The Dunhuang Caves and the Diamond Sutra's Significance

Key Insight

An explorer, Marc Aurel Stein, embarked on a journey to a remote corner of Turkestan after hearing rumors of extraordinary treasures. He meticulously prepared for the expedition, packing essential tools and supplies, including tin-lined cases for maps and books, surveying instruments, guns, and even formal attire to impress local officials. After a challenging six-month trek across harsh sand deserts, navigating the Lop desert with donkeys and camels and enduring an icy storm, he finally reached the oasis of Mogao in late March 1907.

The Mogao caves proved to be spectacular, adorned with enormous sculptures, intricate rock carvings, and countless icons. Many cave walls were covered with painted images, some containing thousands of brilliantly colored Buddha depictions, hand-painted or block-printed over 1,300 years prior, appearing remarkably fresh. The ceilings were similarly decorated with 86 distinct scenes illustrating stages of the Buddha's life, dating from the Northern Zhou dynasty (AD 557-588). Among these were also vast statues of Buddhas up to 100 feet high and images reflecting Indian artistic influence. The most significant discovery awaited in Cave 17, a tiny cavern found by a local Daoist monk, Wang Yuanlu, who had appointed himself guardian of the crumbling caves and discovered a hidden doorway while performing restoration work.

Inside Cave 17 lay an immense trove: tens of thousands of ancient paper volumes, hundreds of silk banners, and vast quantities of textiles, estimated to fill nearly 500 cubic feet. Despite initial Chinese orders for safekeeping, transportation issues led to the cave's resealing. In May 1907, Stein, determined to understand how Buddhism arrived in China, persuaded monk Wang Yuanlu to open it again. For a paltry 220 English pounds, Stein acquired virtually the entire contents, amounting to twenty-four wagonloads of ancient objects. Among these was the Diamond Sutra, a fifteen-foot grayish-yellow scroll, which, critically, was block-printed, not a manuscript. This discovery provided immutable proof that dated block printing originated in China 600 years before it was widely assumed to have begun in the West, establishing China's status as a highly sophisticated civilization and a foundational source of human invention.