ON THE HISTORY OF STUDYING EAST TURKESTAN. M. M. BEREZOVSKY'S LETTER TO D. A. KLEMENTZ FROM THE ARAN SPF FUNDS*

Introductory article and commsnt by M. D. BUKHARIN

The collections of the St. Petersburg branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as the archival collections of other Russian scientific institutions, contain many documents that shed light on the history of the study of Eastern (Chinese)languages Turkestan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Field diaries, maps, plans, manuscripts, correspondence, and various official documents of a number of important representatives of Russian Oriental studies remain unpublished. Mikhail Mikhailovich Berezovsky (1848-1912), a prominent zoologist and art critic, is among those whose works are least known to the reader and need to be brought into scientific circulation as soon as possible. Indeed, the unpublished scientific heritage of Berezovsky has only recently been introduced into circulation [Vorobyova-Desyatovskaya, 2012, p. 176-182]. However, his collection from the Archive of Orientalists of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences is still waiting for a thorough study: Berezovsky's articles and diaries contain the most important information on the archaeological and art history study of the Kutch Oasis area in 1905 and 1907.

Berezovsky himself treated writing articles and reports as hard labor, so it is all the more interesting to find a document of high scientific value written in the form of a letter to a fellow archaeologist. We are talking about a letter from M. M. Berezovsky to Dmitry Alexandrovich Klementz (1847-1914), a researcher of Siberia and Central Asia, organizer of one of the first expeditions to Turfan in 1899, which is kept in the S. F. Oldenburg Fund of the SPF ARAN (F. 208, on. 3, ed. ch. 718, L. 1 bob.). In it, Berezovsky reconstructs the technique of making the decor of Buddhist cave temples: clay, plaster, wooden and stone figures, as well as relief images. Along the way, he gives an assessment of the progress of archaeological work in Central Asia, in particular the relationship with Albert Grunwedel, the head of the Third Prussian Turfan Expedition, with whom M. M. Berezovsky came into conflict because of the German side's non-compliance with the conditions for dividing the excavation territories, as well as the current political situation in Russia.

The publication retains punctuation and spelling of the original text. In the upper-right corner of the first page, there is a simple pencil postscript "D. A. Klementsu M. M. Berezovsky", probably made in the hand of S. F. Oldenburg.

Keywords: archival collections, East Turkestan, Buddhism, cave temples, archeology, Oriental studies.

M. M. BEREZOVSKY - D. A. KLEMENTSU

"18/31 Oct[yabry]. Heap. 1906 [year]

Dear Dmitry Alexandrovich,

A guilty head and a sword will not be slashed. I also hope for your leniency, because I haven't written a single line yet. I'm not much of a scribbler anymore, and writing is like hard labor to me. I myself suffer from this doubly: they are dissatisfied with me, and they do not write to me. From friends I received

* The publication was prepared as part of the RGNF project "The Formation and Development of Russian Oriental Studies in the light of new documents from the archive collections of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian State Library" (No. 12-01-00097); I sincerely thank the Director of the St. Petersburg branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, L. I. N. I. V. Tunkina, for her assistance in this work.

page 138

Figure 1

only three emails in all that time, and that was only about a month ago. This is normal. But I am surprised by the silence From [Yergey] Fyodorovich] 1, who is ill or well, but I wrote.

Of course, you know about what he did in the summer from S [yergey] F [yodorovich], and Nikolai 2 probably visited you. After his departure, he expected to leave ming-wee for a while and do something else. Instead, I ended up in Kizil. I heard about the existence of a ming-uy in the Bai district, with supposedly perfectly preserved frescoes. Buy on the high road - there are a lot of noble foreigners wandering around. They'll drag them out from under their noses and you won't know! So I went looking for them. I found not one but two Ming-uevs, but they were completely without frescoes and in such a poor state of preservation that I didn't even take a photograph of any of them - there was nothing to take. One of them is to S [evsro -] In [ostoku] from Bai, on Karasu, in the place where Lapar stands on the forty-fur map (this is d [erevnya] Lapa). The other is to the South [go-]3[apad] from the South, near the village of Ok-bash. I was late for the last one! A week or 10 days before me, an Avgan-aksakal, as they call an unofficial English agent, visited here, turned one day and took away 7 books and two bags of excerpts and leaflets. I dug through this cave 3 again and picked up a whole basket of small pieces. But there were only a dozen whole leaves and large scraps that had accidentally survived in the pit on the floor. There must have been a lot of books in this cave originally, maybe a hundred or more. But over time, treasure hunters chopped them up, little by little, ketmeny okroshka. I've tried all the other caves, but they're pretty cool.

Not having eaten too much salt in the Bai minguyas, I also stopped at Kizilsky on my way back. Here again, a bad feeling has been restored to the sentimental German rascal who so deftly pulled the nose of her Russian friends. Although Grunwedel wrote that they "left many of the best caves intact,"4 this is not the case. Ming-uy, one might say, was turned inside out by the Germans. The way you can do it, working for almost three months, with 15-20 workers every day.

Of course, there may still be some finds now, but this is a matter of pure chance. I used some rubbish: a few pages of books (on Reed or palm leaves).

page 139
leaves), plaques, busks, coins, fragments of wooden carvings, etc. The largest find is about a dozen plaster molds for forming figures and ornaments. But the Germans are not to blame for this! I came across them in a place where nothing could be expected and where I put my 2 x workers, not knowing exactly where to put them. From the forms - three heads (rather, faces) in full size, one even with a torso. One form is intact, while the other two are broken into pieces, but they can be restored. Other forms are used for forming ornaments and details of figures: folds of clothing, ears,hands and feet.

I brought 60 negatives from Kizil. Very little. The fact is that in some caves, with dangerous access, I did not climb out of fear, feeling not quite well. We need to go and finish it.

Kizilsky ming-uy is one of the most interesting in all respects. And by the number of caves, and by the variety of their architectural types, and by frescoes, and even by preservation, alas, to the Germans! I will not write about the types of caves - this is a long piece of nonsense. I will mention only two things that are very characteristic of Kizil. There are many caves, which, apparently, played the role of monastic services, i.e. warehouses, etc. Between them, some caves, mostly dilapidated, have, near one of the walls, 2 or 3 boxes carved into the floor, with a capacity of about a cubic yard or more. It is clear that they were with lids. The first impression is that these are bins for bread. Indeed, in one box, in a hole in the bottom, my man found several pinches of millet. Maybe the monastery had its own arable land here. The fence between the ming-uy cliff and the river is watered by two springs, and currently Kizil farmers have arable land here. The land is good, and there are probably 20-30 dessiatines of it.

Another feature of ming-uy is one cave, the like of which I have not seen anywhere else. It is located in a short gorge or gully, just 50 steps from the main facade of ming-uy, where the largest caves are located. The entrance to it is like a natural cave, but then there is a narrow, 2-step passage, carved deep into the rock for 10 or 12 steps. The passage ends in a precipice into a large box or room, also carved out of the rock, of regular shape, three fathoms square and two fathoms deep. On the sides of the passage - the same boxes, slightly smaller, 2 on each side. In the darkness of the cave, you run the risk of ending up in them, because they are not separated by anything. Throwing the lit pieces of paper, one could see that there were many human bones lying on the bottom of the crates. Apparently, it was a prison. A prison is a grave from which there was probably no return.

Who and who was rotting in these terrible boxes? In my mind, they are unwittingly associated with bins. Whoever filled the latter probably rotted in the former as well. The God's cattle that throughout history built pyramids, castles, stupas, carved caves, and always plowed arable land and rotted in prisons.5 No need to look into the kitchen, so as not to lose your appetite. Idealizers of Buddhism are not advised to inspect the Kizil dungeons. And it's easy to idealize the past by looking at ming-wee. Everything even suggests it. The cult seems clear and human. The frescoes show only a small admixture of even the supernatural element in the form of multi-armed and multi-headed deities, and-the complete absence of that nightmarish monstrous devilry, combined with pornography, which is saturated with modern Lamaism. The temples are cozy, clean caves, not big enough to carry a man, but with all the light and glitter. They are hung with innumerable flags of modest paper cloth, but in bright colors the poor's offering, and decorated with magnificent silk banners the noble's offering. In these pretty temples, brilliant princes and princesses (including some equal-to-the-Apostles) reverently offered offerings to the Buddha under the guidance of monks. The monks themselves, in their small cavernous cells with a small fireplace, are presented not as ascetics and fanatics with emaciated flesh and burning eyes, but as the balanced, cheerful cream of humanity, lovers of art, enlightenment, and books. This picture, which is drawn by the imagination, unwittingly obscures the past with a poetic haze, shaded by the pathetic prose of the present with its negligent and uncomplicated Muslim culture. This latter can, perhaps, be characterized in the following precepts: to puke and belch on[nrzb.] in the city of polau[?] and then sigh with the words "alla kerim"; piss on your heels; shit-with your noses against the wall, and ... wear galoshes.

About 10 or 15 years ago, the Mingui are said to have been still famous figures. Now they were only a few pieces of wreckage, and even that wasn't enough. Many were taken away by the Japanese, and finally cleaned up by the Germans.

Relief images played a leading role in the decoration of ming-uev. In the poorest, smallest butkhana there was at least one figure, in the most prominent place, in a niche on the front side of the post. In the larger caves-temples (cathedrals, as I call them), the walls were decorated

page 140
large stucco figures, several on each side. Only the ceiling and vaults are frescoed. The back room and side aisles were filled with smaller half-statuettes, and their walls were covered with stucco ornaments. The artistic talent and taste of local artists had to be expressed mainly in modeling. Their works contained not only artistic, but, perhaps, not a small archaeological and ethnographic interest. I judge by the meager leftovers that fell into my hands.

I made a profit only in the Kizil-karginsky ming-ue and then in only one cave. It is also dug-up, and everything in it is chopped up by ketmen, but scientific research has not touched it: a lot of wreckage has been preserved. I used 3 female (headless) torsos in some kind of bodices and tunics; four heads (fragments) in 1/3 of life size and a decent number of small heads, fragments of figurines and ornaments 6. Of the heads in 1/3 of the nat [ural] velich [ina], one is of a generalized type( Buddha?), remarkable for its directly Catholic unctuousness of expression. The other three are probably ethnographic or portrait-related. One, unfortunately, is crushed and crumpled like a Japanese man. Even the slanted, protruding teeth, which are not uncommon in this nation, are made of wood. The other two heads, judging by the way the beard and moustache are worn, probably belong to people of the same nationality. I made one out of several pieces, unfortunately lacking the beauty of the nose man. But in the other, from which only the right half of the face is preserved, the nose is quite expressive. The entire company (except the Japanese!) men at least where and could cause a sensation between the ladies, if they appeared on Nevsky (of course, with a nose!). Buddha, on the other hand, would have made more than one Polka sigh if he had worn a cassock. Unfortunately, there was nothing left of the figures or clothing except a mass of crumpled debris that could not be sorted out.

Among the little things, I was particularly interested in the heads of one type, of which there were more than 20, and some even preserved the torso. These are mounted and foot soldiers. I have collected 23 figures, although not complete, but giving quite an idea. The heads are like our dolls: all round-faced, beardless, and beardless young people. Only the expression on his face is serious, with a crease on his forehead. They are printed in no more than two shapes (there are slightly larger and smaller ones), and the personality is given by coloring and turning. The figures are real warriors, broad - shouldered, thick-waisted, but also thin, slender. On the heads of cones. They are dressed in long waist-length kaftans, cross-striped, red with blue and white. On the torso, below the chest, armor. Some of them have preserved pieces of tin sheets, which they were covered with. Round convex shields are placed on both sides of the chest and abdomen. Infantry weapons: saber and bow, on the left side; quiver with arrows on the right. Horsemen's armament-I don't know. Maybe even spades, because in the trash there were 3-4 small wooden tips. Only 3-4 heads of horses were preserved. They are treated a little fantastically, with almost human eyes, but effectively. The horses are all bald on their foreheads, muzzles, and co. they were painted in bright colors. The poses of the figures are very lively. One is fencing or looking out for an enemy (the middle figure in the photo), the other is drawing a bow, etc. The figures are decorated and painted mainly on one side facing the viewer. One rider (part of him in the photo on the left) had, apparently, only the front part of the horse. He was probably only halfway out of the street, maybe out of the gate. Some figures (smaller heads) must also have been visible from the background only with the frontor upper part of the body. They had only their chests and arms, but apparently no lower parts. Probably, all the figures were connected in one martial scene.

The local artists, as in Gandhara, were probably mainly bas-relphists. Unfettered by stone and with such a submissive material as loess clay at hand, they developed the bas-relief into a stucco scene in which the foreground figures were almost isolated to the shape of a statuette.

In connection with these small finds, the plaster molds found in Kizil were of considerable interest to me. They increased the idea of the official type of stucco figures 8 and illustrated the very technique of modeling, which, however, could be guessed.

In the mountains where Mingui is located, and on the plain, after the rain, when the water subsides, puddles form along the dens and ravines, in some cases the clay (loess) brought by the water is naturally soaked off. As the water evaporates, a soft mass of brick-red color remains. When it dries, it cracks into fairly large pieces, perfectly smooth, precisely sanded, with only slightly raised edges near the cracks. This clay served, apparently, as the main finishing material for modeling. Mixed with cotton fiber, it provides-

page 141

Figure 2

It is a magnificent stucco material that does not harden quickly, is strong and flexible in a semi-wet state, and does not crack when dried 9.

The figures were molded on skeletons made of wood and tied with bundles of straw. The hands and feet were given the proper position, which was fixed by dressing with a flagellum. The whole island was firmly attached to the cave wall, and on it were roughly molded figures of coarse material, like clay with gravel and straw.10 Then the figure was gradually wrapped in layers (thickness depending on the value of [nrzb.material), on which they were previously imprinted in the form of a fold of clothing. The head, hands, feet, various accessories and ornaments were printed separately and then attached to the figure. The head was probably made like this: the mold was covered with a layer of light clay about 1 centimeter thick or less, and when the clay dried up a little, this shell was removed from the mold, strengthened from the inside with a coarser material, a stick was inserted or impaled on a stick of the skeleton and attached to it. Plaster molds are adapted or decorated to the material. You may not be able to pour plaster into them. It won't come out without breaking. But a thin layer of clay mixed with cotton, slightly dried, with its flexibility will come out perfectly. The skeletons of the figures were attached to the walls of the caves, it seems, in two ways. Either a groove was cut in the wall, all the way across its width, deep enough to completely sink a wooden beam, which was fixed at the ends in the transverse walls. The skeletons of the figures were drawn to this beam. Or each shape was attached separately. To do this, a hole was cut in the wall, a vertex of two in diameter and the same depth or deeper, expanding inside. A bent raw stick was inserted into it, which, having straightened in the wide part and dried, formed a strong loop or ring. Shapes were attached to it (Fig. 2).

In one cave in Kirishe, more than 5 fathoms high, I saw at the very top of the front wall a hole of almost the same type, but large, 3/4 arshins in a square (Fig. 3).

There was probably a colossal figure attached to it. The wreckage of the largest figures I've ever seen is part of a face, which suggests that the figure must have been about 4 fathoms long. These were probably sleeping Buddhas, which were apparently located in almost all the large caves. In them, in the back room, against the back wall, are carved out of stone lockers with a pillow, which probably served as a bed for such figures.

I have seen stone images only in the Kumturinsky bay in 2, I think, caves. They formed part of the caves, were carved together with them. The figures were extremely rough, perhaps serving only as a basis for other material. In general, there were hardly many stone figures in the doorways. The local sandstone is of little use. Wooden figures and wood carvings, on the contrary, must have been commonplace. I heard that the Germans took away two large wooden figures from Kizil, even if they were supposed to be gilded. I've only seen pieces of wreckage so small that it's impossible to get any idea of the whole. However, some of them cause a burning regret that things were lost. Judging by them, Minuya had some great carvers. There must have been some plaster figures, too. I came across two or three times small pieces of gilded plaster, judging by the bulges, pieces of figurines or op-

page 142

Figure 3

on the map. Could the gilded plaster have been the relatively small images that were placed in the front niche? Then they were the first to die in the looting.

Here, I have outlined almost everything I know about the Minuya figures. Not much? Maybe you can find something in the steppe temples near Tarim. But there is little hope of finding anything in a state of tolerable preservation. The material is very delicate. The climate here is not particularly dry. Rain is not uncommon, although small, but sometimes there are showers.

So far, I've spent most of my time wandering around caves and caves, and yet I haven't looked at all of them yet. Back in the spring, when I was in Touchit, I heard about the existence of a passageway somewhere between Touchit and Ok Bash. The information was very vague. No one in Ok Bash knew about him. Now there is some fairly reliable information. In the summer, a party of 5 treasure hunters went there. They weren't so lucky. Two were crushed to death, and one was maimed by a collapsed cave. I haven't seen anyone who returned safely yet. I'll have to go. I also heard about the minus sign on s [ever] from the Pile near the salt spears. But I still couldn't find anyone who had been there. In addition, along the river, between Kumtura and Dogwood, there are in one place 3, and in another 5 caves and in several places ruins of buildings. You can only get there on the ice of the river. In addition to caves, there are also dungeons. Among the negatives sent by me and Nikolai is a picture of a small stupa located to the south of d [erevni] Krish. They say that there are large underground rooms under it with supposedly preserved frescoes. I only found out about this relatively recently. I will probably devote most of the winter to Tarim. This is the best time of the year. In summer, it's too hot, and most importantly - unbearable from mosquitoes and midges. In winter, moreover, you can climb farther with [nrzb.] of ice. Places where ancient settlements are usually waterless. Ancient settlements, apparently, once stood on the tails of ditches, which were pulled up. The reason for this is the natural lowering of the level of rivers, cutting them, which does not allow, without large artificial structures, to have water as far as before. The depopulation of the country and the launching of ditches also played a role. Near Kumtura, at the exit of Muzart-darya from the mountains, there are still remnants of former ditches, at least 2 fathoms higher than the current ones. This question is very interesting, but I almost didn't touch it. I think, however, to make leveling.

In your field, museum ethnographic material is almost nonexistent. Over the past 20 years, in the entire alj[nrzb.there was an economic and cultural revolution due to the export of raw materials, mainly leather and wool. The Andichzhans, as the inhabitants of Western Turkestan are generally called here, were cultural trainees. Even 10 years ago, Babye wore brocade kokoshniks and silk-embroidered trousers. Now they are preserved, in small quantities, in chests. I bought some hats and embroidery. It is curious that the influence of andichzhantsv affected even in Ingua. Even a decent [nrzb.] came from Andizhan. Before, they say, under this name they ate some kind of mess. Thanks to the Andichzhans, Russia enjoys decent peasants here. Now, as I write this letter, I can hear the sound of a drum. This is some resident of Tashkent who came to make money during Ramadan. He set up a fathom-high mast not far from me

page 143
in 10 meters high and did on the top, on trapezes, flip-mortals. At the top of the mast are two large Russian flags with a white, blue and red stripe.

I learned about the dissolution of the State Duma only from a letter. Newspapers (Novoe Vremya) don't arrive from the same time. I'm afraid that something is wrong in Russia. In my opinion, the tsarist government took a fatal, perhaps irreparable step by not agreeing with the Cadets and choosing the agrarian question as a pretext for the dissolution of the D[anti-government] D[uma]. The cadets aren't dangerous to him at all. They would probably have retained the royal power, even if only by name and in a civil place. They need it to fight their most ruthless enemy, fanatical socialism. And what is a cadet party anyway? This is all liberal, but not socialist Russia. This is the salt of the earth. True, there is a lot of bitterness and acid in this salt, but what do you want to do, we have no other! Now I see a dictatorship in the future, followed by a military revolt. Well, I ran away from something, I'm sorry if something is wrong. Do not be lazy, so write down, at least a line. Really, I feel a strong need for some external excitement, otherwise I'll start if I haven't already started. And this is dangerous. Here, without worrying, I bask in the sun, [nrzb.] Tantalum and understand old soles, [nrzb.] even nice. Before you know it, there's nothing left of you but a lump of mold.

I'll stay in the Pile for another year or as long as I have enough money. I have about 3 tons of them. You need to leave a thousand dollars for departure. I live here, on the spot, no more than 100r [ubli] in m [esya]ts. I have three horses and 2 men. I pay one 25 rubles, the other 2 rubles 50 rubles. Maintenance with an apartment costs about 50 rubles.

Zizinke[?] - curtsey.

Your Berezovsky."

comments*

1 This refers to Sergey Fyodorovich Oldsnburg, Permanent Secretary of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Committee for the Study of Central and Eastern Asia in Historical, Archaeological and Linguistic Terms, which sent the Berezovsky expedition.

2 This refers to Nikolai Matveyevich Berezovsky (3. XII. 1879-1941), a cousin of M. M. Berezovsky, a graduate of the Institute of Civil Engineers, an architect and artist who usually accompanied him during expedition work. In particular, he developed the project of a Buddhist datsan in St. Petersburg, built in 1909-1915. For more information, see in particular: [Andreev, 1995, p. 44-51].

3 Not a temple, but the cells of a monk or hermit. They are more or less of the same type: a narrow passage leads to a small square room with a window located next to it. There is a fireplace against the wall near the entrance. Vaulted ceilings. It's always blackened with smoke. Judging by some of the caves, they were originally painted black. The walls were painted white. At the end of the passage was a small dark cave, probably a closet. There are also niches in the room, usually very low. Maybe they served as shelves for household items (Figure 1).

4 Here Berezovsky quotes a letter from the head of the First and Third Prussian Turfan Expedition, Albert Grunwsdl, dated May 21 (June 4), 1906, with which Berezovsky had a conflict due to the German expedition's failure to observe the division of territories in East Turkestan: "But I left many of the best caves completely intact and only copied the frescoes that were important to me" (SPF ARAN, f. 208, op. 3, sd. hr. 720, l. 2-2ob.). About this conflict and the publication of the correspondence between Grunvsdl and Berezovsky (see: [Bukharin, 2014 (in print)].

5 Didn't the monasteries have serfs? Where did the Mongol Shabi come from?

6 Fragments of heads in 1/3 nat [Ural] vslich[ina] and larger were many, but so small and crumpled that it was impossible to collect anything that gives an idea of the type.

7 Crossed out by M. M. Berezovsky (editor's note - M. B.).

8 I don't send the photo. I haven't fixed the forms yet. And the photo from the form will not give you an idea of the type. I'll have to print it out. Apparently, everything is pure Gandharic type, without admixture of Asiaticism.

9 For coarser figures, clay was also mixed with wool.

10 In the same Kizil-karginsky district, I found in one cave a figure of 1 1/2 arshins high, fashioned very roughly from coarse samon clay. No head, hands, or feet were still missing. In their places, long tufts of straw emerged from the clay. Behind the figure, near the waist, were fragments of the rope that had been tied to the wall. The figure was lying on the floor, but it had obviously been torn off by minusv's grabbers. Without any doubt, this is the first stage of modeling. By the way. The cave in which this figure was located was under restoration. This is an ancient cave with cracked walls and crumbling frescoes. But there are signs on the walls that they were cleaned and covered up. In the back room, in the trash, there is a mass of straw tied up in bundles, obviously prepared before the figures were made, and not a single piece of old ones, broken like the old ones.

* Comments 3, 5-6, 8-10 belong to M. M. Berezovsky.

page 144
in other caves. In the same area, there is a small cave, completely new, just carved out of the rock, without any signs of habitation. The walls of the other two caves (which must also be brand-new, already covered with a layer of flattened somon) have been prepared for painting. But they only have large inscriptions on them, maybe the inscriptions of the work manager, indicating which drawings should be executed? In Kizils, I also saw several caves with a black contour pattern, but still without krosk [?]. Traces of fires, which are not uncommon in caves, can still be explained by later arson. But how to explain the above facts, except that Buddhism finally disappeared here suddenly, catastrophically. But by whom and when were these new buildings and restorations made? What did the Minuis do under the Kalmyks, under Davatsi and Amur, because they were, it seems, Buddhists?

list of literature

Andreev A. I. About the author of the project of the Buddhist Temple in St. Petersburg / / Local history notes: Research and materials. St. Petersburg Issue. 3. Acropolis, 1995.

Bukharin M. D. Novye dokumenty k istorii izucheniya Vostochnogo Turkestan New documents on the history of studying East Turkestan // Bulletin of Ancient History. 2014 (in print).

Vorob'svadyatovskaya M. I. M. M. Berezovsky as an Archaeologist: (based on the materials of the Archive of Orientalists of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences) / / Vestnik drevnoi istorii. 2012. № 2.

page 145

Постоянный адрес данной публикации: