Dunhuang: Wooden Plank of Futu

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Eastern Han dynasty

Excavated in 1991 from the Xuanquanzhi site in Duhuang, research suggests that this scroll was written between the years 51 and 107, during the Eastern Han dynasty. The 0.4 cm thick wooden slip is 24.8 cm long by 1.6 cm wide. It is generally intact, other than a missing lower right quarter. The characters “Futu” (stupa) appear as the name of a district on this wooden slip. This use of Buddhist nomenclature as municipal place names is also recorded in Biographies of Eminent Monks, where the monk, Kang Senghui recalled a district named Fotuo (Buddha) during his stay in the Eastern Wu kingdom while propagating the Dharma; such naming practices were therefore not uncommon. This slip belongs to an early period of Buddhism in China, and it is regarded as an important historical piece from the initial spread of Buddhism.
Clerical script took shape and reached maturity during the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE). Several famous stele inscriptions from this era, including Liqi Stele, Yiying Stele, and Cao Quan Stele, were regarded as excellent examples for learning clerical script. These inscriptions, however, were traced from inked calligraphy and therefore not original manuscripts. They were also often carefully and deliberately executed to achieve a strict and formal appearance. Thus, during the transcription of the original writings, the true integrity of the script was often lost or not accurately represented. The discovery of this Han period wooden slip, which retains the original clerical script, provides a glimpse of early Chinese calligraphy. Several minute details can be seen, such as the pace and rhythm of writing, as well as the richness of the brushstrokes as observed in the turns.