Figures
2.1 Chinese text excavated in Khotan: inventory of provisions for people and horses in the hostels of Khotan 35
2.2 Fragment concerning the Tang aide-de-camp attendant Kang Yunhan, excavated at Mazar Tagh, Khotan 36
3.1 The ruins of Beiting as they appear today 50
3.2 Turfan manuscript of the 648 request of Mi Xunzhi from Tingzhou for a travel pass 50
3.3 Fragments of a Tang dynasty inscription from the ruins of Beiting 51
3.4 A manuscript from the Dunhuang library cave written in Old Uighur (P.3071) 52
4.1 Rubbing of the “Funerary inscription of Di Caoming” 63
5.1 The Turfan document about providing horses and people for the escort of envoys in the 9th and 10th years of the Yongkang
6.1 Persian silver vessels excavated in Datong 123
6.1(a) Silver bowl excavated at a Northern Wei site in Datong 123
6.1(b) Persian silver plate excavated at Feng Hetu’s tomb 123
6.1(c) Silver bowl excavated at a Northern Wei tomb in Datong 123
6.1(d) Scalloped silver cup excavated at a Northern Wei site in Datong 123
7.1 Yang Liangyao’s stele in the Jingyang County Museum (photo by Zhang Jianlin) 150
8.1 The five Tibetan letters on the verso of Dunhuang manuscript Ch.83.xi (IOL Tib J 754) 184
8.2 Letter by the monk Guiwen of the Kaiyuan Monastery, Dingzhou; Dunhuang manuscript S.529 185
8.3 The Dunhuang manuscript with Daoyou’s letter and poem 186
11.1 The epitaph of I no Manari 239
12.1 Fragment of a donor’s inscription removed from the Kumtura cave temples by the Ōtani expedition 253
12.2 Architectural reconstruction of the Dayun Monastery in Suiye (Peking University Press) 254
12.3 Chinese stele inscription on the creation of a statue discovered at Suiye 254
13.1 The “Shanxing lü”
13.2 The expanded version of the Qieyun excavated at Kucha (Photo by Wang Zhongmin
14.1 The Jueguan lun excavated at Turfan 289
14.2 The Lidai fabaoji excavated at Turfan 290
14.3 The colophon of the Dunhuang copy of Shenhui yulu in the Ishii Mitsuo Sekisuiken bunko collection 291
14.4 Fragment of the Shenhui yulu excavated at Mazar Tagh near Khotan 292
15.1 Copy of the “Lanting xu”,
15.2(a) Copy of the “Lanting xu” (Renmin University Museum GXW0112) 312
15.2(b) The end of a Tang official document (Renmin University Museum GXW0112, verso) 312
15.3 Two “Lanting xu” fragments joined together 313
15.4 Feng Chengsu’s copy of the “Lanting xu” 314
15.5 The “Lanting xu” in Dunhuang manuscript P.2622 314
15.6 The “Lanting xu” in Dunhuang manuscript P.3194 314
15.7 “Lanting xu” writing practice on Dunhuang manuscript Hane 644 (verso) 315
15.8 Writing practice using the “Lanting xu” and “Shang xiang Huang Qi tie” as models, excavated in Mazar Tagh, near Khotan 315
16.1 Writing exercise from the “Shang xiang Huang Qi tie” in Dunhuang Manuscript S.3287 326
16.2 Copy of “Shang xiang Huang Qi tie”, Dunhuang document Hane 3 (verso) 327
16.3(a) Writing exercise from the “Shang xiang Huang Qi tie”, Hane 664 (recto) 327
16.3(b) Writing exercise from the “Lanting xu”, Hane 664 (verso) 327
16.4 Writing exercise from the “Shang xiang Huang Qi tie” by the student Linghu Cimin, excavated in Turfan 328
16.5 Writing exercise from the “Shang xiang Huang Qi tie” from the Kucha region 329
16.6 Writing exercise from the “Shang xiang Huang Qi tie” from Khotan 330
17.1 The “Biography of Zhang Liang” from the Hanshu (recto) and the “Biographies of Confucius’s Disciples” from the Shiji (verso) 354
17.2 Fragment of the Shangshu Zhengyi
17.3 Fragment of Section 48 of the Liuzi
18.1 A Sogdian caravan as depicted on the tomb of An Jia 372
18.2 Turfan document detailing scale fees (detail) 373
18.3 A Sogdian contract for the purchase of a slave girl discovered in Turfan 374
18.4 Zoroastrian images on the lintel of An Jia’s tomb 375
19.1 The Persian silver coins discovered in Wuqia county, Xinjiang 387
20.1 W1 on the western wall of Shi Jun’s sarcophagus 401
20.2 W2 on the western wall of Shi Jun’s sarcophagus 402
20.3 W3 on the western wall of Shi Jun’s sarcophagus 403
20.4 N1 on the northern wall of Shi Jun’s sarcophagus 404
20.5 N2 on the northern wall of Shi Jun’s sarcophagus 405
20.6 N3 on the northern wall of Shi Jun’s sarcophagus 406
20.7 N4 on the northern wall of Shi Jun’s sarcophagus 407
20.8 N5 on the northern wall of Shi Jun’s sarcophagus 408
20.9 E1–E2 on the eastern wall of Shi Jun’s sarcophagus 409
20.10 E3 on the eastern wall of Shi Jun’s sarcophagus 410
20.11 The southern wall of Shi Jun’s sarcophagus 411
22.1 White damask with a curly grass pattern, from the graveyard at Buzak, near Khotan 457
22.2 Painting on a wooden panel found at Dandan Oilik near Khotan, depicting the princess taking silkworms across the border and the “God of Silk” 457
22.3 Image on the eastern wall of Cave No. 409 at Mogao of a Uighur king, wearing a long robe with a coiling dragon design while making an offering 458
24.1 Newly excavated images of female donors 498
24.2 Newly excavated image of male donors and a rider on a red camel 498
24.3 Newly excavated image of a divine triad on the western side of the northern wall of Buddhist temple D.X 500
24.4 Newly excavated divine triad on the southern side of the western wall of Buddhist temple D.X 501
24.5 Image of Śiva on the recto of D.VII.6 503
24.6 Brahmā to the right of the divine triad on the recto of wooden panel D.X.3 505
24.7 Wešparkar holding a trident in a Sogdian mural painting 505
24.8 Deities depicted in the lower part of the Balawaste mural painting 509
27.1 Two texts of Xinxiu bencao
27.2 Colophon to the Fodi jing
27.3 Colophon to the Miaofa lianhua jing
28.1 The Manichaean temple at site K in Gaochang (photographed by the author in 1996) 574
28.2 Illustration showing the conversion of the Uighur Qaghan to Manichaeism 578
28.3 Female Manichaean disciples in the Gaochang Uighur Qaghanate (from the Berlin Collection of paintings excavated in Turfan) 582
28.4 Celebrations for the Manichaean Bema Festival 584
Maps
5.1 Map of the routes of the envoys mentioned in the document about escorting envoys (Peking University Press) 90
7.1 The route from Guangzhou to Baghdad according to Jia Dan, taken from Chen Jiarong
19.1 The Silk Road as travelled by the Sogdians during their eastward migrations (Peking University Press) 381
Tables
5.1 People and horses provided by the Gaochang kingdom under the rule of the Kan family to escort foreign envoys to various destinations in 474–475 CE 69
12.1 State monasteries in the Four Garrisons of Anxi during the Tang period 251
21.1(a) References in Dunhuang documents to four types of foreign objects donated to local monasteries – textiles 429
21.1(b) References in Dunhuang documents to four types of foreign objects donated to local monasteries – utensils made of precious metals 430
21.1(c) References in Dunhuang documents to four types of foreign objects donated to local monasteries – precious stones 432
21.1(d) References in Dunhuang documents to four types of foreign objects donated to local monasteries – incense and medicine 433
23.1 List of events in Hexi and Gaochang before and after 430 466