Author Affiliations: History Department, Yale University
摘要
Several major events that occurred in or near Dunhuang around the year 1000: in or just after 1002 the latest dated document in the Dunhuang library cave was drafted, the Muslim Karakhanids conquered Khotan in 1006, and the library cave was sealed up. These very local events mirrored events occurring in other parts of the world, where new regions, often based on regional affiliations, were taking shape. The paper suggests why different regional rulers chose to associate with one religion and not another. My paper also hopes to situate Dunhuang in a larger context, examining the events that led to the establishment of a new line separating the Islamic world (stretching west of Khotan and Kucha into Central Asia) from the Buddhist world (Dunhuang, the Uighur khaganates, and points east). Even though no technological breakthroughs separated the world of 1000 from that of earlier centuries, the people living in 1000 knew far more about their neighbors, and imported goods from much farther away than they had previously.
