Thesis (Master's)--Zhongguo wen hua Yindu wen hua yan jiu suo, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 203-219).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Sichuan da xue, 1990. / Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral) at Sichuan da xue, 1990. Includes bibliographical references (p. 244-247).

Revision and expansion of the author's Thesis (Ph. D.--Sichuan da xue, 2003). / "Sichuan da xue shi wu '211 gong cheng' zhong dian jian she xue ke xiang mu." 880-07 Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 2002. / Adviser: Victor Mair. Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation explores the use of new mass-media forms and technologies in early twentieth-century China to preserve and disseminate Chinese cultural heritage. It focuses on the contributions of Di Baoxian (狄葆賢 1873–1941), a publisher of art and Buddhist texts who established one of the earliest photography studios in Shanghai and a publishing house for art, the Youzheng Press (有正書局). Di pioneered the use of collotype reproduction to publish traditional Chinese art and founded the major newspaper Shibao, through which he preserved traditional literary genres in the form of newspaper columns. He was also interested in the practice of ghost photography to investigate supernatural elements associated with Buddhism and provide scientific evidence for these phenomena. This study situates Di’s work within the context of other art and Buddhist publishers and examines the emerging public art arena and political press as key sites for legitimizing Chinese Buddhism and creating new images of China’s past at a pivotal moment in the country’s history. The turn of the nineteenth century saw China’s territory partitioned among imperial powers, leading to the plundering of artistic treasures by rampaging armies and art collectors. Meanwhile, political reformers advocated art education to combat what they saw as superstitious Chinese religions obstructing China’s emergence as a powerful modern state. Despite these challenges, Buddhist literati like Di saw the miraculous aspects of Chinese religions as fully compatible with art education, modern science, and technology. Engaging with Victorian science and spiritualism, they used new technologies like photography to investigate supernatural phenomena associated with Buddhism, seeking to explain and substantiate them with evidence. Visualizing the seemingly invisible through practices like ghost photography became central to their efforts to preserve China’s cultural heritage amid the fall of the Qing empire (1644–1911). This dissertation argues that visual media became the preferred mode of authenticating the past and establishing a common Chinese culture in the early Republic, marking a shift away from a text-based literati culture. It brings Buddhist studies into dialogue with histories of art, print culture, and science and technology to explain how mass media and public art culture emerged in early twentieth-century China, how the preservation of art and literature became linked to Buddhist culture, and how Buddhist literati engaged with global trends of spiritualism, science, and media technologies.

There are five chapters. Chapter 1 reviews the publishing of catalogs, the methods used to identify fake copies, and previous scholarly studies. I will also define the research scope, objective and methodology of the study. Chapters 2 to 4 explain the relationships between official sutra copies and Buddhist ones, religion and scripture calligraphy, and the copyists and their calligraphy. Through analysing the colophons at the end of the manuscripts and the style of the calligraphy, I intend to show the impact of politics, religion and the status of the copyists on the calligraphy. Chapter 5 focuses on the artistic style of the calligraphy of Dunhuang scriptures, explores the concepts of Xiejing Style and Beiliang Style , and highlights the stylistic differences and similarities in different geographical areas. / This study demonstrates that Dunhuang scriptures are an important part in the history of Chinese calligraphy. The quality of the calligraphy varies: some may be masterpieces while others common everyday writings. / This thesis investigates the calligraphy of Buddhist and Daoist scriptures found in Dunhuang and Xinjiang, spanning from the Jin dynasty to the Song dynasty. The calligraphy of the copied scriptures is analyzed in its specific social and historical context. Based on historical records, contemporary references and the actual objects themselves, this study uses a textual, comparative research method to give an overview of the calligraphy and to describe its course of development in an approach that is as faithful to history as possible. / 毛秋瑾. / 呈交日期: 2005年12月. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2006. / 參考文獻(p. 143-149). / Cheng jiao ri qi: 2005 nian 12 yue. / Advisers: Jao Tsung-i; Harold Mok Kar-leung. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: A, page: 4016. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2006. / Can kao wen xian (p. 143-149). / Mao Qiujin.