Jiang Xiaowan

In this Chinese name, the family name is Jiang.

Jiang Xiaowan
Photoed by Aurel Stein in his publication
Born	蒋孝琬 Hunan[1][2]
Died	1922[1][2]

Jiang Xiaowan was the interpreter who accompanied Aurel Stein on his expedition to Dunhuang in 1907 and enabled Stein to secure the purchase of ancient manuscripts,[3] including the Diamond Sutra, the world's oldest dated printed text.

Name

Jiang Xiaowan
Traditional Chinese	蔣孝琬
Simplified Chinese	蒋孝琬
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin jiǎng xiàowǎn Wade–Giles chiang3 hsiao4wan3
Title
Traditional Chinese	蔣師爺
Simplified Chinese	蒋师爷
Literal meaning	Lawyer Jiang
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin jiǎng shīyé (historically: jiǎng sīyé) Wade–Giles chiang3 shih1-yeh2 (historically: chiang3 ssu1-yeh2)

Jiang Xiaowan was his given name. His courtesy name according to Aurel Stein was Chiang Yin-Ma;[3] however the Chinese characters of this name was not recorded.[1]

Jiang was more often referred to as Chiang Ssu-Yeh[4] (Wade–Giles) or Jiang Siye[2] (Pinyin), which was likely the mistranscription of Chinese: 蔣師爺; lit. 'Lawyer Jiang'.[1] Ssu-yeh was a title at the time indicating the person had learned traditional Chinese law.[5]

References

1. "帮助斯坦因盗取藏经洞文物的中国"师爷":蒋孝琬". Sina.com Collection (in Chinese). Sina.com. 2017-04-10. Retrieved 11 November 2019. 蒋孝琬（？~1922），湖南（一说湖南湘阴）人 ... 字"yin-ma"，汉字不明 ... 俗称"蒋师爷"
2. "Chinese Collections". International Dunhuang Project. Retrieved 12 November 2019. Jiang Xiaowan 蔣孝琬 (Jiang Siye, d. 1922), originally from Hunan, was not exiled but posted to Xinjiang in 1883.
3. 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
4. "IDP Newsletter". Idp News : Newsletter of the International Dunhuang Project. No. 10. International Dunhuang Project. Spring 1998. ISSN 1354-5914. Retrieved 12 November 2019. When Stein and Jiang Xiaowan [i.e. Chiang Ssu-yeh] arrived at Dunhuang in Guangxu 33 (1907), the Magistrate of Dunhuang was Wang Zonghan, namely Wang Tao-lao-ye recorded in the relevant work by Stein.
5. American Bar Association (1916). Report of the ... Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association (Report). Vol. 41. E.C. Markley & Son. p. 674. Retrieved 21 November 2019. The people actually learned in Chinese law were the so-called ssu-yeh.

See also

• Turning the Pages - the Diamond Sutra at the British Library (broadband [1] or dial-up [2])