Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c15.s2.t14: Xiang Da
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c15.s2.t14
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Xiang Da
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Xiang Da (February 19, 1900 - November 24, 1966) was Chinese historian and expert in Dunhuang studies. He was born in Xupu, Hu’nan Provine, Tujia Nationality. His style name was Jue Ming, and his pen name was Fang Hui or Buddhayasas.
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In 1924, Xiang Da graduated from Nanjing Higher Normal School (now Southeast University) and worked as an editor of the editing and translation section of the Commercial Press of Shanghai. In 1930, he was appointed as a Board Member of Peiping (Beijing) Library Editorial Board, and mainly committed himself to studies in the manuscripts of Dunhuang Popular Literature and cultural communication between China and the West. Between 1935 and 1938, he lived in Europe and visited the Oxford University Library, British Museum, Prussian Academy of Sciences in Germany and French National Library to collect, copy and sort out Chinese and foreign traffic history, Dunhuang examination papers, Chinese classic works, manuscripts of popular literature, among other important materials. In 1938, he returned to China and taught at the Department of History and Geography of Zhejiang University. Before long, he was transferred to Southwest Associated University in Kunming and became a Professor of the Department of History, and held a concurrent post of Supervisor of Peking University Institute of Arts. Between 1942 and 1944, he joined and led the Historical Archaeology Team of Northwest History and Geography Exploration Mission of Academia Sinica, and went to Hexi and Dunhuang areas to study Mogao Grottoes and Ten-Thousand-Buddha Valley. In the meantime, he wrote many essays about archaeology in Dunhuang and the West Regions, and had them published successively. After 1949, he worked as a Professor of the Department of History of Peking University, Curator of Peking University Library, Deputy Director and concurrently Academic Member of the Second Division of the Institute of History Studies, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Editorial Board Member of *Historical Research* and *Acta Archaeologica Sinica*.
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Zhou Shujia's, 'Foxue lunzhu quanji'
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He did many researches in Chinese, foreign traffic history and Dunhuang studies, and made great contributions to the studies in the Western Regions and the history of India-China cultural exchanges. His major works include *Concise History of Chinese Communication with Foreign Countries* (1934), *History of Communication between Chinese and the West* (1934), *Dunhuang* (1951) and *Chang’an of Tang Dynasty and the Civilization of the Western Regions* (1956). He also translated many works such as *Modern History of India* (1929), *Historical Science* (1930), *Gandhi Autobiography* (1934), *History of the Huns* (1934) and *Stein’s Serindia* (1936). *Chang’an of Tang Dynasty and the Civilization of the Western Regions* is an academic dissertation, that includes 23 essays involving the cultural communication between China and the West, Dunhuang studies, Buddhist grottoes statues, among other areas. It also examined all kinds of figures from the Western Regions in Chang’an, such as messengers, merchants and Hu Jis (Hu Ji was a waitress in taverns from the Northern barbarian tribes in ancient China), and revealed the influence of the culture of Western Regions on Chang’an between 713 and 741. The book is regarded as an important material for studying the culture exchanges between China and the West in the Tang Dynasty. The essays about Dunhuang studies contained in the book have had unique and in-depth discussions of the history, geography, art and archaeology of Dunhuang, through the studying method of integrating traditional documents, Dunhuang Document and on-the-spot investigations. He used to participate in sorting out *The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions*. In 1981, Zhonghua Book Company
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Xiang Da
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Xiang Da’s, ‘Tang dai Chang’an yu xiyu wenming’
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published *Three Ancient Texts of The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions* that includes photographic reproductions of the extant sections of the Dunhuang transcripts, Fuzhou transcripts of Northern Song Dynasty and Zhaocheng transcripts of Jin Dynasty, that has provided valuable materials for scholars to conduct research in this field.
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(*Wang Lingnan*)