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Hungarian Explorers in Dunhuang

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2009

Lilla Russell-Smith
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Extract

Much has been written about the extraordinary artistic, religious and historic importance of the Thousand Buddha Cave Temples at Dunhuang, in Gansu province, western China. One hundred and twenty years ago, on 2 May, 1879, a Hungarian expedition reached Dunhuang. It is a little known fact that its members were to be the first western travellers to visit the cave temples there. Still less known is the influence of this expedition on Sir Aurel Stein, the Hungarian-born British archaeologist. This article examines a hitherto unstudied aspect of why Stein was in the position to become the first to arrive in Dunhuang after the important discovery was made. It is argued that the little known Hungarian expedition was a determining factor in prompting Stein to undertake the hazardous journey to Dunhuang. Furthermore the travel notes of these earlier Hungarian travellers throw light at the very unstable situation at the Dunhuang caves thirty years before Stein's visit. This information is likely to have influenced Stein's decision to take much of the material away for safe keeping as at the time of his visit the situation continued to deteriorate.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , November 2000 , pp. 341 - 362
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 2000

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References

1 Oldham, C. E. A. W.: “Sir Aurel Stein, Obituary”, Proceedings of the British Academy XXIX (1943), pp. 453–65Google Scholar, also quoted in Wang, Helen (ed.): Handbook to the Stein Collections in the UK, British Museum Occasional Paper Number 129 (London, 1999), p. 37Google Scholar.

2 “Dunhuang 2000” at the Capital Normal University, Beijing, P. R. C., 21–25 June 2000 and the “2000 International Conference on Dunhuang Studies”at the Dunhuang Research Academy, Dunhuang, Gansu, P. R. C.,29 July–3 August, 2000Google Scholar.

3 His tide was Knight Commander of the Indian Empire (K. C. I. E.). Walker, Annabel: Aurel Stein, Pioneer of the Silk Road (London, 1995), p. 204Google Scholar.; Wang, , op. cit., p. 58Google Scholar.

4 Stein, Aurel: Serindia – Detailed Report of Explorations in Central Asia and Westernmost China, vol. 2, (Oxford, 1921), p. 578Google Scholar.

5 Stein, Aurel: Ruins of Desert Cathay (London, 1912), p. 20Google Scholar.

6 Stein, : Serindia (Oxford, 1921), vol. 2, p. 586Google Scholar.

7 Mirsky, Jeannette: Sir Aurel Stein (Chicago and London, 1976), p. 21Google Scholar.

8 In 1879 Stein received his High School Diploma with distinction at the Evangelical Gimnázium in Budapest. He had been studying there for two years. He then went on to study at the University in Vienna majoring in Sanskrit. Walker, , op. cit., p. 356Google Scholar; Erdélyi, István (ed.): Sir Aurel Stein Bibliography. (Bloomington, 1999), pp. 39–40Google Scholar.

9 Mirsky, , op. cit., p. 229Google Scholar.

10 As we shall see below, based on Lóczy's description, Stein was well aware that the Dunhuang caves were still visited by worshipping pilgrims, so it is doubtful that he was planning to take wall paintings with him.

11 Whitfield, Roderick: The Art of Central Asia: The Stein Collection in the British Museum, vol. 1. (Tokyo, 1982), p. 11Google Scholar.

12 Walker, , op. cit., 1995, p. 142Google Scholar.

13 Bárdi, László: “Chinese Assessment of Sir Aurel M. Stein's Work”, Erdélyi, (ed.), op. cit., 1999, p. 45Google Scholar.

14 cf. Miklós, Pál: A Tunhuangi Ezer Buddha Barlangtemplomok [The Thousand Buddha Cave Temples in Dunhuang] (Budapest, 1959), p. 9Google Scholar.

15 My attention was first drawn to this by the interest Roderick Whitfield showed in my knowledge of the Hungarian expedition and its descriptions. I would like to thank Professor Whitfield for his encouragement to write about this topic and for quoting my translations of the Hungarian travellers’ accounts in his recent volume. Whitfield, Roderick: Dunhuang, Caves of the Singing Sands: Buddhist Art from the Silk Road (London, 1995), pp. 262–264; p. 269. fig. xii; p. 309. fig. 36Google Scholar. I would also like to thank Eileen Zwalf for her comments and corrections of an earlier version of this article.

16 Stein, : Serindia, vol. 2, op. cit., p. 586Google Scholar.

17 Mirsky, , op. cit., p. 229Google Scholar.

18 Original in Hungarian. All translations from the Hungarian are by the present author. Földrajzi Közlemények [Geographical proceedings] XXXV(1907), p. 277Google Scholar.

19 Original in Hungarian. Akadémiai Értesitö [Bulletin of the Academy] XIX (1908), pp. 93–95Google Scholar.

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22 Original in Hungarian. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Modern Western Manuscripts, Ms Stein 93, Fol. 12.

23 Original in Hungarian. Ms Stein, Fol. 16.

24 The modern office block built on the site (Tüköry u. 2. 5th district) is marked with a plaque. I visited the site in September 1999.

25 Rásonyi, László: “Sir Aurel Stein (On the Centenary of his Birth)”, Ada Orientalia Academiae Stienliatum Hungaricae, XIV (1962), p. 241Google Scholar. The quote is from a letter written by Aurel Stein to Kálmán Szily.

26 Yixin, Prince Gong (1833–1898), was Prince Regent and Head of the Privy Council from 1861. However, at the time of the visit of the Hungarians the empress dowager Cixi managed to block him from holding positions of power. Spence, Jonathan D.: Tlie Search for Modem China (New York and London, 1990), pp. 199 ff., p. 218.Google Scholar; Shouyi, Bai: An Outline History of China (Beijing, 1982), pp. 446 ff.Google Scholar

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29 The Russian Nikolai Mikhailovich Prejevalsky (Przhevalsky) was one of the early Russian travellers to Central Asia. Rayfield, Donald: The Dream of Lhasa - Vie Life of Nikolay Przhevalsky (1839 – 88), Explorer of Central Asia (London, 1976Google Scholar). Prejevalsky also visited Dunhuang in 1879 during his Third Expedition, but a few weeks later than the Hungarians, in June and July. Prejevalsky mentions Count Száchenyi's earlier visit there, gives a short description of the caves and includes a drawing of one of the colossal Buddha figures. Przhevalsky, N. M.: Iz Zaysana cherez Khami v Tibet i na verkhovya zheltoy reki [From Zaysansk through Hami to Tibet] (Moscow, 1948) [reprint], pp. 91–93.Google Scholar Another reference by Kreitner to Prejevalsy shows that the Hungarians were well acquainted with the latter's journeys. Kreitner, , op. cit., p. 604Google Scholar

30 Kreitner, , op. cit., 1882, p. 688Google Scholar. According to Henry Yule the term Tungani or Dungan is the same as Hui. “The name does not seem to be applied in any sense of race, but simply to be the popular name by which Chinese Mahommedans are known among the Turki speaking people of Central Asia and on the Russian frontier.” Note written by Henry Yule in Prejevalsky, N.: Mongolia, the Tangut Country and the Solitudes of Northern Tibet. Being a Narrative of Tliree Years’ Travel in Eastern High Asia, (transl. by Morgan, D.) (London, 1876), pp. 304–305Google Scholar.

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32 Lajos, Lóczi Lóczy: A khinai birodalom természeti viszonyainak és orszégainak léirása. Gróf Széchenyi Béla keletézsiai utazása alatt (1877–1880) szerzett tapasztalatai alapjén és a meglevö irodalom fölhasználásavat, [The description of the natural environment and of the lands of the Chinese Empire. Based on the experience collected during the East Asian travels of Count Béla Széchenyi and on existing literature] (Budapest, 1886), pp. 462 and 492Google Scholar.

33 Dong Yuxiang: “Hexi zoulang Matisi, Wenshushan, Changma zhu shiku jun” [The cave temple groups of Matisi, Wenshushan and Changma in the Hexi corridor” in Gansu sheng wenwu kaogusuo [Cultural Relics Bureau of Gansu] (ed.): Hexi Shiku [Cave temples of Hexi] (Peking, 1987), pp. 1–21Google Scholar

34 Lóczy, , op. cit., 1886, pp. 495–496.Google Scholar

35 Kreitner, , op. cit. 1882, pp. 672–688Google Scholar. I have incorporated here the German version, which is slightly more detailed. Kreitner, Gustav: Im femen Osten: Reisen des Grafen Bela Szechenyi in Indien, Japan, China, Tibet und Birma in denjahren 1877–80 (Wien, 1881), pp. 667–670Google Scholar.

36 For illustrations of Cave 158 v. Whitfield, : Caves of the Singing Sands, vol.I, pls. 127, 128 and 250–256Google Scholar.

37 Kreitner, , op. cit., 1882, pp 687–691Google Scholar.

38 Having finished his formal education with a PhD degree awarded in 1883 in Töbingen, Stein was obliged to spend a year in the army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1885–86. As it has often been pointed out the year spent in Budapest at the Ludovica Academy was invaluable in preparing him for his expeditions to Central Asia. He studied cartography and surveillance as well as taking part in rigorous physical training. Erdélyi, (ed.), op. cit., p. 40Google Scholar; Walker, , op. cit., pp. 21–22Google Scholar.

39 Antalffy, Gyula: A Himalàjàtόl a Balatonig [From the Himalayas to the Balaton] (Budapest, 1964), pp. 14–86Google Scholar. passim.

40 Lóczy, Lajos: “Gróf Széchenyi Béla kelet-ázsiai utazásának fóldrajzi és fóldtani eredményei” [The geographical and geological results of the East Asian travels of Count Béla Széchenyi], Akadémiai Ertesöto, IX (1898), p. 111Google Scholar.

41 Hopkirk, Peter: The Great Game (Oxford, 1991), p. 321Google Scholar.

42 The negative terminology used in a very recent Western publication represents the popular view: “[Stein] pilfered the manuscripts by persuading the monk that although European in appearance, he was really a spiritual disciple of the famous Buddhist traveller Hsüan-tsang.” Foltz, Richard C.: Religions of the Silk Road – Overland Trade and Cultural Exchange from Antiquity to the Fifteenth Century (London, 1999), p. 5Google Scholar. If we recall Stein's letter written to Lóczy in 1907 and quoted above (cf. Note 18), it becomes clear that Stein did not simply refer to Xuanzang to trick the monk guarding the Library Cave, but because he really regarded the famous Buddhist traveller as a role model. A more balanced view can be found in Hopkirk, Peter: Foreign Devils on the Silk Road – The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia (Oxford, 1984), pp. 156–176Google Scholar.

43 Bárdi, , op. cit., pp. 55–56Google Scholar. It is also interesting to note that a Chinese translation of Serindia by Stein under the title Xiyu kaogu tuji (Illustrated Record of Archaeology in the Western Region) was published in 1999 by Guangxi Normal University Press. The translation of the five-volume work was supervised by the Institute of Archaeology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. For an up-to-date Chinese assessment of Xinjiang, Stein V. Rong: “Dunhuang de faxian jiqi xueshu yiyi” [The discovery at Dunhuang and its academic significance]; Wenshi zhishi (Chinese Literature and History), No. 6 (1999), pp. 41–42, 44–45Google Scholar. Rong also briefly mentions the Hungarian expedition on p. 40.

44 The books have been catalogued and are part of the Academy's collection that can be consulted by all. In addition photographs and correspondence were also left to the Academy. A three year British – Hungarian project,jointly lead by Helen Wang (British Museum) and Eva Apor (Hungarian Academy of Sciences), with the participation of the author of the present article is currently evaluating the photographic material and the correspondence. It is hoped that a catalogue of these will be published. Cf. also Rásonyi, László: Stein Aurél és hagyatéka [Aurel Stein and his bequest] (Budapest, 1960)Google Scholar, and Apor, Éva: “Stein Aurél hagyatéka az MTA könyvtárában” [Aurel Stein's bequest in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences], Török Füzetek [Turkish notebooks] III (1995), pp. 6–7Google Scholar.