Stele of Sulaiman

Coordinates: 40°02′13″N 94°48′14″E / 40.037°N 94.804°E / 40.037; 94.804 The Stele of Sulaiman is a Yuan Dynasty stele that was erected in 1348 to commemorate the benefactors and donors to a Buddhist temple at the Mogao Caves southeast of Dunhuang in Gansu, China. The principal benefactor is named as Sulaiman (simplified Chinese: 速来蛮; traditional Chinese: 速來蠻; pinyin: Sùláimán), Prince of Xining (died 1351). The stele, which is now held at the Dunhuang Academy, is renowned for an inscription of the Buddhist mantra Om mani padme hum in six different scripts. Another stele, commemorating the restoration of the Huangqing Temple (皇庆寺; 皇慶寺; Huáng qìng sì) in 1351 by Sulaiman was found at the same location as the 1348 stele.

Discovery[]

The two steles were first recorded by the French explorer, (1865–1929), during an expedition to western China from 1898 to 1900.^[1] When Aurel Stein visited Dunhuang in 1900–1901 he found both steles outside a shrine next to Cave 96, the home of a colossal Buddha statue, 35.5 m in height. Stein supposed that the steles originally belonged in the cave of the colossal Buddha, and that the inscription "Cave of Unequalled Height" at the top of the 1348 stele referred to this particular cave rather than the caves in general as is now the case.^[2]

The 1348 Stele[]