Lecture: "Dunhuang Culture and Silk Road" by Xudong Wang and Yuanling Zhang

• Event Date: Wednesday, April 2, 2014
• Time: 3:30 pm–5:00 pm (CDT)
• Location: Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: Free Admission

• Talk

"Dunhuang Culture and Silk Road" Xudong Wang, Deputy Dean, Dunhuang Research Academy, Deputy Director, National Preservation of Ancient Frescoes Engineering Research Center
Yuanling Zhang, Director, Dunhuang Research Academy Information and Resources Center

Since the re-discovery of Dunhuang Grottoes and the Dunhuang "Library Cave" at the beginning of the last century, Dunhuang and Dunhuang culture has attracted worldwide attention. Why did a small town located at the border of China have such an enduring appeal? What exactly is the local culture, and under what kind of background did this culture develop and exist?

This lecture has two main purposes: first, through a systematic introduction to the art of the Dunhuang Grottoes and the Dunhuang "Library Cave" collections, the audience will gain an overall understanding of the context and scope of the ancient Dunhuang culture as reflected in these art collections. Second, by introducing the geographical, historical, and cultural background of Dunhuang culture, the lecture reveals that the development of Dunhuang culture and its prosperity is due to the opening of the "Silk Road." Dunhuang prospered and fell along with the Silk Road, and the two had the same fate.