振衰起敝:西夏至元代敦煌的凋敝与繁荣

The Decline and Prosperity of Dunhuang from the Xixia to the Yuan Dynasty

敦煌经历了由西夏至元早期的荒败到元后期繁荣的突进式发展,分界点大致以1276年蒙古豳王家族的入居为标志。学术界过去多关注到敦煌在西夏及元早期的衰落,却未能关照到1276年以后,尤其是14世纪上半叶之后,敦煌成为西宁王、瓜州成为肃王的驻地,致使敦煌地区的政治地位高企,甚至凌驾于甘肃行省之上,军事上统辖今甘宁青新非常广袤的区域,振衰起敝,经济发展迅速,加上来自中原及西亚、中亚多民族的入居,民族多元相互交融,共同促进了元后期敦煌文化的繁荣。蒙古豳王家族注意发展当地交通,整饬驿道,对运输事务加强管理,使敦煌的交通状况在元朝后期大为改善,可以四通八达。从敦煌出土的文献看,敦煌与元大都、杭州、福建、吐鲁番、肃州、亦集乃路等地都保持着密切的关系。

A prevalent viewpoint holds that Dunhuang was very prosperous during the Xixia(1038—1227),but it was quite barren during the Yuan Dynasty(1227—1368).While there were conditions for large-scale construction of grottoes during the Xixia,it was impossible during the Yuan Dynasty.This cognition had a significant impact on the study of late Dunhuang Grottoes.Previously,due to the limited information,the academic community paid more attention to the Xixia and neglected the Yuan Dynasty,resulting in the dilemma in which the content in Dunhuang Grottoes that originally belonged to the Yuan Dynasty was mistakenly classified as the Xixia's.The excavation of the northern area of the Mogao Grottoes in the 1980s and 1990s unearthed a large number of the materials of the Yuan Dynasty,which were written in Uyghur,Mongolian,phags-pa,Chinese,Sanskrit,and Xixia manuscripts.With the publication of these materials and the further enhancement of the recognition of Persian literary and historical materials in the domestic academic community,it can be seen that Dunhuang culture experienced a rapid changing period in which it declined from the Xixia to the early Yuan Dynasty but prospered in the late Yuan Dynasty.The dividing point is roughly marked by the entry of the Mongolian Bin Wang family in 1276.After 1276,especially in the first half of the 14th century,the Mongolian Prince of Bin family formed four Urus,namely Bin,Xining,Su,and Weiwuxining,stationed in Jiuquan,Dunhuang,Guazhou,and Qumul,becoming the highest hereditary throne in Western China at that time,with the same military power and fiefdoms as the Prince of Xiping and Prince of Anxi of the Kublai Khan lineage.The political status of the western region of the Hexi Corridor(Dunhuang and Guazhou included)is high,even surpassing that of Gansu Province.The family also governs a vast region,including present-day Gansu,Ningxia,Qinghai,and Xinjiang.This has changed the decadence of the western region of the Hexi Corridor since the Xixia to early Yuan Dynasties,with poverty alleviated and economy developing rapidly,thus achieving good results in land reclamation and becoming a model for the time.In addition,the influx and integration of numerous ethnic groups from Central Plains,West Asia,and Central Asia jointly promoted the prosperity of Dunhuang culture in the late Yuan Dynasty.The construction of grottoes reached a climax during this period,and grotto art with extremely high artistic level and royal atmosphere also emerged.The Mongolian Bin Wang family paid attention to the development of local transportation,reorganized post roads,strengthened the management of transportation affairs,and greatly improved the transportation conditions in Dunhuang in the late Yuan Dynasty,allowing for easy access in all directions.From the literature unearthed in Dunhuang,it can be seen that Dunhuang maintains close relationships with various places,such as Khanbaliq,Hangzhou,Fujian,Turpan,Suzhou(present-day Jiuquan),and Khara-Khoto.