BEIJING, Sept. 26,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Fan Zaixuan, an expert in
mural restoration, still vividly remembers the moment he first
arrived at the Mogao Grottoes in the city of Dunhuang on the night
of March 31, 1981.
"I could only hear the sound of the wind chimes from the
Nine-story Building, which was very mysterious, and I was so
excited that I didn't sleep for the whole night."
The Mogao Grottoes is the world's largest and best-preserved
Buddhist cave art site, with 735 caves spanning a cliff face 1,700
meters long, containing over 45,000 square meters of murals and
more than 2,000 polychrome sculptures.
Fan, who is now in his 60s, has been working to restore the
murals in the Mogao Grottoes for more than 40 years. "So far, I
have restored an area that's probably the size of a large cave in
the Mogao Grottoes," he told CGTN.
Fan knows better than anyone that restoring ancient artwork
requires continuous and meticulous work from generation to
generation. He developed his skills with the help of older
preservers, such as Li Yunhe, who is in his 10th decade.
Li was the Dunhuang Academy's first full-time cultural heritage
restorer. He has been dedicated to the cause since 1956.
Now, Fan is the mentor, passing down his knowledge and
experience to students. He hopes the younger generation will, in
turn, continue the "Mogao spirit."
Dai Chuan, one of Fan's students,
was born in the 1990s. However, he has already spent over a decade
working to protect the murals in the Mogao Grottoes. "I am also
willing to make the inheritance of Dunhuang culture my lifelong
endeavor," Dai said with determination.
Chinese President Xi Jinping made the Mogao Grottoes the first
stop on his inspection tour to northwest China's Gansu
Province in August 2019.
He hailed Dunhuang culture as "a bright pearl in the long river
of world civilization, and precious historical material for the
study of the politics, economy, military, culture and art of
various ethnic groups in ancient China."
By the end of 2022, the academy had compiled a digital data
collection on 278 caves, image processing for 164 of them, and the
3D reconstruction of 145 painted sculptures and seven ruins while
delivering a panoramic tour program for 162 caves.
'Preserving the roots'
An old Chinese proverb goes, "All things in the world have
their laws for survival and development, but they know how to
preserve their roots."
President Xi has echoed this sentiment, often emphasizing the
importance of protecting cultural heritage. He believes that the
longevity of Chinese civilization is due to this fundamental
understanding of its roots. "Because of this sense of roots,
Chinese civilization has grown and flourished till today."
Over the past decade, China has
enhanced its systems and policies for protecting cultural
heritage.
By the end of 2021, there were 108 million sets of state-owned
movable cultural relics and about 767,000 immovable ones in
China.
To date, China has 59 sites
inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, ranking second
globally. It also has 43 items on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural
Heritage List, making it the country with the most listings in the
world.
Initiated by China and joined
by over 20 Asian countries, the Alliance for Cultural Heritage in
Asia (ACHA) was established in
2023, putting a spotlight on promoting Asian cultural heritage
conservation cooperation and inheriting and developing Asian
civilizations in various forms.
Under the framework of the ACHA, China has been involved in 33 joint
archaeological projects in 19 Asian countries and participated in
conservation projects at 11 historical monuments in six Asian
countries.
The establishment of the ACHA is a major part of the Global
Civilization Initiative proposed by President Xi, which called for
respecting the diversity of civilizations, advocating the common
values of humanity, valuing the inheritance and innovation of
civilizations, and strengthening international people-to-people
exchanges and cooperation.
Over the years, China has
stayed committed to and taken concrete actions toward the
harmonious coexistence of various civilizations in the world. The
country has signed cooperation agreements with 157 countries in the
fields of culture, cultural heritage and tourism.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-09-23/What-is-China-doing-to-preserve-pass-on-and-share-its-culture--1x87ZjqBig0/p.html
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SOURCE CGTN