Taigong Jiajiao （Master Keung’s Teachings） is a fascinating textbook on family education, and has the distinction of being the text with the greatest number of copies among Dunhuang manuscripts. The book attracted immediate attention upon its discovery and publication, and is already the subject of several academic articles. The contents of the text are primarily pithy, memorable verses written to express the main ideas of classical Chinese texts and a collection of the various proverbs popular in society at the time the book was written. The exceptional longevity and scale of propagation this text achieved can be attributed to an elegant but down to earth style of writing that made the proverbs easy to understand, remember, and orally transmit. This paper presents a special study on the widespread acceptance and influence of Taigong Jiajiao on Dunhuang society by examining quotations and commentary in Tang dynasty textbooks and bianwen （a popular form of spoken literature from the Tang dynasty that propagated Buddhist sutras and historical and folk stories） such as Fumu Enzhong Jing Jiangjingwen （Sutra Preaching Texts on the Kindness of Parents）, Wenci Jiaolin （Educational Literary Reader）, and Xinji Wenci Jiujing （New Collection of Nine Lit- erary Classics）. Further research material is provided by Wangfanzhi Shi （Wang Fanzhi’s Poems）, a popular volume of moralistic poetry written on the basis of Taigong Jiajiao. This paper also discusses the spread and influence of the text beyond the Dunhuang region based on analysis of Turfan documents, fragmental manuscripts of Taigong Jiajiao written in ancient Tibetan, the words and sentences preserved on Tang dynasty porcelain made in Changsha, and other historical documents. The conclusion of this research is that the value of these textbooks can be thought of in terms of variability, collectivity, and inheritance: the proverbs and sayings they contain address a wide range of topics that comprehensively represent the life style of the time and are easily passed from generation to generation. Analysis of such texts not only highlights the social value of traditional textbooks and their place in Chinese folk culture, but also broadens the field of view taken by researchers interested in the culture of childhood education.
