38 Taenzer
of silk78 [.. .]”.79 On average a bolt of silk was borrowed to be paid back on
return of the borrower with 100% interest.80 Thus to cover travel expenses it
must have been possible to gain more than double as profit. For monks the
possibility arose to profit from their skills. For example Fabao (法寶) took
with him a text of a transformation story (Chin. bianwen 變文).81 That is, busi-
ness combined with diplomatic exchange, and it appears that the lender of
the silk made the profit. Silk was used as a currency to buy goods. With some
of these embassies Buddhist monks went along—at times even as head of a
group (Chin. shitou 使頭). On one occasion even the high-ranking clergyman
(Chin. sengzheng 僧政)82 Suo went to Turfan. As this information comes from
a record of expenses of a Buddhist monastery, and another account in which
some of the names stated in the latter manuscript, recur, declaring a visit of
monks from Turfan,83 it appears that at times political tasks were combined
with the interests of the clergy. The question arises as to whether generally the
monks went on their own accord, were sent by their monastery or whether
they were ordered by the government to travel that is, were they used as dip-
lomatic envoys?
3.1 Religious Institutions
3.1.1 Temples
Only one list of temples, incomplete, is extant for the end of the ninth century
(see table 1.1). The lists of the tenth century do not mention all temples. This
is due to the fact that the manuscripts in which the temples are named are
mostly invitations to memorial services. Apparently not monks from all tem-
ples were summoned on each occasion. Yongkang temple does not appear any
longer; Jingtu temple was founded between 865 and 875. There were probably
sixteen temples then—eleven monasteries and five nunneries.84 Yet another
manuscript refers to temple peasants of the ten temples, another one to eleven.
78 The bolt (Chin. pi, see above) is no longer a standard size at this time. It is always stated
how long it is, that is how many feet it measures.
79 In Yamamoto, Contracts, text 347.
80 Silk was not always expected often cotton was demanded (Trombert, Credit, 150).
81 Yamamoto, Contracts, text 357; Rong, “The Relationship of Dunhuang with the Uyghur
Kingdom in Turfan,” 293.
82 Chin. sengzheng was a post/title of a monastic dignitary.
83 Rong, “The Relationship of Dunhuang with the Uyghur Kingdom in Turfan,” 277, citing
S. 5937 and P. 2642.
84 S. 2614 lists only 13 temples by name. As it also states the names of their monks and the
numbers are added at the end, it is evident that the entries of a few temples are missing.
A description and image of the manuscript is included at the end of the article.