ID: 700008883 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700008883	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1 2

Letters of Introduction for a Chinese Pilgrim to India (letters of introduction; unknown Chinese scribe; ca. 10th century; British Library (London, Greater London, England, United Kin...; IOL Tib J 754)

Note: From Mogao Grottoes Cave 17, Dunhuang, Gansu Province. Written in a hand similar to the Chinese-language notesinterspersed between the letters, it furnishes the proposed date andname of the pilgrim himself and may connect his journey with the large-scale pilgrimage movement sponsored by the Song emperorTaizu. A Chinese monk carried the manuscript of introduction on a pilgrimage in the 10th century through Tibetan-held areas of modern Gansu and Qinghai provinces as he made his way from Mount Wutai in China to Buddhist holy places in India. In addition to letters in Tibetan requesting safe passage, the manuscript also contains Chinese legends about various sacred sites in China.

Titles:

Letters of Introduction for a Chinese Pilgrim to India (preferred,C,U,English-P,U,A)

朝聖手稿 (C,U,Chinese,U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

letters of introduction [300374882] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Information Forms (hierarchy name), information forms (objects), document genres, <documents by function>, correspondence, <correspondence by internal form>, letters (correspondence))

manuscript (documents) [300028569]

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Information Forms (hierarchy name), information forms (objects), document genres, <documents by conditions of production>)

Classifications:

manuscripts (preferred)

Creation Date: ca. 10th century

Creator Display:

unknown Chinese scribe [preferred]

scribe unknown Chinese (Chinese cultural designation) [500125222]

Locations:

Current: British Library (London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom) [500301700] Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: IOL Tib J 754

Other: Discovery: Qianfodong [7029798] Gansu province (province), China (nation), Asia (continent), World (facet) (Geographic)

Display Materials: Ink on paper; Chinese texts were written with a Tibetan-style hard pen rather than a more standard Chinese brush

	ink [300015012]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>)

	paper (fiber product) [300014109]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by form>, <materials by physical form>, <fiber and fiber by product>, <fiber by product>)

Dimensions: a) 25 × 286 cm (9 13⁄16 × 112 5⁄8 in.); (b) 24 × 252 cm; (9 7⁄16 × 99 3⁄16 in.); (c) 25 × 34.5 cm (9 13⁄16 × 13 9⁄16 in.)

Cultures:

Chinese (preferred)

General Subject:

text (preferred)

Specific Subjects:

	pilgrimage [300069279]
	.....(Activities Facet, Events (hierarchy name), events (activities), journeys) (AAT)

	introduction (general sociological concept) [300404779]
	.....(Associated Concepts Facet, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name), social science concepts, sociological concepts) (AAT)

Related Works:

	former location was .... Mogao Cave 17 [700008877]
	..........rock-cut temple; N/A; begun 9th century

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

............... Works at Mogao

Sources and Contributors:
Letters of Introduction for a Chinese Pilgrim to India	........ [VP]
	........ Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016) cat. 1a recto (detail)
朝聖手稿	........ [VP]
	........ Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016)

Subject: ....... [VP]

....................... Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016) cat. 1a recto (detail)

Note:
English	..... [VP]
	..... Agnew, Reed, Ball, Cave Temples of Dunhuang (2016)