On the east wall of the main chamber in Mogao Cave 217 there is a large-scale donor figure to the north side of the entrance with a perfectly preserved inscription denoting the figure as Hong Ren, a monastic officer. This paper has studied the life of Hong Ren by examining Dunhuang documents and finds that he was born to the Liu Family, acted as a monastic officer in the Yong’an Temple around 918 CE, was later promoted in the same temple, and in the 9 th year of the Zhenming era became a dusengzheng, a high ranking monastic officer, serving as a successor to Yan Hui’en. It was between the years 931—936 CE that he died. When Hong Ren was promoted to the position of dusengzheng, the Liu Family represented by Hong Ren renovated Mogao Cave 217 to commemorate the event.
