Before the invention of printing technology, Buddhist texts were copied by scribes during the early stages when Buddhism was introduced to China. This period of time is called the “Pure Written Manuscripts Phase.” The development of the publication of Buddhist sutras went from a small group or team type of project to a large-scale project to produce and circulate Buddhist sutras. This formed a stepbystep foundation for the publication of the Tripitaka in the later phase. Thus, the early Buddhist publisher played an important role in the dissemination of Buddhism and Buddhist culture. How was the early scribal team organized? In the early twentieth century, the discovery of Dunhuang and Turfan manuscripts provides us with a clue to examine the formation of the Buddhist scribal workshop in history. Based on the inscriptions on many Buddhist manuscripts, we found that there was a very well organized scribal team in the Tang Dynasty. Japanese scholar Fujieda, Akira observed that the early development of a well-organized scribal workshop can be traced back to Northern Wei in Dunhuang. It was marked as a milestone in Buddhist publication and cultural transmission. In this paper, we will examine the formation of the early Buddhist scribal workshop in Liangzhou during the Northern Liang period based on the archaeological discovery of Buddhist manuscripts and the stone inscriptions from Dunhuang, Turfan and other related regions.
