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New technologies protect ancient Buddhist artwork in Dunhuang caves, cliffs

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      China

      China

      New technologies protect ancient Buddhist artwork in Dunhuang caves, cliffs

      2024-09-17 16:28 Last Updated At:17:17

      Environmental simulation and digital replication are among the new technologies now employed to protect the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, a 1,600-year-old UNESCO World Heritage site located in the Gobi Desert in Dunhuang City, northwest China's Gansu Province.

      Researchers for decades have tried to find ways to protect the cultural heritage site, home to a vast collection of Buddhist artworks carved into the cliffs, from damage caused by natural or human factors.

      A multi-field coupling lab on murals and ancient ruins protection under the Dunhuang Academy, the first of its kind in China to be employed in cultural relics preservation, was put into use by the end of 2020.

      Located in the city of Dunhuang, the lab covers an area of 16,000 square meters. It is able to simulate the four seasons and the erosion by wind, rain and snow that the earthen relics could experience in a natural environment. It can also simulate temperatures ranging from minus 30 to 60 degrees Celsius and relative humidity ranging from 10 to 90 percent.

      "In the 'summer house', we can simulate the environment in the southern region which is hot and humid. We can also simulate a dry environment with a temperature of over 40 degrees Celsius. [The temperatures and lighting] have impacts on the heritage sites," said Liu Xiaoying, a research fellow at the Multi-field Coupling Environmental Lab of Immovable Heritage under the academy.

      Researchers at the lab not only study the local soil, but have also brought samples from heritage sites in other areas such as the northwestern city of Xi'an and Sichuan Province in southwest China to the lab.

      The academy has been working with academic institutions including the University of Oxford and China's Northwest University in an international synchronous field trial.

      With a controlled environment to its merit, the lab will play an important role in cultural heritage protection across the country, according to the academy.

      "The time and conditions are controllable and the data is precise. We can also test samples with a larger size - which can better protect the immovable cultural heritage," Liu said.

      Dunhuang Academy is now also using digital technology to record all the paintings and sculptures in the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in order to permanently preserve the relics in the database.

      The Dunhuang Academy started its digitization project in the 1990s to create digital versions of the Mogao Grottoes and other grotto temples and has accumulated massive digital cultural resources.

      With digital technology, murals, grottoes, painted sculptures and other splendid cultural heritage items have been reproduced and thus are able to be shared with the world.

      New technologies protect ancient Buddhist artwork in Dunhuang caves, cliffs

      New technologies protect ancient Buddhist artwork in Dunhuang caves, cliffs

      New technologies protect ancient Buddhist artwork in Dunhuang caves, cliffs

      New technologies protect ancient Buddhist artwork in Dunhuang caves, cliffs

      Next Article

      Transformation, upgrading of China's manufacturing investment accelerates in 2024

      2025-01-20 22:37 Last Updated At:23:07

      China in 2024 saw a faster transformation and upgrading of investment in manufacturing industry, a strong growth of investment in high-tech industries, and a rebound of investment in infrastructure construction, according to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday.

      The investment in manufacturing industry grew by 9.2 percent compared to the previous year, or six percentage points higher than the growth rate of overall investment. In particular, investment in technological upgrades of manufacturing industry increased by eight percent, or 4.8 percentage points higher than overall investment growth.

      Private investment in manufacturing grew by 10.8 percent, driving up overall private investment by 5.3 percentage points.

      The structure of investment continued to optimize. Investment in high-tech industries rose eight percent compared to the previous year, which was 4.8 percentage points higher than the growth rate of overall investment. In particular, investment in high-tech manufacturing grew by seven percent, and that in high-tech service industry grew by 10.2 percent. Investments related to high-tech industries, such as aerospace equipment manufacturing and professional technical services, increased by more than 30 percent.

      In 2025, China plans to moderately increase central government budgetary investments, issue ultra-long-term special treasury bonds and local government special bonds, and enhance efforts to support projects for implementing major national strategies and building security capacity in key areas, as well as implementation of large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-in programs, with the aim of stimulating private investment activity through various measures, effectively leveraging government investment to drive social investment, improving investment efficiency, and promoting steady growth in investments.

      Transformation, upgrading of China's manufacturing investment accelerates in 2024

      Transformation, upgrading of China's manufacturing investment accelerates in 2024

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