Narrow Results

Some small fragments of rag paper - made more than a thousand and a few hundred years ago, and excavated at Turfan, west of China by the Otani-expedition dispatched there during the late Meiji and the Taisho eras - were measured by PIXE. Bromine was highly Detected in all these ancient fragments and modern paper samples that had been placed together with these Turfan manuscripts. In other paper samples, bromine could not be detected (H⁺, 4MeV, 50μC and H⁺, 2MeV, 100μC) and their average concentration was about 1.1ppm (S.D.=1.11ppm, N=15, 0.3~3.4ppm). The bromine contamination of ancient sutras is mainly caused by larvicide of methyl bromide, and the observation suggests that the ancient manuscripts might be spoiled gradually by agricultural chemicals for protecting them from vermin.

In order to classify the Otani Collection's Dunhuang and Turfan manuscripts, their trace elements were analyzed by PIXE. The paper samples of these manuscripts were fallen off when they were photographed for a CD-ROM catalog. These samples were very small and their size was less than several millimeters. In addition, some paper fragments dating from the late Edo-era of Japan and the late Qing Dynasty of China, and modern Japanese handmade paper were analyzed using PIXE and NAA. Quite interesting results were obtained when analyzing the trace elements – Na, Mg, Al, Si, S, Cl, K, Ca, Sc, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, As, Br, Sr, Ba, Pb, La, Sm. It was found that Dunhuang and Turfan papers of the Otani Collection were characterized by its highest iron and bromine content. The reason of the highest iron content probably originates in their making process and/or depends on their preservative environment. On the other hand, it became clear as for the highest bromine content that the origin is from fumigation of methyl bromide.

Singapore is currently facing economic realities and geo-political headwinds that bear many similarities to those that brought about the decline and eventual obsolescence of Dunhuang, the desert oasis city in northwest China that once served as the strategic fulcrum of the prosperous Silk Road, connecting East and West for more than a thousand years. Ideological differences and practical conflicts of interest with an emerging China threaten to sideline Singapore and even render it irrelevant as China continues to pursue its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. Singapore is experiencing an existential crisis unlike any it has encountered in its past 53 years of independence. A prudent strategic response would be for Singapore to emulate the Swiss model of political balance among nations, maintain its traditional neutrality and rely on its unique strategic/economic strengths in order to ensure the small republic’s survival and long-term prosperity in a region facing tumultuous upheavals in the remainder of the 21st century.