Stunning new findings from the Legendary City of Xanadu

Dragons of Xanadu: Sculptures Discovered in Legendary City

Live Science  by Owen Jarus,   May 29, 2015

A colorful dragon head made of clay was found in a palace at Xanadu. Credit: Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics View full size image

The remains of three colorful dragon heads made of clay have been discovered in a huge palace in Xanadu, a city constructed by the grandsons of Genghis Khan.

The palace sprawls over 9,000 square meters (about 100,000 square feet), or nearly twice the floor space of the modern-day White House.Archaeologists have been excavating the palace, learning how it was designed and decorated.

Made of fine, red, baked clay the dragon heads would have been attached to the ends of beams and used asdecoration. They "are lifelike and dynamic" and "have yellow, blue, white and black coloring" glazed on them, researchers wrote in a report published recently in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics. [See Photos of the Dragon Heads & Legendary Xanadu]

The construction of Xanadu, known in China as Shangdu, started in 1256 at a time when the Mongol Empire, led by Möngke Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan), was in the process of taking over China. After Möngke Khan's death in 1259, his successor, Kublai Khan (also a grandson of Genghis), finished the conquest of China.Kublai had helped design Xanadu and when he became ruler he used the city as China's capital during the summer months. 

"The site is composed of a palatial district, an imperial city and an outer city, containing remains of three layers of city walls, and occupies an area of 484,000 square meters [about 120 acres]," the archaeologists wrote in their report.

The palace where the dragon head was found sprawls over 9,000 square meters (about 100,000 square feet) of space.
Credit: Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics

View full size image

While Xanadu was occupied only briefly, being destroyed in 1368, it became a place of legend, its name romanticized in popular culture as a wondrous exotic place where one of the most powerful rulers in the world held court. The discovery of the dragon heads, and other remains from Xanadu, paints a picture of what the site looked like.

While the dragon heads are some of the most eye-catching finds at the palace, archaeologists also discovered a type of ramp called "mandao," meaning "path for the horses" in Chinese which allowed horses and vehicles access to the palace.

These ramps "would have been strongly connected to the pastoral way of life of the Mongols," the archaeologists wrote.

The ramps were important because horses and pastoral animals were an essential part of Mongolian life. Recent research suggests that an unusually wet climate in Mongolia helped these animals flourish in Genghis Khan's time, helping him and his successors conquer a vast amount of territory.

Archaeologists also found artifacts showing more of the rich colors that would have been seen by those who set foot in Xanadu at the time. These artifacts include the remains of a clayfish head whose body "is glazed yellow and green" with "bright and lifelike" scales, the archaeologists wrote.

Eave-end tiles and dripstones, "decorated with blue-and-yellow patterns in the shape of dragons or birds," were also found, the archaeologists said. Eave-end tiles and dripstones form part of the roof. Aside from being decorative the dripstones helped deflect rainwater.

Excavations were conducted at Xanadu in 2009 by a team from Inner Mongolia Normal University, the Inner Mongolian Institute of Cultural Relics, and the Archaeology and Inner Mongolian Institute for Cultural Relics Conservation. The team's report was initially published in Chinese in the journal Wenwu. It was translated into English and published in the most recent edition of Chinese Cultural Relics.

Dragon head

A colorful dragon head was found in a palace at Xanadu. Made of fine red baked clay, it has yellow, blue, black and white colors glazed on it. The head would have been attached to the end of a beam. Two other dragon heads like this were found in the excavations. This particular head was published in full color in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics)

Sprawling palace

The palace where the dragon head was found sprawls over 9,000 square meters (about 100,000 square feet) of space. That's almost twice the floor space of the modern-day White House. The top of one of the palace's platforms is seen here in this black-and-white image. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics)

Horse ramp

Archaeologists found that a special type of ramp allowed horses and vehicles to pass through the palace. The ramp is called mandao meaning "path for the horses."  Shown here, a black-and-white image of one of these ramps. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics)

Colorful city

The artifacts the archaeologists found show some of the lively colors that would have decorated the Khan's palace. This image shows eaves and dripstones (the dripstones deflect rainwater). They are decorated in blue and yellow designs with images of dragons or birds. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics)

Fish head

Here, the remains of an artifact depicting a fish head, discovered in the palace at Xanadu. Decorated in glazed green and yellow colors the scales still survive. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics)

Khan portrait

Kublai Khan helped organize the construction of Xanadu. He became Khan in 1260, and the city eventually became his summer residence and, in essence, China's capital during the summer months. This image shows a portrait of Kublai. (Image in public domain courtesy Wikimedia)

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Recherches archéologiques des grottes de Mogao/ DunHuang

Dans le cadre des RECHERCHES SUR DUNHUANG, menées au sein de l’UMR 8155 (CRCAO) et de l’EFEO, MM. WANG Jianjun 王建軍 et ZHANG Jingfeng 張景峰, Chercheurs à l’Institut de Dunhuang en Chine, donneront les conférences suivantes :

Jeudi 18 juin 2015

 14h-15h30 : M. WANG Jianjun
Recherches archéologiques dans le secteur nord des grottes de Mogao
敦煌莫高窟北區石窟研究方法探討

 15h30-17h : M. ZHANG Jingfeng
La grotte 217 de Mogao : une salle de pénitence
佛教滅罪的殿堂—敦煌莫高窟第2 1 7 窟研究

Maison de l’Asie, 22 avenue du Président-Wilson, 75016 Paris
Salon du 1er étage
CONTACT : liying.kuo@efeo.net ; costantino.moretti@ephe.sorbonne.fr

Mardi 24 juin 2015

 15h-16h30 : M. ZHANG Jingfeng
La famille YIN de Dunhuang et la réalisation des grottes de Mogao
敦煌大族營建視野下的陰氏與莫高窟

 16h30-18h : M. WANG Jianjun
Nouvelles découvertes archéologiques dans les Grottes des Mille Buddhas de l’Ouest
敦煌西千佛洞考古新發現

Collège de France, 52 rue du Cardinal Lemoine, 75005 Paris
Salle Lévi-Strauss, au rez-de-chaussée

The Diamond Sutra sung in English

From: Patheos.com

The Diamond Sutra is Printed

May 11, 2015 by James Ford 0 Comments

According to the date on the title page, an edition of the Diamond Sutra, one of the central texts of the Prajnaparamita Cycle of Mahayana Buddhism, was published on this day in 868. Making it the oldest known printed book. The book was discovered as part of the treasure trove of documents found in the Mogao caves at at Dunhuang, China by Aurel Stein in the early part of the twentieth century.

Important throughout Mahayana Buddhism, this is a central document in the Zen way. In the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Ancestor, the putative autobiography of Huineng, it was on hearing a line from this text that the young illiterate peasant had his great enlightenment experience.

I couldn’t find a public domain version I really liked to print here. Red Pine has a very readable version with some interesting commentaries, and I recommend the somewhat dated but still readable translation by D. T. Suzuki. And, here is a link to the Plum Village version.

And if you just want to hear it, here you go. (Listening to it is well known to bestow some serious good karma on the hearer. Just saying…)

From Mulberry Leaves to Silk Scrolls

New Approaches to the Study of Asian Manuscript Traditions

Justin Thomas McDaniel and Lynn Ransom, Editors

Nov 2015 | 288 pages | Cloth $49.95 

University of Pennsylvania Press
Cultural Studies | Asian Studies | Religion

View main book page

From Mulberry Leaves to Silk Scrollslooks closely at a wide variety of Asian manuscript traditions with a special focus on both their history and the ways in which scholars have employed digital technology to make their cataloguing, comparative study, and aesthetic appreciation more accessible to scholars and students.

Table of Contents

Preface
—Lynn Ransom
Introduction
—Justin Thomas McDaniel

PART I. THE ART OF THE BOOK
Chapter 1. The Characteristics of Elephants: A Thai Manuscript and Its Context
—Hiram Woodward
Chapter 2. Representations of Space and Place in a Burmese Cosmology Manuscript at the British Museum
—Alexandra Green
Chapter 3. Stories Steeped in Gold: Narrative Scenes of the Decorative Kammavaca Manuscripts of Burma
—Sinead Ward

PART II. INSCRIBING RELIGIOUS PRACTICE AND BELIEF
Chapter 4. Drawn to an "Extremely Loathsome" Place: The Buddha and the Power of the Northern Thai Landscape
—Angela S. Chiu
Chapter 5. Shifting Modes of Religiosity: Remapping Early Chinese Religion in Light of Recently Excavated Manuscripts
—Ori Tavor
Chapter 6. Living with Ghosts and Deities in the Qin ? State: Methods of Exorcism from "Jie ? " in the Shuihudi ??? Manuscript
—Daniel Sou

PART III. TECHNOLOGIES OF WRITING
Chapter 7. Spoken Text and Written Symbol: The Use of Layout and Notation in Sanskrit Scientific Manuscripts
—Kim Plofker
Chapter 8. Abbreviations in Medieval Astronomical and Astrological Manuscripts Written in Arabic Script
—Sergei Tourkin
Chapter 9. Creating a Codicology of Central Asian Manuscripts
—Susan Whitfield
Chapter 10. Providing Access to Manuscripts in the Digital Age
—Peter M. Scharf

Notes
Contributors
Index

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Excerpt [uncorrected, not for citation]

Preface

This collection of essays inaugurates a new series for the field of manuscript studies: the Lawrence J. Schoenberg Studies in Manuscript Culture. The Schoenberg name has a long history of use at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries due to the generosity and vision of Larry Schoenberg (C'53, WG'57), who sadly passed away in 2014 before seeing the first volume of the series published. The impact of Larry and his wife, Barbara Brizdle, on manuscript studies at Penn has been felt through the establishment of the Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text and Image in 1996 and the creation of the Schoenberg Initiative in 2006 to assist the Libraries in purchasing new manuscripts, and the annual Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age, which began in 2008. In 2011, Larry and Barbara donated their collection of manuscripts to the University of Pennsylvania Libraries, which led to the founding of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies in 2012. Consistent with Larry's vision of sharing his collection and the knowledge gained through studying manuscripts, this new series will bring together scholars from around the world and across disciplines to present research related to the study of premodern manuscripts and to consider the role of digital technologies in advancing manuscript research. Whether relying on traditional methods of scholarship or exploring the potential of new technologies, the research presented in each volume will highlight the value of the manuscript book in understanding our intellectual heritage.

Several of the essays in this volume were first presented at the Fourth Annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age, "Writing the East: History and New Technologies in the Study of Asian Manuscript Traditions," which was held October 21-22, 2011, at the University of Pennsylvania and the Free Library of Philadelphia. The symposium covered a range of issues relating to Asian reading and writing cultures, especially as they pertain to the manuscript source. The success of the event inspired the editors to invite contributions from other scholars. The resulting collection of essays explores such topics as best practices for preservation and cataloging; demonstrates the value of collaboration among scholars who work on different aspects of codicological, paleographic, orthographic, and material culture studies; and reveals how these material objects were used for religious, political, cultural, and pedagogical purposes. Whereas manuscript studies in the West have benefited from a long history of scholarship, scholars of Asian manuscript traditions have only recently begun to excavate this rich field of study. As their work continues, their research can only enhance our understanding of manuscript culture. It is fitting, then, that the first volume of the Lawrence J. Schoenberg Studies in Manuscript Culture begins its work in the area of Asian manuscripts by giving scholars the opportunity to share their work and advance our knowledge.

We also acknowledge here our gratitude to those who made the publication of this volume possible. Our first thanks go to the volume's co-editor, Justin McDaniel, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, who first approached us with the idea to devote an entire symposium to Asian manuscript traditions. We would also like to thank H. Carton Rogers, Vice Provost and Director of Libraries at the University of Pennsylvania, and Jerome Singerman, Senior Humanities Editor at the University of Pennsylvania Press, who through their generosity and good will make possible the continued publication of volumes in this series. In gratitude for everything that the Schoenbergs have done, we dedicate this volume to the memory of Larry Schoenberg and to Barbara Brizdle, whose ongoing support ensures the continuation of the good work that Larry began. We can repay his generosity only by spreading his vision as widely as possible. We offer this series as a small contribution toward that enormous debt.

Lynn Ransom
Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies
University of Pennsylvania Libraries

Sacrificed Humans Discovered Among Prehistoric Tombs in China

The skeleton of an adult female who is facing toward the northwest was discovered among the prehistoric tombs in China. Much of her skeleton below the abdomen is destroyed. Credit: Courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics. View full size image

LiveScience  by Owen Jarus    27 May 2015 

A prehistoric cemetery containing hundreds of tombs, some of which held sacrificed humans, has been discovered near Mogou village in northwestern China.

The burials date back around 4,000 years, before writing was developed in the area. In just one archaeological field season — between August and November 2009 — almost 300 tombs were excavated, and hundreds more were found in other seasons conducted between 2008 and 2011.

The tombs were dug beneath the surface of the ground and were oriented toward the Northwest. Some of the tombs had small chambers where finely crafted pottery was placed near the deceased. Archaeologists also found that mounds of sediment covered some of the tombs, which could have marked the location of these tombs. [See Images of the Ancient Tombs and Artifacts in China]

Within the tombs, archaeologists found entire families buried together, their heads also facing the Northwest. They were buried with a variety of goods, including necklaces, weapons and decorated pottery. 

Human sacrifices were also evident in the burials. In one tomb, "the human sacrifice was placed on its side with limbs bent and its face toward the tomb chamber. The bones are relatively well preserved, and the individual's age at death is estimated at around 13 years," archaeologists wrote in a paper published recently in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics.

Predicting the future

A pot found in one of the tombs is decorated with a string of o's.
Credit: Courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics.

View full size image

The goods found in the tombs included pottery decorated with incised designs. In some cases, the potter made numerous incisions shaped like the letter "O," with the O's forming patterns on the vessel. Sometimes, instead of making O's, the potter would incise wavy lines near the top of the pot.

The researchers also discovered artifacts that could have been used as weapons. Bronze sabers were found that researchers say could have been used for cutting. They also found stone mace heads. (A mace is a blunt weapon that can smash a person's skull in.) Axes, daggers and knives were also found in the tombs.

Archaeologists also found what they call "bone divination lots," or artifacts that could have been used in rituals aimed at predicting the future. Bone divination was practiced widely throughout the ancient world. In fact, when writing was developed in China centuries later, some of the earliest texts were written on bones used for divination.

Qijia culture

Most of the tombs belong to the Qijia culture, whose people used artifacts with similar designs and lived in the upper Yellow River valley.

"Qijia culture sites are found in a broad area along all of the upper Yellow River as well as its tributaries, the Huangshui, Daxia, Wei, Tao and western Hanshui rivers," Chen Honghai, a professor at Northwestern University in China, wrote in a chapter of the book "A Companion to Chinese Archaeology" (Wiley, 2013).

Honghai wrote that people from the Qijia culture lived in a somewhat arid area. To adjust to these conditions, the Qijia people grew millet, a cereal suited to a dry environment; and raised a variety of animals, including pigs, sheep and goats.

People from the Qijia culture lived in modest settlements (smaller than 20 acres), in houses that were often partially buried beneath the ground. "Remains of buildings are mainly square or rectangular, and they are usually semi-subterranean. The doors usually point south, identical to the current local custom of building houses, as rooms on the sunny side receive more light and warmth," Honghai wrote.

Scientists aren't certain why the Qijia people engaged in human sacrifice or whom they sacrificed. They may have conquered other groups, enslaving and sacrificing them, Honghai said.

The team's report was initially published in Chinese in the journal Wenwu and focused on discoveries made between August and November 2009. Their report was translated into English and was published in the most recent edition of the journal Chinese Cultural Relics.

A cemetery dating back around 4,000 years has been discovered near Mogou village in northwestern China. Archaeologists have excavated hundreds of tombs containing burials of entire families. This image shows part of one tomb the archaeologists found. The skeleton is of an adult female who is facing towards the northwest. Much of her skeleton below the abdomen is destroyed. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics.)

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In this tomb a small chamber filled with pottery was found beside the skeletons. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics.

This pot, found in the tomb with the small chamber, contains o-shaped incisions that form an elaborate design. It is handmade and made of red clay. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics.)

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Another pot, found in the same tomb, has two lines of o's encircling it. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics.)

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Different artifacts were found in other tombs. This image shows animal bones that would have been used for divination – rituals aimed at trying to predict the future. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics.)

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This ceramic vessel was found in another tomb and has two lines of o-shaped incisions near its narrow center. The lines encircle the vessel. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics.)

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