寧夏、內蒙古境內的西夏石窟調查 ─ 西夏石窟考古與藝術研究之一=Investigation of the Western Xia Caves in Ningxia and Inner Mongolia - Archaeology and Art Research of Western Xia Caves(I)
There are several clusters of caves in today's Ningxia and Inner Mongolia; namely, the three cave groups of Shanzuigou, Xumishan and Aerzhai. Based on field investigation and previous research results, this paper presents a preliminary study on the Western Xia remains excavated from the aforementioned caves and comes to the following conclusions: The Shanzuigou Grottoes site contains the most important caves from the Western Xia period, including the most exemplary caves in which there are both artworks similar to those found in Dunhuang caves and Buddhist themes hardly seen in contemporary examples from Dunhuang(pictures of herding cows, for example); In Guyuan, a place for which the Western Xia, Jin, and Song fought for many years, though the large-scale grottoes site of Xumishan is well preserved, there are only inscriptions left by passing visitors that verify the activity of people from the Western Xia in the region, and no Western Xia artworks have been found; The Otog Banner, a place located in ancient Henan that was central to Western Xia control, was very significant historically, but the archaeological evidence that survived in the Aerzhai Grottoes are mainly pieces from the Yuan dynasty and no remains of the Western Xia can be found.