End Date: Monday Sep-08-2008 1:18:08 PDT
A manuscript, known as the Yinshu, depicting how to nurture life and feel its essence is an all text manuscript, discovered in the pre historic Chinese province of Zhangjiashan. The text of this particular manuscript indicates that proper hygiene and Sexual and physical practices are the two basic means of leading a life full of joy and completeness. The concluding sections of the manuscript also contain some particular methods to get rid of the illnesses known at that time, including illnesses like common cold and other ‘mysterious’ illnesses caused by evil powers.
The Dunhuang region, a region in the Xian province of China, a former capital is known as the region of the manuscripts. This region has caves to the tune of 500 in number, each containing priceless manuscripts, paintings, text, scriptures and relics, which give a great insight into the Buddhist way of life. This small oasis lied on the verge of the Taklamakan Desert and divided the famous Silk Road into two parts.
Over a period of more than a thousand years, the travelers of that time, mostly Buddhists had established many temples and establishments here. The caves house paintings, murals and frescoes, their lives stretching over a period of thousands of years. The presence of so many temples here is also due to the fact that Dunhuang was the last hospitable terrain on the Silk Road, towards the west, and the Buddhists, who believed in praying before starting out on difficult journeys, made this a praying hot-spot.
Even in times of the Tang dynasty, many ancient treasures were discovered along this route, especially at the caves, and still, even today; these caves maintain their place in an archeologist’s record books.
Ancient Chinese philosophers and teachers imparted knowledge to their students regarding the interpretation of scriptures here in these caves only, and therefore, ended up creating a knowledge bank for the explorer of today to learn from their writings on the walls of these caves. The writings and scripts of these monks who were basically teachers, give a great insight into the world of ancients Chinese scripts found elsewhere.
The Magao Grottoes, also known as the thousand Buddha caves, are known to date back to the Tang dynasty, and contain a traeasure of Buddhist statues and relics, owing to which, the Magao has been named a UNESCO world heritage site. Paintings and manuscripts here give an insight into the understanding of Chinese architecture in great detail. Some people are even of the conviction that these were actually the designs laid down by ancient Chinese architects.
The Ana nova, a relic found in 2004, maps the stars and the constellations with great accuracy. It is said to be as old as 7th century AD. This star chart highlights the knowledge that the Chinese people had regarding astronomy and other Meta sciences, even in those times.
Talking about textual scripts, the most famous texts in the history of China are probably the classic four books on Confucianism. The analects of Confucius is a 20 chapter book, which is in dialogue form and highlights the dialogue process between Confucius and some of his disciples. This book serves as a base for many Confucian theories of the modern day. The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean and the Mencius are the other three books included in the ‘four classics’.
From pre historic times, China has witnessed, and will continue to witness for years to come, many great texts that will pave the way for humanity and mankind. Chinese texts have always had a profound effect on the thinking and philosophy of mankind, and because the things said in these texts are so true, even in the modern times, they become all the more important and valuable to us.