Jiang Xiaowan was the interpreter who accompanied

Aurel Stein Sir Marc Aurel Stein, (; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at Indian universities. ...

on his expedition to

Dunhuang Dunhuang () is a county-level city in northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Sachu (Dunhuang) was ...

in 1907 and enabled Stein to secure the purchase of ancient manuscripts, including the

Diamond Sutra The ''Diamond Sutra'' (Sanskrit: ) is a Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Buddhist sutra from the genre of ('perfection of wisdom') sutras. Translated into a variety of languages over a broad geographic range, the ''Diamond Sūtra'' is one of th ...

, the world's oldest dated printed text.

Name

''Jiang Xiaowan'' was his given name. His

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

according to Aurel Stein was Chiang Yin-Ma;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 however the Chinese characters of this name was not recorded. Jiang was more often referred to as Chiang Ssu-Yeh (Wade–Giles) or ''Jiang Siye'' (Pinyin), which was likely the mistranscription of . ''Ssu-yeh'' was a title at the time indicating the person had learned

traditional Chinese law Traditional Chinese law refers to the legal system including laws, regulations, and rules used in Sinosphere. It has undergone continuous development since at least the 11th century BCE. This legal tradition is distinct from the common law and ...

Name

References

See also