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A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang

The oasis of Dunhuang, at the edge of the Gobi Desert, was once a bustling town on the famous Silk Road connecting China and the Mediterranean. Discover the personal stories of those who lived, travelled through, worked, and worshipped here more than 1,000 years ago. Explore an astonishing time capsule that opens windows onto the intimate worlds of artists and scribes, merchants and fortune-tellers, diplomats, Buddhists and nuns.

Named “Blazing Beacon” after the watchtowers along its walls, Dunhuang was once a vital meeting point at the gateway to China. The routes that converged here ran through Constantinople in the West and Japan in the East. But there was more to this verdant oasis than trade. For over 1000 years, Dunhuang was also an important pilgrimage site, a cultural melting pot where ideas, technologies and art flowed freely.

This exhibition provides a rare glimpse into the ordinary lives of people long ago through the remarkable contents of the ‘Library Cave,’ part of the Buddhist cave complex of Mogao, where a wealth of manuscripts, documents and artworks remained sealed for nearly 900 years. Detailing life in and around Dunhuang during the first millennium CE, the documents include personal letters and wills encompassing multiple languages, faiths and cultures including Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and Christianity; and span topics as diverse as literature, astronomy, medicine, politics and art.

Exhibition highlights include:

The Diamond Sutra (868 CE), the world’s earliest complete printed book with a date, and one of the most influential Mahayana sutras in East Asia
The Dunhuang star chart, the earliest known manuscript atlas of the night sky from any civilisation
The Old Tibetan Annals, the earliest surviving historical document in Tibetan, giving a year-by-year account of the Tibetan empire between 641 and 764
A manuscript fragment dating from the 9th century about the prophet Zoroaster or Zarathustra, nearly 400 years older than any other surviving Zoroastrian scripture.

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Meet a cast of real characters that bring the past of this ancient community to life: from a Buddhist nun who was also the leader of a women’s club in Dunhuang to artists responsible for the stunning paintings in the famous Mogao caves. Discover stories of Sogdian merchants who travelled across Eurasia to trade precious goods, and hear from Miwnay who came here from Samarkand with her merchant husband. Learn more about diplomats from faraway lands and fortune-tellers whose predictions influenced many aspects of daily life.

Find out how these stories from the first millennium still resonate in our world today, and explore other highlights including:

The longest surviving manuscript text in the Old Turkic script, a Turkic omen text known as the Irk Bitig, or 'Book of Omens'
A stencil drawing used to produce the ‘Thousand Buddha’ drawings seen on cave ceilings from the 9th and 10th centuries
One of the most important and complete manuscripts among the Old Uyghur Manichaean texts, the Xuastuanift, a confessional book of Manichaean Uyghurs
Two letters written in early Sogdian dating from the 4th century

Taking place in our Paccar 2 Gallery, we expect your visit will take 45 minutes.

Ticket pricing
British Library Members go free with a guest. Select your free tickets and proceed to book, you don’t need to log in. Please bring your Membership card with you when you visit. Find out more about becoming a British Library Member.

Ticket bundles are available at checkout for this exhibition along with Medieval Women: In Their Own Words from when the latter opens on 25 October.

Other concessions are available, including for under 26s, students and those with a disability. Please see the ticket options for more details and select the ticket type you require. The British Library also offers discounts for groups of 10+, these will automatically discount once added to your basket.

ICOM, NMDC and other reciprocal free entry scheme organisation cards are accepted for free entry into this exhibition up until 16 February, there is no need to pre-book, please visit the Library with your card for entry, subject to availability.

A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang is made possible with support from The Klein Family Foundation and the Dunhuang Foundation.

Exhibition book supported by Sir Percival David Foundation Academic and Research Fund