News from the British Library
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News from the British Library
China and the UK joint project brings "Silk Road" treasures to life
Over 50,000 manuscripts, paintings, textiles and artefacts from ancient caves and temples along the Silk Road are to be reunited, in digital form, on a unique integrated Chinese/English Web site launched recently.
The Web site is the result of a successful collaboration between the British Library and the National Library of China. Produced as part of the International Dunhuang Project (IDP), the Web site will enable researchers, travellers and anyone interested in life along the Silk Road to search an unrivalled treasure-trove of information on items now held in museums and libraries around the world. The Web site is accessible via a single interface in Chinese and English (available free at: http://idp.nlc.gov.cnand http://idp.bl.uk).
A hidden cave, located at a Buddhist temple near the garrison town of Dunhuang in Chinese Central Asia, yielded many of the finds when it was discovered in the early twentieth century. Inside were hundreds of paintings on silk and tens of thousands of manuscripts dating from the fifth to eleventh centuries, forming the world's earliest and largest paper archive. Among these were the world's earliest dated book – a Buddhist sacred text – paper scrolls and fragments, woodslips, wooden tablets and documents in over 15 languages and scripts, including Indo-European, Semitic and Altaic languages. More manuscripts, paintings and artefacts were discovered at other ancient,abandoned Silk Road towns, which were half-buried by desert sands.
Together, these materials offer a glimpse into the daily life of the thriving communities of merchants, officials, soldiers, monks, farmers and workmen in these Silk Road towns as well as revealing the movement and history of Buddhism,Christianity and other religions.
Among the documents are early feng shui texts, military reports about the altitude sickness suffered by soldiers fighting in the Pamirs, and prescriptions for arthritis, period pains and other everyday ailments. Also included are letters apologising for getting drunk at a dinner party; the rules for various social clubs – many of them for women; contracts for the loan of a donkey or a cooking pot; census reports; tax documents; prayers for a good life and much more.
The Web site also includes hundreds of delicate silk paintings from the Dunhuang cave, now housed in the British Museum; as well as manuscripts and paints from the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, the University of California at Los Angeles and the Freer Gallery, Washington, DC. Alongside these materials are hundreds of early twentieth century photographs from the British Library's collections showing the ancient sites, scenery and local peoples. Users can search the IDP database by the item type, title, subjects, language/script, or archaeological site where it was found; or simply by browsing the easy-to-use map interface.
"Recreating a virtual Dunhuang cave to give scholars worldwide free access to this geographically scattered material from their laptops has always been the aim of IDP", says Dr Susan Whitfield, director of the Library's International Dunhuang Project. "This would not have been possible without the vision of The National Library of China which, through its collaboration on this project, is showing itself to be a leading player in the digital revolution. The Sino-British Fellowship Trust had the confidence to support the opening of an office at the National Library in Beijing in May 2002. We are also grateful for support from the Higher Education Funding Council for England and from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which provided generous help to allow us to accelerate our digitisation programme in the UK. Thanks to them, 20,000 images are being added to the Web site annually in Britain and China."
"The creation of the IDP Web site provides an excellent model of international collaboration in the library community", comments Ms Sun Liping, head of the Department for International Co-operation at the National Library of China. "The British Library's team of experts worked closely with our staff to help them acquire the skills to prepare archival quality and Web images of our Silk Road treasures. The significant Web site illustrates the value of integrating innovative concepts, imaginative processes and international team working. It not only presents academic information to researchers and scholars but also allows the public to explore China's history and rich culture."
The international Dunhuang Project is a compelling example of how computer technology can be applied to make resources available in a manner previously unimaginable. The manuscripts from the cave are now largely housed in four major institutions: the National Library of China, the British Library, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the Institute of Oriental Studies, St Petersburg, with smaller holdings elsewhere. At present there is no complete catalogue and none of these institutions can offer full access to its collection. Although microfilms and other facsimile forms of the manuscripts exist, these are still incomplete and often of poor quality. IDP was founded in 1994 to create a virtual library, bringing together all the cave documents in high-quality digital format.
To put the collections in context, the Web site also allows researchers to retrace the steps of the British archaeologist Sir Auriel Stein, one of the first to travel to the region. Using interactive maps, researchers can view hundreds of Sir Auriel's photographs showing the ancient sites he visited, the scenery and local peoples.
Magnificent Qur'an digitised
A magnificent Qur'an, known as Sultan Baybars' Qur'an, produced in Cairo 700 years ago, is the first Islamic manuscript to benefit from the British Library's Turning the Pages technology. The digitisation of the Qur'an was made possible by generous support from the Noon Foundation.
Turning the Pages is the unique touch screen facility which allows visitors to "turn" the selection of pages of digitised versions of major historic items in the Library's collection and see these in far greater detail than is possible on the original. For this project a new three dimensional technology allows the detail of Sultan Baybars' Qur'an, such as its extensive use of gold,to be seen in an entirely new way.
Sultan Baybars' Qur'an is a masterpiece of Islamic calligraphy and illumination. It was produced between AD 1304-1306 (704-705 in the Muslim calendar) for the Mamluk ruler of Egypt, Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Jashnigar. It is celebrated for being written throughout in gold in the style of Arabic script known as thuluth. It was copied by the master calligrapher Muhammad ibn al-Wahid and is the only known surviving example of his work. It was sumptuously decorated by a team headed by the master illuminator Sandal.
Besides being available on Turning the Pages, images from Sultan Baybars'Qur'an are also available on CD-ROM and on the British Library Web site. In selecting the verses of the Qur'an to appear on Turning the Pages, the Library was guided by Sheikh Zaki Badawi, Principal of the Muslim College, Ealing,London. A recording of the verses of the Qur'an being recited by Sheikh Ashraf Salah, an Imam of the London Central Mosque in Regent's Park, was specially made to accompany the text on Turning the Pages.
Commenting on the new project, Prime Minister Tony Blair said "This Qur'an is an object of beauty as well as of faith and it is excellent that the UKs national library has enabled so many people to appreciate such a magnificent work at the British Library itself or using the Internet or even by CD-ROM."
Sir Gulam Noon, chairman of the Noon Foundation, said "It has been a pleasure to support this project. The Foundation is enthusiastic about it and I hope that all visitors to the British Library and many more through the CD-ROM and the Web will enjoy this magnificent Qur'an and obtain a fuller appreciation of its history and importance."
Dr John Ashworth, chairman of the British Library Board 1996-2000, said "Turning the Pages has been one of the Library's great success stories. I am delighted that such a magnificent work as Sultan Baybars' Qur'an has become the first Islamic manuscript in the Library to join other famous items in the collection such as the Diamond Sutra which, thanks to the latest technology, are accessible and can be appreciated by everyone everywhere."
Lynne Brindley, chief executive of the British Library, said "Sultan Baybars' Qur'an joins examples of major texts from Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism on Turning the Pages and demonstrates the Library's commitment to increasing knowledge of world faiths by widening access to relevant historical items in its collection."
The British Library has over 14,000 Arabic manuscripts in its collection,making it one of the largest and finest in the Western world. It is world famous for two reasons. First, it contains many important individual items from fine calligraphic copies of the Qur'an to autograph copies of major literary,historical and scientific works. Second, the collection is very diverse and comprehensive in the scope of the subjects covered; from religion and philosophy, and all the genres of creative literature, to music and other arts,history and biography, and the sciences and medicine.
The British Library is the national library of the UK and one of the world's greatest research libraries. The Library's collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items representing every age of written civilisation. It includes books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music,patents, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages. Key users of the Library's collections and services are independent researchers and people working in the library and information science sector.
Armadillo Systems filmed the curator carefully turning the pages of Sultan Baybars' Qur'an, before analysing the footage and building a 3D model that was accurate to the millimetre, and whose page turns exactly replicate the way the pages look and feel when you turn them in real life. Armadillo Systems then programmed the interactive and used a 37" touchscreen, the largest in the country, to demonstrate the Qur'an. Armadillo Systems has been working with the British Library on touchscreen interactive projects since 1996. Turning the Pages is available to view in the Exhibition Galleries in the British Library,which are open to all, admission free, seven days a week.
For further information please contact: Press and Public Relations, British Library, 96 Euston Rd, London NW1 2DB, UK. Tel: +44(0) 20 7412 7111; Fax: +44(0)20 7412 7168; E-mail: bart.smith@bl.ukURL: www.bl.uk
