older manuscript fragments

Ingredients

older manuscript fragments, glue

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The material is described as a 'complex collage' (p. 376). The scroll was physically constructed by gluing together a series of older manuscript fragments (p. 375). This process often involved altering the manuscript physically by cropping existing pieces or pasting additional sheets onto the existing structure (p. 375). Specifically for scroll P.3720, the assembly occurred in Dunhuang during the rule of the Cao family, likely by an individual named Zhang Fonu (p. 376).

Evidence

"With regard to the time of putting together the scroll, we have seen that it was glued together from older manuscript fragments not earlier than 938."

Remarks

The paper fragments used in these composite scrolls often date from earlier periods, but the assembly into the current form occurs much later, creating a late 10th or early 11th century collection from material spanning six hundred years (p. 375). Owning such a manuscript was an active process involving physical growth through cropping and pasting (p. 376). The physical form and context of these collages are critical to understanding their purpose as social byproducts rather than just vessels for text transmission (p. 376).