WU Luchun - J.S. Lee Memorial Fellowship 2023-24

WU Luchun - J.S. Lee Memorial Fellowship 2023-24

This collection includes the outputs from WU Luchun's 7-month research placement at the British Library, as part of the J.S. Lee Memorial Fellowship. She focused on the copies of the Flower Garland Sutra from Dunhuang in Chinese found in Mogao Cave 17, near Dunhuang.
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    Item type:Dataset,
    Codicological, Palaeographic, and Textual Evidence from the British Library’s Dunhuang Manuscripts of the 80-Fascicle Flower Garland SÅ«tra (Åšiká¹£Ä nanda’s 699 Translation)
    (2025)
    Luchun, Wu
    From October 2023 to May 2024, the British Library hosted WU Luchun of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, who conducted research on Dunhuang manuscripts in the Stein Collection. This research was made possible through the J. S. Lee Memorial Fellowship Programme, generously funded by the Bei Shan Tang Foundation. Luchun was supervised by Mélodie Doumy, Lead Curator of Chinese collections (Stein and Hoernle) and IDP Manager. Her project focused on a comparative analysis of Buddhist sÅ«tras and dhÄ raṇīs that circulated in the Dunhuang and Wuyue regions between the ninth and eleventh centuries. During the initial months of her placement, Luchun consulted key catalogues of Dunhuang manuscripts to identify copies of the Flower Garland SÅ«tra in Chinese from Cave 17 within the Stein Collection. She also reviewed existing scholarship on the scripture, alongside studies on Dunhuang papers and manuscripts. Over the final months of her stay, Luchun focused on the 80-fascicle version of the Flower Garland SÅ«tra, translated in 699 by Åšiká¹£Ä nanda (652–710). She systematically gathered codicological, palaeographic, and textual data, highlighting the importance of integrating these approaches when attempting to date manuscripts. For example, a Tibetan inscription on the front of Or.8210/S.348 indicates that the manuscript was produced before circa 850. This dataset is the product of this work.
      4
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    Item type:Research report,
    A Preliminary Analysis of the Eighty-Fascicle Huayan jing Manuscripts of the Stein Collection at the British Library
    (2025-09-01)
    Luchun, Wu
    From October 2023 to May 2024, I had the privilege of conducting research on Dunhuang 敦 ç…Œ manuscripts in the Stein Collection at the British Library. This opportunity was made possible through the J. S. Lee Memorial Fellowship Programme åˆ©æ¦®æ£®ç´€å¿µäº¤æµ è¨ˆåŠƒ, generously supported by the Bei Shan Tang Foundation 北山堂基金會. My research project as a J. S. Lee Memorial Fellow focused on a comparative analysis of Buddhist sÅ«tras and dhÄ raṇīs that circulated in the Dunhuang and Wuyue å ³è¶Š regions between the ninth and tenth centuries. In particular, I concentrated on the 80-fascicle (juan å ·) version of the Dafangguang fo huayan jing å¤§æ–¹å»£ä½›è ¯åš´ç¶“ (Flower Garland SÅ«tra; Skt. MahÄ vaipulya BuddhÄ vataṃsaka sÅ«tra; hereafter 80-juan Huayan jing)—translated in 699 by Åšiká¹£Ä nanda å¯¦å ‰é›£é™€ (652–710) and his team—and the Qianshou qianyan Guanshiyin pusa guangda yuanman wu’ai dabeixin tuoluoni jing å ƒæ‰‹å ƒçœ¼è§€ä¸–éŸ³è ©è–©å»£å¤§ 圓滿無礙大悲心陀羅尼經 (Great Compassion DhÄ raṇī SÅ«tra of the Thousand-Hand and Thousand-Eye AvalokiteÅ›vara Bodhisattva). The primary goal of this seven-month research period was to collect data for more in-depth analysis at a later stage. However, as many readers will recall, the British Library suffered a major cyber-attack in late October 2023, disrupting access to key resources. Thanks to the dedication of colleagues at the International Dunhuang Programme (IDP), I was eventually able to access manuscripts by late February 2024. In the interim, I consulted catalogues of Dunhuang manuscripts (e.g., Giles 1957; Fang Guangchang 2000) to identify Huayan jing copies in the Stein Collection and reviewed existing scholarship on the Huayan jing, as well as studies on Dunhuang papers and manuscripts. Over the final four months of my stay, I gathered data on the codicological, palaeographic, and textual features of the 80-juan Huayan jing manuscripts and began preliminary dating analyses, laying the foundation for future research.
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