For example, Tang dynasty IOUs, contracts and accounts of interest rates provided economic historians with important evidence. All kinds of censuses, land records and documents of civic associations brought to light the pattern of land transfers and civil activities. Yet the mass of Buddhist sutras and ancient literature was even more important for instilling new life into literary, historical and philosophical research.
譬如唐人的借據、契約、利息單據，是研究經濟史的重要資料；各種戶錄、田錄、民間結社文書則呈現了田地移轉、民間活動的面貌；而大量的佛教經典、古代文學作品，更為文史哲等方面的研究注入新生命，「敦煌學」也因此應運而生。