Stein, Who Took Quick Actions
In the meanwhile, Stein had also heard a rumor about the Library Cave from a merchant. In contrast to Le Coq, however, it was in Dunhuang that he heard the news.
He was within a stone’s throw from the Mogao Grottoes, where the Library Cave was located, so Stein was able to immediately go and find out whether the rumor was true or not.
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(16)
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To Stein, the Mogao Grottoes was a place where he decided it was worth making a short visit. His main target being the ancient Great Wall located to the north of the Dunhuang oasis (Map(16), Photo(17), Present Photo).
But Stein decided to check out the validity of the rumor anyway. Changing his original plan, Stein headed for the Mogao Grottoes, where he tried to meet the Taoist priest, Wang Yuanlu 王圓籙, who was in charge of taking care of the caves.
On his first visit, however, the abbot was away begging for alms and so Stein was only shown only one single scroll by a young Buddhist monk.
At that point, Stein proceeded on with his original plan and went to excavate the Great Wall site (Yumen Guan or Jade Gate Pass(18)) where he uncovered numerous manuscripts and antiquities which proved the site was constructed in the Han Dynasty.
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Although he had achieved enough during his expedition, Stein was still interested in following up on the rumor and went again later to the Mogao Grottoes. This time he was able to see Wang and began to negotiate for a deal to purchase the manuscripts.
Stein had immediately understood the significance and value of the manuscripts and so hoped to buy and bring them back to Britain. Wang was reluctant at first to sell the manuscripts, but Stein began to persuade the monk even telling him of his respect for the Tang dynasty monk Xuanzang, a person whom Stein called his “Guardian Saint.”
This helped to persuade the monk and after long negotiation, Stein was able to acquire some several thousand Buddhist scriptures and paintings.
Stein also received much dubious information and had to sift through to figure out what to believe and what not believe. In this instance, his quick action brought him huge success. Stein however also had his own obstacles which he was unable to overcome.
Despite the numerous manuscripts and paintings he was able to obtain from the Library Cave, he missed many manuscripts of historical value. Being denied access to the library itself, everything he saw was brought out and shown to him by Wang or his disciple.
More problematic, since Stein could not read Chinese, he was incapable of selecting and considering the quality of the manuscripts by reading them. In reality, it was Pelliot who arrived later who was able to attain high quality manuscripts that Stein had missed.
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