For American scholar Neil Schmid, the Silk Road melting pot provides a ‘perfect’ platform for modern cultural interactions
As stated by a renowned American research scholar.
Neil Schmid is a Western researcher who holds a unique position at the Dunhuang Academy in northwest China’s Gansu province, responsible for studying the famous Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes. He firmly believes that the historical significance of the site offers valuable insights for promoting cross-cultural understanding in the present.
Christian and Hebrew traditions.
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The array of artefacts shows Dunhuang’s role from the 2nd century until its decline in the 11th century as a cultural melting pot where ideas, religions, and art converged.
In the numerous hours spent at the caves since joining the academy in 2018, Schmid has been struck by the diversity of cultures and religions represented throughout their layers. “It is not one culture or religion that prevails,” he said.
Dunhuang could be “a bridge between China and the US” with its remnants of Christianity, according to Schmid. “I think when Westerners hear that, it sparks their curiosity, and they’re like, oh, this is quite fascinating and perhaps it’s not as alien as they thought.”
Bearing witness – to showcase the beauty of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
“Dunhuang holds value for Lucas,” Schmid stated.
Their collaboration will involve creating a replica of one of the Mogao caves at the Lucas Museum.
The chairman of the Starbucks Corporation – which is set to open in Los Angeles in 2025.
This year commemorates the 80th anniversary of the Dunhuang Academy, which was founded in 1944 and is responsible for overseeing the site and facilitating research into the caves and their historical significance.
This painting, which dates to approximately 1500.
The painting, a Dunhuang da Vinci, predates the Renaissance depiction of Christ as “savior of the world” by 500 years, yet it makes use of identical iconography.
The subject of the painting also possesses an upturned right hand, with two protruding fingers to signify blessings and protection, whereas its left hand grasps an orb. However, this figure is distinct as the left hand holds the head of a camel, giving it a unique distinction.
This “fascinating and incongruous” discovery is another demonstration of how the arts of Dunhuang are “so multicultural they can transcend time and space”.
Dr. Schmid, who earned a doctorate in East Asian languages and civilizations from the University of Pennsylvania, has no intention of abandoning his secluded life of scholarship in the desert.
Even the isolation he endured throughout China’s zero-Covid policy didn’t deter Schmid, who admits that Dunhuang continues to captivate him and would be challenging to part from.
Robert Schmid, who also studied ancient Chinese civilisations in Japan and France, first visited mainland China in 1984 and has witnessed the rise and fall of bilateral relations between Beijing and Washington.
He believes that there is a greater need for cultural exchanges between China and the US than ever before, during the current low point in the bilateral relationship, and finds it extremely disappointing that so few Americans are studying in the country.
According to Schmid, many are discouraged by the predominantly negative portrayal of China by Western media outlets. “And we have to change this. Even if you strongly disagree with China, you need to understand it,” he said.
Despite the challenging geopolitical climate, Schmid is confident that Dunhuang has its own unique appeal to Westerners. He intends to utilize Instagram to display his scholarly work and life amidst the Dunhuang artifacts.
Dunhuang, with its intricate and multifaceted beauty, is like a “massive data set” where one can ask new questions and formulate new hypotheses, says Schmid.
“When you engage with people on their own terms or help them understand that there’s something in common, a shared aspect of humanity, they become much more receptive,” he said.
One can observe that when engaging with caves, an universal ability to spark curiosity, ingenuity, and artistic expression is transcended across different cultures.
Schmid traces his interest in Dunhuang to his first trip to Taiwan in 1983, when he visited “Caves Books” – a well-known bookstore, named after the Mogao Caves, which was founded by James and Lucy Lo, a couple who traveled to Dunhuang in the 1940s.
He remembered taking out a book about the city from a shelf and finding it astonishing to read about the city’s rich historical and Buddhist stories. The scholarly notes at the bottom of the pages really struck him as impressive.
In the summer of 1987, Schmid happened to be at the Hong Kong airport, where he spotted an individual carrying a sign with Victor Mair’s name on it – Mair being the University of Pennsylvania sinologist whose translation and annotations he had greatly admired for many years.
Schmid waited with the greeter for the professor, who was attending an international conference in the city. He then continued to study Dunhuang and ancient civilisations with Mair at the University of Pennsylvania.
“It’s all these remarkable connections. And I never thought that in 1987 one day I would be working in Dunhuang,” Schmid said.
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This article first appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the top news agency covering China and Asia.
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