Paper chase opens chapter on history

"Physical duplicates of the relics from 'the library cave' can also be kept as properties of the Dunhuang Academy, and serve for studies and publicity of cultures of Mogao Caves in a long term," Ma says.

Dunhuang documents can offer inspiration for historical studies. For example, they can enlarge the horizon of studying Chinese calligraphy.

"Writing is the basic element of a book, so daily writing should have been a focus for studies of calligraphy," Shi Rui, an associate researcher with Ancient Chinese History Research Center of Peking University, says. "But people usually center on the famous artists' renowned works. However, recent studies of relics like the Dunhuang manuscripts can greatly help our understanding of development of the writing system."

Rong Xinjiang, a history professor also at Peking University, says the manuscripts provide key complements to grand pictures of official historical recordings.

"Many Dunhuang manuscripts recorded folk stories, and, surely, they can replace history books," Rong says. "But these raw materials bring us a perfect perspective to observe the original facets of a society."