Silk is the connection of fibers, and the Silk Road is the connection of culture. Silk is the driving force of the Silk Road, and Dunhuang is the important town of the Silk Road. However, due to historical reasons, these long-buried physical relics, scattered around the world like treasures, have not been systematically sorted out and studied.
But the puzzle always has a good day. As a well-known expert in the history of silk art, Zhao Feng, a professor at Donghua University in Shanghai and director of the China Silk Museum, led the Dunhuang silk research team to cooperate with experts and scholars from cultural and cultural institutions around the world for 15 years to comprehensively, systematically and scientifically sort out and study the silk-based textile artworks excavated from the Mogao Caves since the discovery of the Tibetan Scripture Caves, including thousands of silk fabrics.
As a project of the National Publishing Fund, this Silk Road historical masterpiece, "Dunhuang Silk Art Complete Collection", containing millions of words and more than 1,000 pictures, was published as a whole at the "Silk Road and Silk Art" forum of Donghua University on the 15th. The complete collection was published in multi-volume form in different regions, including 10 volumes in Chinese and English, including the English-Tibetan Scroll, the Fa-Tibetan Scroll, the Russian-Tibetan Scroll, the Lushun Volume, and the Dunhuang Volume, filling the gap in the study of silk in Dunhuang Studies.
Empirical restoration of east-west integration of history
"Although through war and peace, cultural connections have been infiltrated with suffering and hope, but they have eventually become the most important link between the diverse cultures of Eurasia." The director of the Dunhuang Xiyu Editorial Office of the Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House and the editor of the Xian Zhan said that Zhao Feng's team walked out of the silk town of the silk country, with modern means such as microscopes, starting from the ultra-microscopic fiber structure, and walked through the Silk Road millimeter by millimeter, all the way to the hinterland of Asia and the coast of Europe.
The fabrics collected in the entire collection strongly prove that in the centuries before the closure of the Tibetan Scripture Cave, the silk trade in northwest China was very frequent, and Dunhuang was located on a busy traffic artery. "As the hub of the Silk Road, Dunhuang records that its silk fabrics came not only from the East, but also from the Central Asian system, such as a 'Zaandaniki brocade' that uses the process of warp and weft breaking, and the source is in Sogdia." Moreover, they are very valuable in Dunhuang, mainly used as a book envelope.
Through the comparison with the specifications and technical characteristics of the Central Asian system brocade, Wang Le, a professor at the School of Fashion and Art Design of Donghua University, pointed out that 9 of the existing fabrics in the Dunhuang region from the Tang Dynasty to the fifth dynasty are Central Asian system brocades, and some popular treasure flower patterns in the Central Plains appear on these fabrics. What is more interesting is that the fabric named Hu Jin recorded in the Chinese book is likely to be a brocade in the Central Plains that imitates Western themes or has some Western styles.
Coincidentally, the "Lushun Scrolls" for the first time released animal theme patterns such as lions and Greven on the blue jacket valerian fabrics hidden in the Lushun Museum, which also reflected the cultural exchanges between the East and the West at that time. The valerian process prevailed in the Tang and Song dynasties, using two pieces of concave and convex symmetrical flower plates to clamp the fabric for spinning and dyeing printing, which was lost after the Ming Dynasty. The largest collector of Dunhuang silk in China, the Lushun Museum, collected more than 50 pieces of Dunhuang silk in the "Dagu Collection", was published for the first time, accompanied by bibliographies, research and restoration maps, which not only provided new information for the study of international Dunhuang studies and the Silk Road, but also provided a more accurate model for the clothing design and fabric design of Hanfu under the national tidal boom.
Draw the most complete puzzle for Dunhuang silk
From local written materials, it can be understood that in the Tang Dynasty, Dunhuang Oasis once had a mulberry industry. Although the local residents were able to weave silk, the products of this small area obviously did not meet the needs of many local temples, so the silk fabrics used were basically foreign. Documents seen in Dunhuang record that at that time, these silk fabrics mainly came from large central cities, such as Henan, Shaanxi, and Sichuan provinces.
Dunhuang silk is not only the peak of the development of Chinese textile art, but also has a profound impact on the craft technology of later generations, and has an important position in inheriting the past and the future. However, due to cultural and technological barriers, the remains of Dunhuang silk fabrics that have been exiled overseas for a hundred years since 1907 have been "raised in the depths of the deep and unknown", and this time they finally have a large number of physical remains that have been released for the first time, coupled with the comparison of documents.
"Thanks to these studies and published books, we can recreate the intricate history of silk and silk production thousands of years ago, and it is these textile artifacts that became the symbol and origin of the name of the Great Silk Road." Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of the Russian State Hermitage Museum, said this in his evaluation of the significance of the study.
The earliest book published in the "English Collection" has been praised by experts such as Neil McQuergle, director of the British Museum, because the research team has always strictly followed the research norms, compared the relevant historical books, treatises and relics with the physical objects, carefully retrieved them, and enriched and revised the volumes issued in early journals.
Tong Pi, deputy director of the Center for East Asian Civilization Studies of the French National Research Center, also believes that the French Tibetan volume actually focuses on the Collection of Paul Berch and the Dunhuang Textiles brought back by the 1909 Central Asian expedition, the Jimei Museum and the National Library of France, and for the first time published the complete publication of Bo xi and the proceeds of the expedition, including a large number of textiles that have never been published and have been recently restored.
Let overseas relics achieve digital return
Mr. Ji Xianlin once said: "Dunhuang is in China, and Dunhuang studies in the world. In 2000, Donghua University and dunhuang research institute cooperated to establish the Dunhuang Clothing Research Center to begin a comprehensive and systematic collation and study of Dunhuang silk; by 2006, Zhao Feng and his assistant Wang Le and others went to England for the first time to study Stein textiles - the mystery of the remains of overseas Dunhuang Tibetan warp cave fabrics that had been sealed for a hundred years was unveiled step by step.
This work involves a wide range of subjects, and the subjects of research are scattered around the world. To this end, Donghua University initiated and funded it, and worked with the China Silk Museum and the British Museum, Victoria Abbot Museum, British National Library, French Jimei Museum, French National Library, Russian Hermitage Museum, China Dunhuang Research Institute, Lushun Museum and other institutions to create a masterpiece of silk fabrics.
As the chairman of the International Silk Road Research Alliance, Zhao Feng and his team spent 15 years to complete this huge project. "With his solid engineering background, profound knowledge of ancient fabrics and tireless enthusiasm, editor-in-chief Zhao Feng led an international cooperation team to conduct a detailed analysis of each piece of fabric and restore the pattern of some fragments." Professor Emeritus of Chinese and East Asian Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, affirmed his tenacious team spirit, "Whether it is a regular reader or an expert, you can fully appreciate the superb quality of each fabric." ”
Chen Ke, president of Donghua University Press, said that the whole society has invested in capable editing and editing forces, highlighting the remains with the invisible restraint of elephants in binding and typesetting, and creating an aesthetic interest in the oriental context. The Jiefang Daily Shangguan News reporter learned that they will also use digital media technology to display the charm of Dunhuang silk art from multiple angles, tell the story of Dunhuang, spread the voice of China, and promote the digital return of Dunhuang relics scattered overseas.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Xu Ruizhe Text Editor: Xu Ruizhe
Source: Author: Xu Ruizhe