This book is presented as an introduction to the field of Dunhuang studies. Born of Rong Xinjiang's lectures at Beijing University, it aims to be comprehensive in introducing not only the main disciplines pertinent to this area of study, such as history, literature, art history, and manuscript studies, but also the state of the field in China, Japan, Europe, and the United States. In this it largely succeeds.

Professor Rong's best work is as a historian and a philologist, and therefore the book's strengths are its historical chapters and its descriptive surveys of the Dunhuang manuscripts and their history. Lectures 1, 2, 4, 9, 10, and 11 all treat the history of China and of Dunhuang, focusing on different themes, such as social history, international relations, and the Silk Road. Lecture 1's synoptic history of Dunhuang from the Han through the Qing is very informative, particularly in its emphasis on the Guiyijun period. Together these chapters form a fantastic historical introduction to Dunhuang, from the Han through the Qing, with an emphasis on the Sui through the Guiyijun periods. A second major strength of the book is Rong's discussion of the history of the discovery of Cave 17, the immediate fate of its contents, and their subsequent international diffusion and study. Lecture 3, in particular, offers fantastic details on the dispersal of manuscripts and paintings prior to Aurel Stein's arrival in Dunhuang in 1907. It is a sober assessment of Wang Yuanlu, the Daoist monk who discovered Cave 17, and of the missteps that resulted in China's loss of the manuscripts. Lecture 6 details foreign expeditions and their activities, and is generally well balanced in its portraits of the explorers and scholars involved, particularly Paul Pelliot.

Three lectures helpfully introduce the study of Dunhuang manuscripts. Lecture 5 is a useful overview of collections of Dunhuang manuscripts in Britain, France, China, Japan, Russia, and elsewhere; lectures 17 and 18 introduce the field of manuscript studies. Lectures 7 and 8 are partial surveys of the discipline of Dunhuang studies in the West and in China and Japan, respectively.

The remaining chapters take up the difficult task of summarizing the contents of the Dunhuang manuscripts, focusing on Buddhism and Daoism (lecture 12), classics (lecture 13), literature (lecture 14), and science (lecture 15). Lecture 16 is devoted to the art and archeology of the Dunhuang caves. These surveys are informative, though there are instances, as in some generalizations about Mahāyāna and Pure Land Buddhism (pp. 432–33), for example, where nuance and accuracy are lost in the service of comprehensive coverage.

In order to appreciate the book and its usefulness, one should also be aware of some of its defining characteristics. First, as a work born of university lectures, it is pitched at a student audience. This is an asset, and is one reason why much of the book works well as a general introduction. The lectures are of course revised and annotated with ample references, and the register has been adjusted in their adaptation from an oral to a written medium, as Rong himself explains in a postscript (p. 530). Some of the personality of the lecturer is preserved, as well, and the reader is sometimes aware of the original lecture setting. This is the case, for example, in the fairly frequent passages in which the author introduces other researchers' opinions, and points out their errors, often with reference to his own impressive list of publications. Another consequence of their original form is that the author often appears quite candid, as in his grudging acceptance on p. 266 of Japanese dominance in Dunhuang studies.

The book's status as a translation of a Chinese book, Dunhuang xueshi ba jiang, originally published in 2001, also has implications for its use. In particular, one must take into account that it is not an updated, English version, but a translation of a book that was cutting-edge in 2001. This was nearly fifteen years ago, and in the case of Dunhuang studies, the intervening period has been remarkably active and productive, with digital tools significantly accelerating research. This is cause for celebration. It does, on the other hand, mean that most of Rong's lectures, particularly his surveys of scholarship, must be augmented with additional, more recent scholarship in order to bring them up to date. Lecture 4, in particular, “The nature of the Dunhuang library cave and the reasons for its sealing,” which had been previously published in English translation, has been superseded, with most scholars rejecting Rong's hypothesis that the contents of Cave 17 resulted from a reorganization of the library of Sanjiesi Monastery.

In the final analysis, most of the chapters are appropriate readings for undergraduates, and the book as a whole is a very good introduction to the history of Dunhuang and to Dunhuang studies.