The real culprit is not Wang Yuanlu, but the sad era

The real culprit is not Wang Yuanlu, but the sad era Most people who have never been to the Mogao Caves have heard a story: In 1900, a Taoist priest named Wang Yuanlu accidentally discovered a secret chamber while cleaning up the sand in the Mogao Caves. When he opened the door, he found that it contained more than 50,000 documents and artworks from the 4th to the 11th centuries. Sadly, over the next decade, British explorer Aurel Stein, French sinologist Paul Pelliot, Japanese archaeologist Otani Kozui, Russian explorer Sergei Oldenburg, and others came to China and tricked Wang Yuanlu into selling them a large number of documents and artifacts at low prices. Nearly 40,000 of the finest pieces were lost overseas. 【Is Wang Yuanlu really a historical criminal?】 In fact, in 1900, Wang Yuanlu was a Taoist priest who had just taken over the Mogao Caves. He reported the discovery to the government and even personally delivered a box of scriptures to the Jiuquan government, but the Qing government did not pay any attention to it, let alone protect it. Ting Dong even gave some of the scriptures to his Belgian friend, who then gave them to General Chang Geng in Xinjiang. By this time, the Mogao Caves had become known among foreigners in Xinjiang, and the first person to come to Dunhuang to search for treasures was Aurel Stein. Stein, with official documents in hand, found Wang Yuanlu. Although Wang Yuanlu was hesitant, he was persuaded by Stein and agreed to sell 30 boxes of Dunhuang artifacts to Stein for 200 taels of silver. However, he did not spend a penny on himself, but used it to restore the Mogao Caves. Is it fair to put all the blame on Wang Yuanlu today? In the late Qing Dynasty, when cultural relics protection was not as important as it is today, even the government did not care. How could a small Taoist priest protect them? This is the tragedy of that era! 【Is Paul Pelliot really a robber?】 The second batch of artifacts from the Library Cave was purchased by French sinologist Paul Pelliot. Although Stein had already taken a large number of treasures from the Library Cave, Pelliot still managed to purchase more than 6,000 scrolls and artifacts. Who was Paul Pelliot? A learned sinologist, he used his profound knowledge of Chinese studies and rich archaeological knowledge to read through all the remaining manuscripts in the Library Cave and selected those he considered to be of high research value. He took them to Beijing to study with Wang Guowei and Duan Fang. He also numbered hundreds of caves in the Mogao Caves and took many photos of the statues and murals inside, becoming the first scholar to make a comprehensive record of the Dunhuang Caves. After returning to France, he spent 10 years publishing a six-volume book on the Dunhuang Caves. Chang Shuhong saw the book in France and was amazed by the art of the Mogao Caves. As a Chinese, he had never known about this treasure trove of art before. This opportunity led him to return to China and come to the Mogao Caves.