessible to the public on the internet. A
parallel digitization program, the International Dunhuang Project, is going on
at the nearby British Library, a result of more than two decades of academic
collaboration. The library, in collaboration with the museum, is also putting
on an exhibition of Stein's manuscripts, paintings and artifacts next year.
Yet while the question of returning the Dunhuang treasures has arisen several
times - the Chinese Worker's Daily carried a campaign for their return several
years ago - Chinese authorities have never formally brought up the issue of
the Dunhuang treasures. Chinese academics have long recognized Stein's
establishment and development of archaeology in the region, but have severely
castigated his "destruction and plundering" when acquiring the antiquities.
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