【Abstract】 Among the ranks of monks that constituted the local sangha(Buddhist community) of Dunhuang during the Tang, Five Dynasties and early Song periods there were some itinerant monks, or "guest" monks, that were not attached to any particular monastery. Some of these mobile monks were members of the local sangha, which reflects that the Dunhuang Buddhist community remained a united group even while allowing its members to move freely. The presence of monks who had travelled from other areas shows that longer distance travel was not uncommon for the monks of the time, and that there was a great amount of political and religious exchange between Dunhuang and other regions. Dunhuang’s monastic community was responsible for the accommodation of the itinerant monks. At the same time, the number of local and guest monks would have been counted independently when being reported to the monastic community in order to ensure that the sangha of Dunhuang could be kept under unified management.
