Dunhuang as Sacred Space: On the History and Formation of a Major Religious Site in the Eastern Central Asia
Online Event
Online lecture by Henrik Hjort Sørensen (CERES/BuddhistRoad)
This lecture is meant to discuss the important Buddhist site of the Mogao Caves 莫高窟 in Dunhuang 敦煌 located in the westernmost Gansu province 甘肅省 of China as a ‘sacred space.’ This means understanding it as a consciously organised locus which continued to function as a major site for intercultural Buddhist practice for more than a millennium covering a timespan from the late 4th to the 14th century. The presentation will focus on what constitutes a ‘sacred space’ by identifying those structural, building blocks required for such a place to come together, for its operation, maintenance and other fundamental requirements.
