Dunhuang: Chinese History and Geography Illustrated

Su Xiaorui

Su Xiaorui is the painter of Children’s History Picture Encyclopedia of China’s National Museum： Home， Where Did We Come From？ She got the postgraduate recommendation to CAFA （Central Academy of Fine Arts）. As her graduation project was themed on “niche space” and Chinese religious architecture， she formed ties with the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes and shows a profound understanding of them after her wide reading of famous literature and in-depth field visits.

This story begins with the act of a girl picking up a stone. The old stone resembles the face of an aged man， just like an elderly god， who was awakened by the girl from his long dream， slowly and gently unfolding the picture of Dunhuang history through thousands of years. It came into being when the lake had dried up and Yardang landform had been formed. Then， it experienced the Han Dynasty， witnessing warriors in the wars and the initial construction of the Great Wall; the stone accompanied the ascetic monk Lezun， meditating alone in the grottoes. And when the Tang Dynasty came， it started to work with the mural craftsmen who selected the lapis lazuli to grind the pigments to paint the flying goddess. During the war， the rulers of the Central Plains and the three northern constantly invaded this land， so the civilians were in a precarious situation and could only seek solace in the afterlife with the help of Buddhism ... This land has undergone disputes and wars， as well as peace and prosperity， once being a metropolis of business and exchanges， and then turning into a forsaken place. The stone had slept badly until European explorers entered in the caves， who brought Dunhuang cultural relics to the Western world.

Dunhuang： Chinese History

and Geography Illustrated

Su Xiaorui

China CITIC Press

January 2020

88.00 （CNY）

This story begins with an incident that a girl picked up a stone. The old stone resembles the face of an aged man， just like an elderly god， who is awakened by the girl from his long dream， slowly telling the story of the ups and downs it had experienced in the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes.

It came into being when the lake had dried up and the Yardang landform had been formed. Then， it experienced the Han Dynasty， witnessing warriors in the wars and the initial construction of the Great Wall. The stone accompanied the ascetic monk Lezun， meditating lonely in the grottoes as a practitioner. And when the time came to the Tang Dynasty， it started to work with the mural craftsmen who selected the lapis lazuli to grind the pigments to paint the flying goddess. During the war， the rulers of the Central Plains and the three northern dynasties constantly invaded this land， so the civilians were in a precarious situation and could only seek solace in the afterlife with the help of Buddhism ... This land has gone through disputes and wars， as well as peace and prosperity， once being a metropolis of business and exchanges， and then being a forsaken place. The stone could not bear to see that， so it had slept badly until European explorers entered in the caves， who brought Dunhuang cultural relics to the Western world.

Later， as Dunhuang became an international attraction， more and more experts and scholars came here to study and explore the beauty of the Mogao Grottoes. The old stone was filled with happiness with only a slight worry that the same old Dunhuang would disappear under the yellow sand， so it looked forward to the recording of the beauty of the Mogao Grottoes and its story with high-definition cameras and high-tech detection technology.

In 1961， the State Council of China listed the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes as the first batch of the key cultural relics under national protection. In 1987， they were included in the World Cultural Heritage protection project by UNESCO， and were awarded the World Cultural Heritage certificate in 1991.

Its beauty enjoys the world-wide audience.

Hence， here was born Dunhuang： Chinese History and Geography Illustrated， which is the only scientific picture book about Dunhuang for primary school students at present.

Depicting the history of 4，000 years in Dunhuang， the picture book possesses great artistic and popular scientific value.

The book includes the desert landscape painted to be sparse and spacious， the figures and vessels portrayed delicate and exquisite. The scientific illustrations are full of details， while the narrative drawings present grand scenery. More than 200 hand-painted manuscripts perfectly reproduce the unmatched beauty of Dunhuang murals. Every picture， even every sentence is based on detailed historical data to make it scientific and reliable. Furthermore， many experts including Zhang Xiaogang， the director of the Dunhuang Historical Research Institute， have proofread the content several times rigorously to ensure that its details are accurate. In addition， the book contains more than 300 facts， involving multiple fields such as history， geography， politics， ethnic groups， religion， economy， military， art， and so on. It breaks disciplinary barriers and details the process of social civilization in a comprehensive way. Also， it explains in detail why Dunhuang， a metropolis linking the East and West， is reputed as a unique bright pearl on the Silk Roads， whose history witnesses the exchange and integration of civilizations.

The book tries to solve the complex problem in visiting Dunhuang： the desert covers the beauty and the crowds shadows the Buddha. Benefited from the Silk Roads and cooperation between China and the West， the book also actively inherits the spirit of Chinese civilization， aiming to improve the traditional cultural literacy of young people and cultivate their cultural confidence in conformity with the existing textbooks." Dunhuang： Chinese History and Geography Illustrated is a wonderful book with ornamental and practical quality.