敦煌作为亚洲的心脏地带，曾是古代中西方交通的要道，中国、古印度、古希腊、中亚文明四种古老的旋律，在这里汇成千古绝唱。1900年，一把芨芨草捅开了这个沉睡千年的藏经洞，然而敦煌附近的官绅和士大夫们无人对这些经书感兴趣，有些官僚甚至认为这些古代写经的书法还不如自己写得好。即使是当时的甘肃学政叶昌炽和敦煌县长汪宗翰这样的读书人，离敦煌都很近，但由于没有实地考察的意识，也与这次大发现失之交臂。匈牙利人斯坦因却不远万里，苦等数月，终于劫得宝藏。该片从敦煌的传奇发现讲起，描摹了敦煌莫高窟迷人的艺术杰作和文化宝藏，讲述了敦煌从繁盛到浩劫的曲折历史，也记叙了几代中国人对敦煌文化的保护与弘扬。 （英语）dunhuang, resting in the heart of asia, was the communication pivot between ancient east and west civilizations. ancient cultures of china, india, greece and central asia blended here and sparkle spectacular glories. in 1990, a bundle of straw poked into the cave of sutras. officials and scholars nearby showed no interest in the valuable sutras. some believed the calligraphy of the ancient scrolls was so poor that they could do better. it was a shame that ye changzhi, education administrator of gansu and wang zonghan, governor of dunhuang county, highbrows not far from the site yet without knowing the importance of field investigation, missed the chance for an astonishing archaeological discovery. hungarian marc aurel stein came all the way to the site. he waited for months before he looted treasures. the documentary, starting from the discovery of dunhuang, exhibits the splendid artistic and cultural works in mogao gottos, depicts the history from the heyday to the doom of the property, and introduces how generations of chinese preserved and passed down dunhuang culture.