Once in My Eyes: Images of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang Since 1907

This book narrates the story of the murals in the Dunhuang Grottoes and the inheritors who copied them. Through Dunhuang， readers can come in contact with clay paintings closest to the originals and discover the Chinese people’s path towards inheriting ancient culture.

Once in My Eyes: Images of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang Since 1907

Sun Zhijun

CITIC Press Group

August 2021

238.00 (CNY)

Sun Zhijun

Sun Zhijun， director and associate researcher of the Network Center at Dunhuang Academy， and director of the Cultural Relics Photography Committee， China Cultural Relics Academy， has been engaged in grotto photography and digital Dunhuang projects in Dunhuang Academy since 1984.

Nowadays， it is hard for people to imagine what it was like the moment the Buddhist sutra caves in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes were opened. Faced with the photo of Taoist Priest Wang Yuan， which has remained today， where a thin body is wrapped in a broad Taoist priest’s robe and a simple smile appears on a dry， wrinkled face， people can only guess: What was he thinking about when he sold those precious scriptures in Dunhuang to foreign explorers?

It is said that the Taoist priest Fazhen piously exclaimed “Here is the Western Paradise!” when he first climbed the Sanwei Mountain and looked at the Thousand Buddha Cave of Dunhuang in the distance. It was more than 14 centuries ago， when Monk Le， who traveled westward with a stick， saw the phantom of the Thousand Buddha motif on Mingsha Mountain covered by mist and clouds. For this， Wang Yuan， Taoist Priest Fazhen， stayed in the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes. He cleared the quicksand in the caves day and night， expecting that at an early date， he would rebuild one of the Buddhist palaces into his Taoist rite — Taiqing Palace. On the summer solstice of June 22， 1900， Wang Yuan’s tireless merits were finally answered by heaven.

When the quicksand in today’s Cave 16 was cleared away， the wall was slightly tilted and cracked because it lost the protection of the accumulated sand. Yang Guo， a poor scholar who cleaned the cave with Wang Yuan， tapped the wall slightly without notice， unexpectedly causing a hollow sound to reverberate behind the wall. That night， Wang Yuan and Yang Guo smashed the outer wall and discovered a small door， which was too short for a single person to enter and completely blocked by clay. When they opened the door， the Buddhist sutra cave of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes appeared in front of the world.

However， what welcomed this cave full of scriptures and silk paintings was a chaotic world.

For Wang Yuan， he truly wished to exchange these scriptures for merit money. But the despise and theft of Dunhuang’s heritages by officials of the Qing court brought him great confusion. Wang Yuan seemed to know that these scriptures had certain values. But obviously， he couldn’t exchange them for the merit money he expected. This situation led to foreign explorers such as Stein and Pelliot buying Dunhuang’s scriptures afterward.

The theft and plunder of Dunhuang’s scriptures by these western explorers shocked the Chinese academic world a hundred years ago， and the concept of history among the Chinese people began to change. From the 1920s， more and more Chinese scholars visited Dunhuang for research purposes. In the hard times， these senior scholars made significant contributions to the protection of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes. Among them， the story of Mr. Chang Shuhong has become a legend.

Chang Shuhong， who was born near West Lake in Hangzhou in 1904， was obsessed with painting since childhood. At the age of 24， he went to study in France and successively engaged his further study at ENSBA Lyon and the National School of Fine Arts， Paris. As his works won many awards， Chang Shuhong gradually became a famous artist and was elected as a member of the Paris Artists Association. He was the first Chinese artist to join this association. However， all this was changed by an album named Dunhuang Grottoes on an old bookstall at the riverside of the Seine.

This album was a catalog on Dunhuang Grottoes published by Pelliot after he returned to France. The moment he opened the catalog， Chang Shuhong， who had been fascinated by western art， was shocked， “China is such a treasure house of art. But I know nothing about such splendid and time-honored culture of my homeland!” Therefore， Chang Shuhong resolutely gave up the favorable living and working conditions in France and returned to war-torn China.

In 1942， after several twists and turns， Chang Shuhong finally entered Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes. When he looked at the caves buried in quicksand and looked up at the mottled murals on the cave roof， he was deeply hurt. Although he could only live in an empty old temple and survived off of noodles and salt， Chang Shuhong’s intention of guarding the Mogao Grottoes never faded. He investigated grotto buildings， cultural relics， and historical sites while building earthen walls and clearing the sand. He did this to protect these treasures that lay in the Gobi Desert for thousands of years， in case they would be plundered and destroyed again.

In 1984， Dunhuang Cultural Relics Research Institute was expanded into Dunhuang Academy， which not only increased the establishment and gathered talents， but also carried out more extensive international cooperation. It learned and introduced advanced concepts， technologies， and management methods of world cultural heritage protection， and initially established a scientific and technological system for preventive protection. From then on， the protection of cultural relics in the Mogao Grottoes shifted from the previous rescue protection to scientific protection. Its devastating appearance in the past was greatly changed.

At the end of the 1980s， an accidental business trip brought Mr. Fan Jinshi， who later became the third president of Dunhuang Academy， a new direction for protecting Mogao Grottoes. After learning the concept of digital computer storage， Fan Jinshi opened his mind and put forward the idea of “Digital Dunhuang.”

In the next 20-odd years， Dunhuang Academy explored digital technology of cultural relics through cooperation at home and abroad. It independently developed the standard system for the digital protection of cultural relics and established the digital archives for Dunhuang Grottoes， which enabled the precious values and historical information of the Mogao Grottoes to be permanently preserved and utilized.

In those years， Mr. Chang Shuhong led his subordinates to work day and night: copying and restoring murals of the Mogao Grottoes， collecting and sorting out scattered cultural relics， and organizing all kinds of exhibitions and lectures， so that the world would see the beauty of the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes. Nowadays， digital technology allows for the global online sharing of high-resolution images of 30 caves， bringing the Mogao Grottoes to life， and more effectively solves the problem of giving consideration to both cultural relic protection and opening tourism up to the Mogao Grottoes.

In 1994， Mr. Chang passed away in Beijing. According to his will， half of his ashes were taken back to Dunhuang for burial. On the black granite tombstone facing the nine-story building of the Mogao Grottoes near the Dangquan River， several simple words are engraved: The Tomb of Comrade Chang Shuhong. Around Mr. Chang’s grave， more than 20 senior scholars， such as Shi Weixiang and Duan Wenjie， who dedicated their lives to the Mogao Grottoes， are sleeping forever.

Mr. Chen Yinke once said， “Dunhuang is a miserable part of history for China’s academics.” However， it is a great fortune for Dunhuang and Chinese art to encounter such a guardian as Chang Shuhong. Over the past 70 years， generations of the Mogao Grottoes have handed down the “Mogao spirit，” with the connotations of standing fast in the desert， devoting themselves to Dunhuang， being brave in taking responsibility and forging ahead. They were dedicated to one thing all their lives: protecting Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes and protecting the treasures of the Chinese civilization.

The moment when Taoist Priest Wang Yuan opened the Buddhist sutra cave in the Mogao Grottoes marked the beginning of “Dunhuang Studies” as one of the famous schools of the 20th century. The past hundred years have seen rapid and profound changes in the Mogao Grottoes. Today， when we look back at this history and try to explore the past and future of the Mogao Grottoes， in which way should we reopen that “door”?