Dated Chinese Manuscripts in the Stein Collection

Extract

During the whole of the tenth century from about 910 onwards, Tunhuang under the name of Kuei-i Chün was governed by members of the Ts‘ao family, who were more or less independent of the fugitive dynasties that rose and fell at Lo-yang and Pien-liang. The connection with China was practically limited to the bestowal of the title of chieh-tu-shih on the man in power if he cared to apply for it. The system seems to have worked well enough: with the Tibetan menace removed, the people enjoyed a fair measure of peace and prosperity, though the standard of living and culture in general never rose again to what it had been under the T‘angs before An Lu-shan's rebellion. The deterioration of arts and crafts dating from that disastrous upheaval is plainly observable in the manuscript rolls of this period: the highly finished paper of the seventh and eighth centuries with its beautifully glazed and stained surface has entirely disappeared, and what we find in its place is with rare exceptions thick, coarse, and drab-coloured. The handwriting, too, though sometimes vigorous, lacks the elegance and grace of former times.