| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥1,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥2,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Arjai Caves, located in the Arbus Mountains in the northwestern part of Ordos Municipality, Inner Mongolia, China, was discovered in the 1980s and was recognized as one of the key national cultural relics of China in 2003.
The Secret History of the Mongols, the first Mongolian historical document written in the thirteenth century, refers to the Arbus Mountains as Arubuqa. It records that while hunting in the Arubuqa Mountains C inggis Qayan sustained injury from a fall from horse and went to C oyurqad (numerous grottoes) to recover. It is now verified that the so-called C oyurqad is the current Arjai Caves. At the time, Arjai was a grotto monastery of the Tangut (Xixia) state. What remain in today's Arjai Caves are mostly frescos dating to the Tangut and Mongol Yuan eras. They are in poor condition, in need of urgent protection.
This project centers on the Mongolian language manuscripts and woodblock fragments unearthed from the grotto no.1 of Arjai Caves. These Mongolian language materials were discovered in 2000. Later, I discovered some additional woodblock fragments and manuscripts from caves no. 13, no. 14, and no. 20. These materials will be published in two steps, this research report focusing on only those woodblock fragments. Arjai Caves boasts the most important source for studying Silk Road Buddhism of the Mongol Yuan era.
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