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What Is the International Dunhuang Programme?

Learn how the International Dunhuang Programme reconnects dispersed Silk Road collections through conservation, cataloguing, and digital access.

By Dunhuang Within Editorial Team · Published July 11, 2026

A digital bridge across dispersed collections

The International Dunhuang Programme, commonly shortened to IDP, is an international collaboration that brings together online information and images from collections connected with the Eastern Silk Roads.

Its origin is closely tied to Cave 17. Materials from the Library Cave became dispersed among institutions around the world in the early twentieth century, making comparison, preservation, and access difficult.

How the programme began

Representatives of major collection-holding institutions met in 1993, and the programme was established in 1994 with a secretariat at the British Library. Its work has involved shared cataloguing, conservation knowledge, research, and digital access.

Why it matters

Digitization does not physically reunite the archive or erase contested collection histories. It does allow manuscripts, paintings, and records held in different places to be studied within a connected research environment.

Dunhuang Within is independent from the IDP. We link to it as an authoritative research resource. Begin with the Dunhuang manuscripts or visit the official IDP website.

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