Letter to the Editor
I must apologize to Professor Drège and other European scholars working on the
Dunhuang manuscripts for my rather too dismissive treatment of European studies in this
area. My paper was originally intended for a British audience and I wanted to make a general
point about the relative paucity of Dunhuang studies in Britain compared to China, Taiwan
and Japan. Of course, Professor Drège's work is so well known and respected that
it was an oversight on my part not to give his research team the credit it deserves for helping
to further this field of study in Europe.
However, as the editor Paul van der Velde pointed out, the experience highlights the problem
of lack of knowledge of current scholarship in pre-modern Central Asian scholarship. To this
end, the International Dunhuang Project is compiling a database of scholars in this area and
plans to publish a Directory of Silk Road Scholars at the end of 1996.
Questionnaires have already been sent to everyone on the Project mailing list and the
response has been enormous: I have received almost one hundred completed questionnaires
to date. Questionnaires are also being distributed at conferences and to scholarly
organizations, and information about the database will be sent to all the major publications
in the field. If you would like a questionnaire or can help in any way with distribution please
contact me. The questionnaire is also available on the Project Internet site
(http://portico.bl.uk/oioc/dunhuang.html). A copy of the Directory will be sent
to everyone who completes a questionnaire and will be updated at regular intervals.
The International Dunhuang Project relies on international cooperation. The second Project
conference for the curators and conservators of collections is being organised by the
Bibliothèque Nationale and will be held in Paris in February 1996. And I am pleased
that Professor DrŠge will be able to attend the workshop on Dunhuang forgeries which will
constitute the main part of the 3rd conference (London, June 1997). Details of this will be
given at late date.
The Project's aims are ambitious and it is perhaps inevitable that, in the few years before
contacts are better developed, there may be those who feel that their work is not afforded due
recognition. It is hoped that scholars will treat these occasional lapses with goodwill and
generosity and continue to help with the primary objective of the Project, 'to promote the
study and preservation of the Dunhuang legacy through international cooperation'.
Susan Whitfield
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