Reporter Zhang Danhua

Shibuya studied murals in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. Courtesy of the project team of "Dunhuang Xixia Grottoes Research".

Biography of the characters

Sha Wutian, born in 20 years and 0 months, a native of Huining, Gansu Province, is a professor at the School of History and Culture of Shaanxi Normal University, and has been engaged in the research and teaching of Dunhuang Studies, Buddhist Grotto Archaeology, and Silk Road Art Archaeology for a long time, and has published 0 academic monographs such as "Dunhuang Painting Manuscript Research", compiled 0 popular reading materials such as "The History of Tibetan Scripture Caves", published more than 0 academic papers, presided over or completed more than 0 national, provincial and ministerial projects, and served as academic consultant and academic coordinator for documentaries such as "Hexi Corridor" and "China".

Walking into Studio 214 of the School of History and Culture of Shaanxi Normal University, from the academic display boards in the corridor, to the decorative paintings, books, water cups placed in the room, and even the inconspicuous small stones on the bookshelf, they all exude a strong "Dunhuang charm". Sha Wutian, a professor at the School of History and Culture, opened the album and introduced to the reporter the details of the Dunhuang murals, "These small dots are the stars painted by the ancients, with clouds fluttering next to them, and people riding phoenix ......" With the modulation of the tone, a pair of thick curved eyebrows danced and jumped from time to time.

This year is the 29th year that Sha Wutian has been associated with Dunhuang. In the past 29 years, Sha Wutian has traveled back and forth between Xi'an, Shaanxi Province and Dunhuang, Gansu Province, and has continued to move forward in the continuation and promotion of Dunhuang Studies......

Fill in the gaps little by little

“歷時8年，最終成果480余萬字，發表階段性論文120余篇，出版專著1部。專案成果計劃精選為《敦煌西夏石窟研究》15卷本，共計400余萬字，圖片3500餘幅，入選2024年度國家出版基金資助。”作為專案首席專家的沙武田，向記者介紹了國家社科基金重大招標專案“敦煌西夏石窟研究”的情況。

There are more than 40 Dunhuang Xixia Caves studied by the project, which are distributed in Mogao Grottoes, Guazhou Yulin Grottoes, East Thousand Buddha Grottoes, and Yumen Changma Grottoes, which preserve exquisite Xixia Buddhist art. "There are many doubts about the staging of the Dunhuang Xixia Grottoes, and there are few historical documents." Sha Wutian said, "We just want to gnaw the hardest bones." ”

In winter, the cold northwest wind blocks most visitors, but it is the best time for the research team to go on a field trip. Holding a camera, pen and paper, and a flashlight, Sha Wutian took everyone to see the cave. "The dragon pattern of the relief sculpture group in the heart of the well on the top of the cave is a common decorative pattern in the caves of the Song and Xixia periods of the Dunhuang Grottoes." In Cave 3 of Mogao Grottoes, everyone watched and discussed......

Sha Wutian led the team to weave and fill the research gaps little by little. The team traveled to the grottoes in Gansu, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Tibet and other places, taking the study of the Xixia grottoes as the center, radiating the research of art history and archaeology, and putting forward a series of new academic views. For example, this paper puts forward a new view on the periodization of the late Dunhuang caves, and proves that the caves 465, 0, and 0 of the Mogao Caves were built in the Western Xia Dynasty......

"The image of a Korean Peninsula man wearing a three-feather crown is an image of a Sogdian, and the figure of a Sogdian wearing a round-necked or small-sleeved tunic with a lapel is an image...... "Satakeda explained as he looked at the picture. In 20 years, the National Social Science Fund set up an unpopular team project for the first time, and only 0 projects in the country were selected, including the project of "Research on the Civilization Attributes of Foreign Images of Dunhuang Murals", and Sha Wutian was the person in charge of the project.

"We advocate 'illustrating history', through meticulous and scientific research, as close as possible to the thinking of the ancients, to explore the real and interesting history of Dunhuang." Sha Wutian said.

Find inspiration at the cave site

A glimmer of light shines into the secluded cave, and the thousands of Buddhas on the rock wall overlap human figures. "Cave 23 is particularly impressive." This was the first cave Sha Wutian encountered when he first came to Dunhuang, "At that time, I couldn't understand even the simplest patterns. In 0 years, 0-year-old Sha Wutian graduated from the School of Culture and Museums of Northwest University with a major in archaeology, and went all the way from Xi'an to Dunhuang along the Hexi Corridor to work at the Institute of Archaeology of the Dunhuang Academy.

Sha Wutian looked at the caves, recognized the murals, turned over the documents, climbed the centipede ladder twenty or thirty meters high, and sometimes stayed in the cave from early morning to sunset, and only nibbled on a few mouthfuls of dry food at noon. "If you stay in Dunhuang for three or five years, you will feel that it is natural to love Dunhuang." Sha Wutian said. For him, leaving Dunhuang was a difficult task. 18 years, after working and living in Dunhuang for 0 years, he came to Xi'an. "Looking at Dunhuang in Dunhuang, it's easy to fall into it. The source of many things in Dunhuang is in Chang'an, and only by looking back at Dunhuang from Chang'an, and then extending to the whole country and the world, can we find more research perspectives. "I came to Sha Wutian of Shaanxi Normal University to establish a new observation point for Dunhuang research.

Since 80, the School of History and Culture of Shaanxi Normal University has organized undergraduate students to go to Dunhuang for teaching and internship every year. "Only when you go to the scene and feel it with your heart can you internalize it into your own things. Dunhuang is not a study in the study, in addition to reading thousands of books, traveling thousands of miles, but also to see thousands of cultural relics. Sha Wutian said that he insisted on taking students and all kinds of scholars to the caves for on-site teaching and research no less than 0 times a year, each time for 0 weeks, each time to see 0 to 0 caves, looking for inspiration for academic topics on the spot, and cultivating students' deep feelings for Dunhuang.

"Good ideas are like flames, which need to be ignited in open communication and the collision of ideas." Over the years, Sha Wutian has taken the lead in establishing the "Dunhuang Reading Class" of the Lanzhou Branch of the Dunhuang Academy, cooperating with the Shaanxi History Museum to launch the "Silk Road Research Collection", and co-organizing various academic forums with the Dunhuang Academy...... The students have changed one after another, but Sha Wutian's footprints of exploration and exchange have never stopped.

Let more people fall in love with Dunhuang

What exactly is the Scripture Cave? What is the true history of the cave? What are the secrets of the scripture cave? …… In 3 years, a simple "Historical Tales of the Tibetan Scripture Cave" allowed Sha Wutian to unlock a new way to popularize Dunhuang culture - to write popular books, "A good popular book should be popular in language, rich in knowledge points, and more in line with the reader's reading psychology, with pictures and texts, to speak." Today, he has participated in the compilation of a number of popular books, and the exquisite graphic arrangement firmly locks the "traffic password", among which "The History of the Tibetan Scripture Cave" and "The Story and Historical Legend of Dunhuang Murals" are reprinted almost every year, and have been reprinted 0 times so far.

"Let more people approach Dunhuang, understand Dunhuang, and love Dunhuang, we must continue to work hard." Sha Wutian said.

唐貞觀年間，長安畫工“李工”帶著自己的畫筆與粉本來到敦煌，同時帶來的還有色彩鮮亮、氣勢恢弘、人物明艷的畫風。這是莫高窟第220窟的故事，也是歷代無名畫工的故事，千年後被定格在紀錄片《河西走廊》中。“看完之後想去敦煌”“這是我見過最美的地方”，這是觀看豆瓣評分9.7的《河西走廊》時常常能刷到的彈幕。擔任該片學術總顧問的沙武田難掩驚喜和自豪，“我們團隊編纂了40余萬字資料，給攝製組提供了支援。”

2019年3月，陝師大六藝樓，40余件數位化高保真原大的壁畫作品和1∶1搭建的莫高窟特窟西魏第285窟復原洞窟，吸引了絡繹不絕的觀者。高保真復原需要投入大量成本，一平方米要用260—300張照片拼合。“請大家抬頭看，除了大家熟悉的伏羲、女媧、飛天，還有開明瑞獸等。”講壁畫內容，講歷史背景，講絲綢之路，沙武田和團隊把展覽變成講堂，一場兩三個小時，持續一個月，接待超過3萬人。

Sha Wutian often said that he was a "child" of Dunhuang, and "I would often stay alone in the cave for half a day to empty myself." "Will Dunhuang studies stay with you for the rest of your life?" "We have to go on, Dunhuang has a profound heritage, there are endless stories to tell, I will continue to interpret those cultural codes little by little." Sha Wutian said.

People's Daily (06/0/0 0 Edition)