榆林窟“阿育王寺釋門賜紫僧惠聰住持窟記”重錄新識 - 基于光譜成像技術下的調查研究=Examination and Re-Transcription of Votive Inscriptions at the Yulin Grottoes about the Monk Hui Cong from Ashoka Temple - Based on Research Using Imaging Spectrometry
榆林窟=Yulin Grottoes; 漢文發愿文=votive inscriptions in Chinese; 西夏國慶五年=fifth year of Guoqing era during Western Xia; 瓜州阿育王寺=Ashoka Temple in Guazhou; 惠聰住持窟記=inscriptions about Hui Cong’s presiding over the renovations of Buddhist caves
In caves 15 and 16 of the Yulin Grottoes, there are remains of several votive inscriptions about the monk Hui Cong, “a Buddhist master in a purple kasaya from Ashoka Temple,” who presided over the renovations of Buddhist caves at this site during the fifth year of the Guoqing era （1073） of the Western Xia dynasty. Scholars have previously recorded and collated the inscriptions, but many omissions and mistakes exist in their early work. This study provides a new collation of the text following a non-invasive, nondestructive examination of the inscriptions using imaging spectroscopy, a method usually used in the fields of cultural relic conservation and archaeology. The results verify that the inscriptions were written in the fifth year of the Guoqing era, and confirm that Ashoka Temple was located in Guazhou.
