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0277 Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2
中国砂漠地帯の遺跡 : vol.2
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 / 277 ページ(カラー画像)

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doi: 10.20676/00000213
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CHAPTER LXVII

BUDDHIST PICTURES FROM THE HIDDEN CHAPEL

Neither at the time of that hurried 'excavation' and
gathering at the 'Thousand Buddhas,' nor in the course
of my subsequent explorations, was it possible to find
leisure for any close examination of my novel 'finds.' I
had to be content with knowing them safely packed and
transported across the deserts and mountains. The year
and a half which has passed since the unpacking of those
precious cases at the British Museum has not sufficed for
more than a preliminary sorting and survey of the con-
tents. The embarras des richesses in materials has proved
great, and the labours their proper arrangement and study
will demand from my scholar-helpmates in different fields
of research are likely to be protracted. So a succinct
review of the main classes of remains undergoing elucida-
tion is all that can be attempted at present; even this
must needs be incomplete in various directions.
Of all the contents of the Tao-shih's cave the fine relics
of Buddhist pictorial art impressed me most from the time
when they emerged to the light, and in view of their
artistic interest and importance I may give a brief account
of them first. The great majority were painted on silk,
while the rest had for their material either linen or paper.
The prevailing use of fine silk gauze was a gratifying fact
in itself; for it was reasonable to assume that to the
superior material there would correspond also a higher
degree of care and technique in the painting. Nor was
this expectation disappointed. But I had not proceeded
far in my search before I realized how much this very
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