Jiang Xiaowan

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Jiang Xiaowan
Photo of Jiang Xiaowan
Photoed by Aurel Stein in his publication
Born
蒋孝琬

Died1922[1][2]

Jiang Xiaowan was the interpreter who accompanied Aurel Stein on his expedition to Dunhuang in 1907 and enabled Stein to secure the purchase of ancient manuscripts,[3] including the Diamond Sutra, the world's oldest dated printed text.

Name

Jiang Xiaowan
Hanyu Pinyin
jiǎng shīyé
(historically: jiǎng sīyé)
Wade–Gileschiang3 shih1-yeh2
(historically: chiang3 ssu1-yeh2)

Jiang Xiaowan was his given name. His courtesy name according to Aurel Stein was Chiang Yin-Ma;[3] however the Chinese characters of this name was not recorded.[1]

Jiang was more often referred to as Chiang Ssu-Yeh[4] (Wade–Giles) or Jiang Siye[2] (Pinyin), which was likely the mistranscription of Chinese: 蔣師爺; lit. 'Lawyer Jiang'.[1] Ssu-yeh was a title at the time indicating the person had learned traditional Chinese law.[5]

References

  1. ^
    Sina.com
    . 2017-04-10. Retrieved 11 November 2019. 蒋孝琬(?~1922),湖南(一说湖南湘阴)人 ... 字"yin-ma",汉字不明 ... 俗称"蒋师爷"
  2. ^ a b c "Chinese Collections". International Dunhuang Project. Retrieved 12 November 2019. Jiang Xiaowan 蔣孝琬 (Jiang Siye, d. 1922), originally from Hunan, was not exiled but posted to Xinjiang in 1883.
  3. ^ a b http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/VIII-5-B2-8/V-2/page/0787.html.ja "Ruins of Desert Cathay", Marc Aurel Stein, Vol. 2
  4. ISSN 1354-5914
    . Retrieved 12 November 2019. When Stein and Jiang Xiaowan [i.e. Chiang Ssu-yeh] arrived at Dunhuang in Guangxu 33 (1907), the Magistrate of Dunhuang was Wang Zonghan, namely Wang Tao-lao-ye recorded in the relevant work by Stein.
  5. ^ American Bar Association (1916). Report of the ... Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association (Report). Vol. 41. E.C. Markley & Son. p. 674. Retrieved 21 November 2019. The people actually learned in Chinese law were the so-called ssu-yeh.

See also

  • Turning the Pages - the Diamond Sutra at the British Library (broadband [1] or dial-up [2])