The Chinese version of A Study of Dunhuang Paintings, a detailed Japanese book about the research that has been done on Dunhuang Paintings, is published by Zhejiang University Press in September 2019. [Photo/WeChat account: zupress]

The Chinese version of A Study of Dunhuang Paintings, a detailed Japanese book about the research that had been done on Dunhuang Paintings, was recently published by Zhejiang University Press.

Dunhuang Paintings are the murals and frescos found in the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, or Caves of One Thousand Buddhas, in Dunhuang, Gansu province. 

The book, written by Matsumoto Eiichi, researcher at the Tokyo Research Institute of the Japanese Academy of Oriental Studies, is the world's first book to study Dunhuang Paintings systematically. It was published by the institute in 1937 and won the highest honor in the Japanese academic circle in 1942.

The Chinese version, the first of its kind since 1937, was translated by professor Lin Pao-Yao at Taipei University of the Arts, Zhao Shengliang, director of the Dunhuang Academy China, and Li Mei, doctoral candidate at the University of Tsukuba.

The book studies a diverse swath of Dunhuang Paintings and refers to some materials in Paul Pelliot's Les Grottes de Touen-Houang. It consists of two volumes, with 198 illustrations in the first volume and 435 photos of Dunhuang Paintings and other related photos in the second.

The book is a milestone in the academic research on Dunhuang Paintings and has served as a reference for Dunhuang studies for the past eight decades.

The translation was first completed by professor Lin from 2001 to 2011, who worked with a group of students.