敦煌石窟 黃沙洗禮千年的藝術殿堂

The first inkling that we were getting close came toward the end of our flight from Beijing into northwestern China when snow-blanketed mountains suddenly appeared above the beige miasma of the desert floor. Morning sunlight sparkled off the grand Kunlun range that borders the northern edge of the Tibetan plateau and the southern rim of the Gobi Desert, a welcoming note on our journey to a distant world of Buddhist art painted and carved in grottoes centuries ago.

從北京前往中國西北的飛行快要結束時，白雪皚皚的羣山從沙漠上空的米黃色揚塵中突然冒出，這是提醒我們快到了的第一個信號。清晨的陽光照耀在雄偉的崑崙山脈之上，它與青藏高原北緣和戈壁灘的南緣相鄰。這光芒彷彿是歡迎的問候，迎接我們踏上通往遙遠世界的旅程，目睹幾個世紀前繪製雕刻在洞窟內的佛教藝術。

We were a group of seven — an American gallerist in Beijing, a Thai publisher of art books, a Singaporean businessman, among others — connected by our interests in Chinese art and history.

我們一行七人——一位來自北京的美國畫廊主人、一位來自泰國的藝術書籍出版人、一位新加坡商人，以及其他一些人——我們因爲對中國藝術和歷史感興趣而聚到了一起。

Our intrepid leader, Mimi Gardner Gates, a specialist in Chinese art and the former director of the Seattle Art Museum, raises funds to support the preservation of what we had come to see: the Dunhuang caves where delicate, brightly hued wall paintings and carvings depict religious and social life from the fourth to the 14th centuries during the height of Buddhist culture in China.

我們無畏的引領者是米米·加德納·蓋茨(Mimi Gardner Gates)。她是一位中國藝術專家，曾任西雅圖美術館(Seattle Art Museum)館長，爲我們前來參觀的這座石窟募集保護資金。在敦煌的石窟中，技法精湛、色彩明亮的壁畫和石刻，描繪了4世紀至14世紀中國佛教文化巔峯時期的宗教和社會生活。

The city of Dunhuang, a hodgepodge of cheap stores and a mediocre night market, was once a thriving oasis on the Silk Road, beckoning caravans of pilgrims and merchants from Central Asia and India with their Buddhist beliefs, and fabulous jewels and gold. As we arrived at the modern airport, it was hard not to think about more recent intruders: European and American scholars who visited the caves in the early 20th century, fell in love with what they found, and snatched priceless sculptures, manuscripts and frescoes for museums in London, Paris and Cambridge, Mass.

敦煌城裏如今遍佈廉價的雜貨店，還有一座平平無奇的夜市，這裏曾是古代絲綢之路上繁華的綠洲，吸引着中亞和印度的朝聖者和商人，他們傳播了佛家思想，帶來了光彩奪目的珠寶和黃金。我們抵達現代化的機場時，不禁想起了近代的侵入者：歐洲和美國學者在20世紀初期造訪了這裏的洞窟，深深地被這裏的寶藏所吸引，將無價的雕刻、抄本以及壁畫掠奪到了倫敦、巴黎和馬薩諸塞州坎布里奇的博物館。

Theirs had been arduous treks compared with ours. The Harvard art historian and archaeologist Langdon Warner endured more than three months on an ox-drawn cart as he headed back to Beijing from Dunhuang in 1924 with a three-and-a-half-foot bodhisattva wrapped in his underwear for his patrons in Cambridge. In contrast, our journey was a comfortable three-hour flight from Beijing on Air China.

相比我們的旅行，他們旅途更加艱險。1924年，哈佛大學的藝術史學家及考古學家蘭登·華爾納(Langdon Warner)坐了三個多月的牛車，從敦煌輾轉回了北京，內衣裏包着一尊3.5英尺高的菩薩雕像，要交給他在坎布里奇的客戶。與他相反，我們的旅行非常舒適，從北京到敦煌，乘坐國航的航班僅需3個小時。

And while some of these early scholars — it is tempting to call them scoundrels — spent months in Dunhuang, recovering from their journeys, dodging diphtheria and other diseases, we spent four days in a pleasant hotel on the edge of the dunes. Over breakfasts of dumplings and Chinese porridge on the roof deck, we watched the sun rise and the sky change from flamingo pink to lapis blue. At sunset, we drank local wine pressed from new vineyards coaxed out of the sandy soil.

早前的一些學者——很難不把他們稱作惡棍——爲了緩解旅途奔波之苦，躲避白喉等疾病，要在敦煌停留數月。而我們在沙丘邊緣舒適的酒店裏住了四天。在屋頂吃完早餐（餃子和稀飯）後，我們欣賞了美輪美奐的日出，看着天色從紅鶴粉變到青金藍。日落時，我們品嚐了當地釀的葡萄酒，出自沙土上精心培育出的葡萄園。

And, of course, our gear was far less elaborate than that of our predecessors. In a display near the caves that is devoted to the travesties of the Western scholars, a photo of Warner depicts him in knee-high boots, his hat at a rakish angle and a shovel in his right hand, ready to dig for antiquities. We, on the other hand, wore running shoes for the easy trek along the outdoor passageways that connect the caves, and carried little more than cellphones and cameras. (No photos, however, are allowed in the caves, to keep visitors moving swiftly since the carbon dioxide in our breath damages the wall art, and camera flashes don’t help either.)

當然，我們的裝束相比前人也簡單很多。石窟附近的陳列區展示了西方學者的滑稽形象。在一張照片裏，華爾納穿着齊膝的靴子、把帽子歪戴到不羈的角度，右手握着鏟子，準備挖掘古物。再看看我們，我們穿着跑步鞋，從通向石窟的露天步道悠閒地行走，身上除了手機和相機就沒有什麼了。（但是石窟內不允許照相，並要求遊客快速離開，因爲呼出的二氧化碳會損壞壁畫，閃光燈也會造成影響。）

As we learned from Ms. Gates, those earlier Western scholars were dazzled for good reason. She never let us forget that we were seeing original art in situ, about which there was no question of authenticity.

據蓋茨女士介紹，這些早期的西方學者如此着迷是有原因的。她告訴我們，我們是在現場觀看藝術品的原件，毫無疑問都是真品。

When Warner and others like him arrived, they found 1,000 years of art that told the story of China’s imperial dynasties and their long relationship with Buddhism, which seeped into China from India in the first century. In A.D. 366, according to legend, a monk named Yuezun arrived in Dunhuang, and had a vision of a thousand Buddhas. He was so overwhelmed he chiseled a cave for meditation in a vast sandstone cliff about 15 miles from the city center at a place now known as the Mogao Caves. Master artists and their apprentices began painting images of Buddha and his life story in murals that stretched across cave walls, and, in some cases, onto the ceilings.

當華爾納和他的同行到達這裏時，他們發現了歷經1000多年的藝術寶庫，其中展現了中國各朝代與佛教之間久遠的故事。佛教在公元一世紀時，就從印度滲透到了中國。根據傳說，公元366年，一位名爲樂尊的僧人來到敦煌，在這裏見到了一千位佛陀。他深受觸動，在距離城中心約50裏的砂石崖壁上開掘了一處洞穴用以打坐，這座洞穴如今稱爲莫高窟。之後，藝術大師及其徒弟們開始通過壁畫的形式，描繪佛祖以及他們的生活故事，壁畫覆蓋了石窟的牆壁，有時還畫到了洞窟頂上上。

The monk sparked a trend; over the years, about 1,000 caves were carved out of the mile-long escarpment as shrines or living quarters for monks, or the equivalent of private art museums where rich families could show off their wealth. By 1400, the exuberant show of art and religion faded as maritime routes supplanted the Silk Road.

樂尊和尚開啓了一種潮流。經年累月，1600多米長的懸崖上開挖了1000多處洞窟作爲佛殿或僧舍，或者供富貴家族展示自己財富的私人藝術館。到1400年，隨着海上航路逐漸取代了絲綢之路，曾經興盛的藝術和宗教景象隨即凋零。

When the caves were abandoned, the sweeping desert sands took over, ruining some, damaging others, but preserving many. Today, 735 caves remain, and nearly 500 are decorated.

石窟廢棄後，肆虐的黃沙侵襲，一部分石窟徹底消失，一部分遭受了損壞，但有很多存留了下來。今天，仍存有735座石窟，其中大約500座裝點着壁畫或塑像。

These days, streams of Chinese tourists arrive in great numbers — 14,000 on one day this summer. The biggest challenge for the Dunhuang Academy, the institution that manages the site, is crowd control, as we learned at the new visitors’ center, a building designed by the Chinese architect Cui Kai to blend into the desert dunes.

如今，成羣的中國遊客蜂擁而至，今年夏天每天有1.4萬人參觀。我們從新遊客中心瞭解到，石窟的管理機構敦煌研究院面臨的最大挑戰，就是人羣控制。這座由中國建築師崔凱建造的中心，與周圍的沙丘很協調。

With a theater that gives a 360-degree digital representation of one of the caves, the center is an important tool in the battle to keep the Dunhuang caves intact. Since the center opened last year, tourists who are not on a private tour like ours are required to go there first, and watch the digital show, a substitute for lengthy tours that are no longer allowed for most visitors.

中心劇場內提供了石窟的360度電子展示，這是保證敦煌石窟完好的重要工具。自從中心去年投入運營以來，無法像我們這樣作爲貴賓接待的遊客，需要先來到這裏，欣賞石窟的電子展示，用以替代從前漫長的石窟之旅。如今對於多數遊客來說，全程參觀已經難以實現。

Most of these tourists are limited to the hustle of a 75-minute visit that covers eight caves. We, however, had almost unfettered access thanks to Ms. Gates, who has visited the caves for 20 years and whose Dunhuang Foundation has raised significant funds for their maintenance.

多數遊客只能匆匆忙忙地花75分鐘參觀八座石窟。不過多虧了蓋茨女士，我們的參觀幾乎毫無限制。20年來，蓋茨女士時常到訪這裏，她的敦煌基金會(Dunhuang Foundation)爲石窟的維護募集了大量資金。

On our first morning, a shuttle bus dropped us in a grove of aromatic pines, and soon we were at the foot of the rock face that inspired the monk, Yuezun, nearly 1,700 years ago.

來到這裏的第一天早上，班車把我們帶到了一處香松林。不久，我們來到了一塊巖壁腳下，就是這裏，在大約1700年前，啓發了樂尊和尚。

Looking up, we could see a honeycomb of dark holes where the caves pierced the rock. Much of the rock is now buttressed with concrete, a utilitarian reinforcement devised in the 1960s when China was short of cash and architects.

向上看，能夠看到蜂窩般的黑洞，洞窟鑿入岩石。如今大部分岩石經過了混凝土支護，這是在1960年代，中國在缺少資金和建築人員的條件下，想出的加固方法。

The most splendid cave art was produced during the height of the early Tang dynasty from roughly 618 to 718, a period when the statues and mural paintings were the most sumptuous. In one tableau, which is rendered in greens, browns and beige, a wide-girthed, beautifully dressed Chinese emperor listens closely to a debate on Buddhist doctrine The artists, who usually painted with rabbit hairbrushes, achieved their rich colors by grinding and mixing mineral and organic pigments — red ocher, cinnabar, lapis lazuli — much as painters do today, according to Susan Whitfield, the director of the International Dunhuang Project at the British Library.

最燦爛的石窟藝術出現在唐初，大約在公元618年到718年之間，這期間創造的雕像和壁畫最爲瑰麗。在一個場景中，畫師使用綠色、棕色和米色，描繪一位胖胖的、衣着精緻的中國皇帝在認真傾聽佛法辯論。大英圖書館(British Library)的國際敦煌項目(International Dunhuang Project)主任蘇珊·惠特菲爾德(Susan Whitfield)說，這些畫師通常使用兔豪毛筆，通過研磨和混合礦物，他們獲得了層次豐富的色彩和有機顏料——赭紅、硃砂、青金石——這與如今畫家的做法相差不大。

After the Tang, there was a 70-year interlude of Tibetan rule, followed by a long line of local clans who commissioned life-size portraits of themselves. The Cao family, for example, loved their women, and had them painted on the cave walls with rouged cheeks, layers of splendid necklaces and voluminous gowns. Some of the caves used as chapels featured floor-to-ceiling paintings in lapis blue and earth reds that depict the life of the Buddha.

唐代以後，西藏對這裏進行了70年的短暫統治，之後很長一段時間，當地的部族委託畫師在這裏爲他們繪製真人大小的肖像。比如曹氏家族熱愛自家的女性，就讓畫師把她們畫在石窟的牆壁上，這些肖像臉頰上抹着胭脂，戴着華麗的項鍊，穿着繁瑣的禮服。在一些被用作小佛堂的石窟中，畫師用青金石藍和土紅色描繪了佛陀的一生，圖案從地面延伸到窟頂。

In several caves, scenes show daily village life: figures bathing, wheat being winnowed and preparations for a wedding ceremony. Some caves are as large as a small ballroom with high coffered ceilings covered with fields of patterns that give the illusion of draped fabric in a desert tent. Others feature deep niches with life-size sculptures of Buddha and his disciples. Much of the painting is devoted to Buddha, but it was also easy to imagine from the mortal figures in the murals that during its heyday Dunhuang was alive with traders dealing in silk, furs, ceramics, gold and ivory.

在幾個石窟中有日常鄉村生活的場面：人們洗澡、揚穀、籌備婚禮。一些石窟的大小猶如小型宴會廳，格子天花板上佈滿了圖案，看上去像是沙漠帳篷頂上的褶皺。另外一些石窟中深嵌着壁龕，裏面是佛陀及其弟子真人大小的雕像。很多繪畫都是關於佛陀的，但是從壁畫描繪的世俗者形象中，你也很容易想象得到，在敦煌的鼎盛時期，買賣絲綢、皮草、陶瓷、黃金和象牙的商人讓這裏呈現出怎樣的一派勃勃生機。

The size of some of the sculptures is startling. A 75-foot-tall Buddha stands bolt upright, carved from the rock face and covered in plaster, protected from the elements by the facade of the Nine-Story Temple. In a nearby cave, a 50-foot-long Buddha statue from the Tang dynasty lies on its side, tranquil in death, surrounded by paintings of anguished disciples.

一些雕像的尺寸十分驚人。一座筆直站立的佛像高75英尺，從巖壁上雕刻而出，覆以灰泥，並用“九層樓”爲它遮風擋雨。在附近的一個石窟裏，一座唐代的50英尺長涅槃佛像臥在一側，周圍畫着悲痛的弟子。

On our second day — after being greeted by Ms. Gates’s breakfast mantra, “Let’s go to more caves” — we drove two hours in a minibus on a paved road to Yulin, a rock face that is also punctuated with caves. The desert and the distant snow-encrusted mountains along the route were a reminder of the terrain along the old Silk Road.

第二天，蓋茨用他的早餐口頭禪跟我們打招呼：“我們去看看更多的石窟”。之後我們乘坐一輛麪包車，在一條鋪面的路上行駛了兩個小時，到達了榆林，那裏的巖壁上也開鑿了很多石窟。沿途看見沙漠和遠處白雪點綴的山峯，不免想到古代絲綢之路的地形就是這樣。

“This is one of the highlights,” said Ms. Gates as we clambered with a young Chinese guide, Wang Yan, to Cave No. 3 at Yulin, a space measuring about 20 by 20 feet. Here the 10th-century artists painted with ink and brush in rich blues and greens the color of malachite. Landscapes with graceful waterfalls and willowy trees surrounded scores of Buddha’s followers dressed in robes, their hair tightly knotted on top of their heads.

“這是亮點之一，”蓋茨說，當時我們和年輕的中國導遊王燕（音）爬上了榆林第3號石窟，裏面的空間大約有20×20英尺。在這裏，10世紀的藝術家們使用筆墨，畫出了孔雀石那種層次豐富的藍色和綠色壁畫。佛陀的追隨者們身着長袍，頭髮緊緊扎束在頭頂，周圍環繞着優美的瀑布和嫋娜的樹木。

One follower, Samantabhadra, her face a portrait of calm, sailed through the landscape on the back of an elephant whose feet were planted on lotus leaves. It was such fine line painting. Who were the artists?, we asked. The artists were almost always anonymous, and many were just paid with food, Ms. Gates said.

其中的一位追隨者普賢菩薩面容平靜，坐在腳踩荷葉的大象背上輕快地穿過一片山水。實在是精彩的線描繪畫。我們詢問是誰畫的。蓋茨表示，這些畫家幾乎都是無名的，其中很多人得到的唯一報酬是食物。

At Yulin, we ate a delicious farm-cooked lunch at a no-name rustic restaurant set beside the Yulin River, a fast flowing, narrow stream. The menu came from the fields: elm tree seeds coated in flour and steamed; stir-fried green beans; steamed pumpkin slices; and soup with freshly made noodles and veal.

我們在狹窄湍急的榆林河旁的一家無名鄉村餐館吃了一頓美味的農家午餐。菜單上的菜都來自田裏：蒸榆錢、炒青豆、蒸南瓜片以及現做的麪條和牛肉湯。

Back at the Mogao Caves, another local guide, Liu Qin, an art historian at the Dunhuang Academy, was eager to show us the spot where Warner ripped out the statue. In Cave No. 328, Mr. Liu showed us a Buddha set on a low platform surrounded by a half-dozen attendants. On the far left at an easy-to-reach height, one attendant is missing, a gap that destroys the symmetry of the tableau. A slightly raised gray plaster disc marks the place where Warner and his men removed the bodhisattva.

回到莫高窟，另一名當地導遊——敦煌研究院的藝術歷史學家劉勤（音）迫切地引領我們參觀華爾納劫走雕像的地方。在第328號石窟，劉勤向我們展示了坐在一個低矮的平臺上、由六名侍者圍繞的佛陀雕像。在最左邊很容易觸及的高度，少了一名侍者，這一缺口破壞了畫面的對稱性。一個略微高出一點的灰泥圓盤標記着華爾納及其手下掠走的菩薩像所在的位置。

Mr. Liu was also anxious to take us to the place where Aurel Stein, a British historian, and Paul Pelliot, a French scholar, took thousands of books and manuscripts. Inside the entrance to Cave No. 17, Mr. Liu pointed to a small, nearly empty room where Stein found 7,000 manuscripts, including one of the world’s oldest printed books, the Diamond Sutra, produced in 868. It is now at the British Library. Stein paid a local monk 130 for his booty. A little later, Pelliot took another substantial haul of scrolls for the Musée Guimet in Paris, and paid even less.

劉勤還熱切地帶我們參觀了英國曆史學家奧萊爾·斯坦因(Aurel Stein)和法國學者保羅·伯希和(Paul Pelliot)帶走的數千份書籍及手稿所在的地方。在17號石窟入口處，劉勤指向一個很小而且幾乎空蕩蕩的屋子，斯坦因在那裏發現了7000份原稿，其中包括世界上歷史最悠久的印刷書籍——公元868年印製的《金剛經》。《金剛經》現藏於大英圖書館(British Library)。斯坦因向一名當地僧侶支付了130英鎊就帶走了他所掠奪的物品。不久之後，伯希和以更低的價格帶走了另一批書卷，送到巴黎的吉美藝術博物館(Musée Guimet)。

In recent years, the Chinese authorities have said the treasures from Dunhuang now stashed abroad should be returned. That battle may be waged in the future. For the moment, the new director of the Dunhuang Academy, Wang Xudong, has a friendlier approach. Over lunch in his private dining room, Mr. Wang, who praised Ms. Gates’s work, said he was intent on making Dunhuang not only a tourist attraction but also an international research center for scholars.

近些年來，中國當局曾表示，存放在海外的敦煌珍寶應該歸還給中國。未來可能會上演爭奪戰。目前，敦煌研究院新任院長王旭東採取了一種比較友好的方式。在私人餐廳吃完午餐後，王旭東稱讚了蓋茨的工作，稱他計劃使敦煌不僅成爲觀光勝地，還要成爲國際研究中心。

Unlike the Great Wall, a monument to China’s strenuous efforts to keep outsiders at bay, ancient Dunhuang was inclusive, a fitting theme for the contemporary era of China’s global reach.

長城是中國爲抵禦外來者開展的宏大工程的遺蹟。與長城不同，古老的敦煌是兼收幷蓄的，這是一個符合當代中國全球影響力的主題。

“Dunhuang is a broader story,’’ he said. “It shows China’s willingness to interact with other cultures.”

“敦煌要更廣闊，”他說。“顯示了中國希望與其他文化互動的意願。”

Our hotel and flights were organized by Abercrombie & Kent Hong Kong. The round-trip flight between Beijing and Dunhuang on Air China and three nights at the Dunhuang Silk Road Hotel, double room, breakfast included: $1,470.

雅趣旅遊（香港）有限公司爲我們安排了酒店和航班。我們乘坐的是中國國際航空公司往返北京與敦煌的航班，在敦煌山莊住了三晚，雙人房含早餐價格爲：1470美元（約合9345元人民幣）。

The Dunhuang Foundation, established in 2010 by Mimi Gardner Gates, a group that supports the preservation of the caves in conjunction with the Dunhuang Academy, requests a $2,500 per person, tax deductible donation for the full access tour with Ms. Gates. The foundation plans at least two trips in 2016, dates to be determined. Information: .

米米·加德納·蓋茨於2010年創辦了敦煌基金會(Dunhuang Foundation)，該組織與敦煌研究院協力支持石窟保護工作。與蓋茨一同完成不加限制的參觀需要每人捐贈2500美元，捐款可以抵稅。該基金會計劃2016年至少組織兩次旅行，日期待定。具體信息請查看.

As excellent preparation (or in case you cannot go) the Getty Center in Los Angeles is opening an exhibition on the Dunhuang caves in May 2016 that will feature three hand-painted replicas of caves at Dunhuang; the ninth-century Diamond Sutra, on loan from the British Library; and other art and sculpture borrowed from Dunhuang.

洛杉磯蓋蒂中心(Getty Center)將在2016年5月舉辦敦煌石窟展，可以作爲旅行的一次理想的準備工作（或以防你無法前往敦煌）。展覽中有三個手繪的敦煌石窟複製品；從大英圖書館借出的公元9世紀印製的《金剛經》；以及從敦煌借出的藝術品和雕像。

For background reading: A new account of America’s fascination with Chinese art, “The China Collectors: America’s Century-Long Hunt for Asian Art Treasures,” by Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac (Palgrave Macmillan), has a highly readable chapter on the adventures of Langdon Warner. A more scholarly account of Dunhuang is “Cave Temples of Mogao at Dunhuang: Art and History on the Silk Road,” by Roderick and Susan Whitfield and Neville Agnew (Getty Conservation Institute).

背景閱讀：有關美國對中國藝術的迷戀的新記述，卡爾·E·梅耶(Karl E. Meyer)與沙林·布萊爾·布萊薩克(Shareen Blair Brysac)合著的《中國藏家：美國追尋亞洲藝術珍寶的百年》（The China Collectors: America’s Century-Long Hunt for Asian Art Treasures，麥克米倫出版社)中有關蘭登·華爾納冒險經歷的章節非常值得一讀。還有一本比較學術的書籍，羅德里克(Roderick)和蘇珊·惠特菲爾德(Susan Whitfield)及內維爾·阿格紐(Neville Agnew)所寫的《敦煌莫高窟的石窟寺：絲綢之路上的藝術與歷史》（Cave Temples of Mogao at Dunhuang: Art and History on the Silk Road，蓋蒂保護研究所出版）。