金针度人,功德无量——捧读《敦煌艺术大辞典》感言

The Boundless Bounty of “Teaching Men to Fish”——A Respectful Reading of the Dunhuang Art Dictionary

回顾了自敦煌学界编纂《敦煌学大辞典》到《敦煌艺术大辞典》"十年磨一剑"的艰辛历程,从词目分类、数量、内容创新,老、中、青三代学者的编撰队伍和编委组成,词目释文文体特色及高清数字化彩图的运用等方面,指出《敦煌艺术大辞典》的问世,不仅填补了敦煌艺术研究在大型专科辞书出版领域的空白,而且对于向广大读者介绍敦煌艺术和集大成的研究成果,兼有普及、提高和引领的作用,实可谓是以金针度人,功德无量!

This paper reviews the arduous course of years over which various academics of Dunhuang studies compiled the Dictionary of Dunhuang Studies and Dunhuang Art Dictionary.These works can be considered monumental achievements for a wealth of reasons:the categories covered,number of items contained and the innovation of the contents;the fact that these works were compiled and edited by three generations of researchers,and the stylistic features of the annotative text and effective application of high-definition digital color images.The publication of these dictionaries not only fills a large blank in the canon of Dunhuang art reference texts,it also serves the noble goal of introducing Dunhuang art to a wider audience.For the value of these texts within the discipline and beyond,these compendiums truly exemplify the merit of passing on knowledge-teaching men to fish truly feeds for a lifetime.