On the morning of October 18th, a visiting group at Dunhuang’s Mogao Caves stood out among the bustling tourists. The group, made up of participants ranging from elderly retirees to college students, all spoke with a distinct Taiwanese accent. This was no ordinary group; many of them had deep-rooted connections to Dunhuang. Some had written papers about the site over fifty years ago, while others had fallen in love with the Mogao Caves’ murals thirty years back, using them as teaching materials in their classrooms on Taiwan. There were also those who had worked in archaeology at the Dunhuang Research Institute for over a year and individuals who helped organize a major exhibition on Dunhuang cave art last year in Kaohsiung, which attracted over a million visitors.
The invitation to explore Dunhuang came from the Central Committee of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Ye Shengtao Research Society. Twenty-two years ago, the DPP established a platform for cross-strait discussion on traditional Chinese culture and modernization. This year marked the first time that this exchange took the form of a field visit, allowing experts, professors, students from Taiwanese universities, and young representatives from various fields to collaborate and generate new ideas over the course of five days.
On that afternoon, as the group attended a seminar, Associate Professor Jiang from Nanhua University in Taiwan carried a bulging bag filled with her students’ creative works. Among them were fans, plant-dyed fabrics, and collaborative paintings, all inspired by the breathtaking artworks of Mogao Caves—specifically the Dunhuang coffer ceilings, flying celestial beings, and the Nine-Colored Deer. Remarkably, none of these students had ever visited Dunhuang.
Jiang introduced her students to the rich world of Dunhuang. She first visited the site in 1992 and was deeply moved by its stunning murals, which ignited her passion for preserving traditional cultural art, especially in Taiwan. “I want to ensure that this precious cultural legacy continues to thrive across the strait, particularly in Taiwan,” she shared. Since then, Dunhuang’s art has inspired her teaching, leading her students to be fascinated by the beauty of its coffer ceilings and to realize that the animated series they watched as children, featuring the Nine-Colored Deer, originated from these ancient murals. The students are now eager to see the real artwork for themselves. “Now they’re all begging me to take them to Dunhuang, but I managed to sneak away this time,” Jiang chuckled.
Her bag also contained various gifts—some were canvas bags she bought at Dunhuang’s night market to take back to her students. Delighted to see young people trying their hand at drawing Dunhuang designs, she commented, “It’s wonderful to see the brilliance of Dunhuang artistry carry into modern times.” She also brought back her students’ designs of refrigerator magnets featuring Dunhuang patterns, crafted using traditional techniques from Chiayi, Taiwan, which she planned to gift to her fellow travelers.
Jiang isn’t the oldest in the group; that title belongs to 79-year-old Ms. Chen, who works in the museum sector. Her connection to Dunhuang dates back over fifty years. In 1943, Taiwanese photographer Luo Jimei and his assistant wife Liu spent 18 months photographing thousands of images of the Mogao Caves. They later established a Dunhuang bookshop in Taipei. In 1968, when Ms. Chen was a graduate student, she encountered materials related to Dunhuang and became captivated, deciding to focus her master’s thesis on the topic. Despite facing numerous challenges collecting materials, she persevered. In 1989, during her first visit, she was granted permission to explore the caves for a week, spending entire days absorbed in their splendor until her spine ached, yet she was reluctant to leave.
Now returning for the fourth time, Chen attentively followed the guide through the caves, eager to soak in every detail. “Each visit brings something new.” During the seminar, she shared her fresh impressions and years of reflections on what Dunhuang contributes beyond cultural knowledge: How can it inspire ongoing attention from visitors? What methods can be used to promote modern education in Dunhuang aesthetics? How can we develop new intangible cultural products based on existing tangible cultural heritage to make Dunhuang a creative hub on the New Silk Road?
“Dunhuang connects us across the strait,” said Zheng Yuanlin, the Deputy Director of the Dunhuang Research Institute, as he introduced Assistant Professor Guo from Fo Guang University. Guo, who served as a distinguished researcher at the Dunhuang Research Institute from 2019 to 2021, presented her study on the influence of Gandhara art as seen through the ornamental decorations of the bodhisattvas in Cave 254. This niche topic piqued the interest of Xu Yitao, a lecturer at Peking University, who later suggested Guo explore connections between these findings and tomb structures from the same era.
Another speaker, Ms. Lai, recounted her previous collaboration with Zheng on the “Silk Road Radiance” exhibition, which opened in Kaohsiung in December 2022. Their dedicated efforts yielded nearly 1.7 million visitors and extensive educational outreach, including training over 200 docents, hosting guest lectures to deepen public understanding of Dunhuang art, and introducing interactive experiences for families with theater performances and art workshops. After her presentation, Zheng reflected, “It’s all so vivid; it brings back memories of our time collaborating. We learned so much from the meticulousness and attention to detail from our Taiwanese colleagues.”
For many young participants, this was their first encounter with Dunhuang, offering a new perspective on these artistic treasures. One young visitor remarked, “Walking into the Mojing bookstore felt surreal; the moment I saw its name, I didn’t think much of it, but stepping inside was like entering a world of Dunhuang.” Zhang, a student from Taiwan, marveled at the bookstore, which features over 2,000 titles on Dunhuang and a variety of creative products, quickly becoming a cultural landmark since its opening in September. Another student from Taitung University was thrilled by the numerous souvenirs, filling his arms with refrigerator magnets, notebooks, and badges.
The itinerary also included a visit to another cultural hotspot: the Palace Museum in Beijing. On the morning of the 16th, during a captivating talk at the museum’s ceramics hall, curator Lin Deqi inadvertently bridged conversations across the strait. “Among the three categories of Ru ware from the Song dynasty, only a few pieces remain. The Taipei Palace Museum holds the first and third categories, while we have the second and third,” he noted, leading the Taiwanese dental surgeon Mr. Zhang to interject, “Our Palace Museum also has the pieces with nine peaches.”
In the afternoon, the group gathered at Peking University for discussions with students and faculty from the Archaeological and Museum Studies department. Jiang, who had studied there in the past, felt a nostalgic connection. The faculty showed genuine interest in the experiences of Taiwanese students studying in Beijing, and Jiang reassured them, “Even before I earned my degree, I was already hired by a university. You don’t have to worry about our students’ future.”
Professor Li from Taitung University, interested in museum education, inquired about Peking University’s initiatives. Chen Jianli, the Party Secretary of the Archaeological and Museum Studies department, shared their efforts in public archaeology, specifically a project with local school students, designed to engage them in learning about archaeological practices at a heritage site in Zhejiang.
As the five-day visit concluded, participants expressed reluctance to leave, unanimously praising the experience. Gao Youdong, Vice Chairman of the DPP, emphasized the party’s commitment to promoting the inheritance and development of traditional Chinese culture through educational and cultural exchanges across the strait. DPP Chairman Cai Dafu, meeting with the group, stressed the importance of leveraging activities like this to foster communication, mutual trust, and collaboration among youths from both sides, aiming for a brighter shared future.
