The Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, built in AD 366, are a treasure trove of ancient Chinese civilization and art, and an important witness to the exchange and integration of different civilizations on the Silk Road.
In the long yellow sand, this bright pearl in the long river of world civilization has withstood multiple tests such as sandstorm and humidity.
The digital exploration since the 1990s has opened up a new path for the protection and inheritance of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang.
Digital technology allows Dunhuang cultural relics to go out of the caves and go abroad to "permanent preservation and sustainable utilization".
"Digital Dunhuang" is fruitful
For the protection of the Dunhuang Grottoes, there are many objective difficulties that cannot be ignored - the fading of light, the problem of frescoes, the heat and humidity exhaled by tourists who enter the caves... I want the murals of the Mogao Grottoes to be "eternally youthful" and digitally preserved. is a very important means.
After cooperating with domestic and foreign universities and research institutes, the Dunhuang Research Institute has formed a set of key technologies and workflows suitable for the digital protection of Dunhuang Grottoes, and has comprehensively carried out the "Digital Dunhuang" project.
The project realizes the realization of the grottoes through the 2D image digitization technology of murals combined with photography and computer technology, the 3D reconstruction technology of cave structures and sculptures mainly based on laser scanning, and the 3D reconstruction technology of large sites mainly based on remote sensing mapping and oblique photography. The collection and processing of two-dimensional information and three-dimensional data have formed a complete digital archive of Dunhuang Grottoes and stored them permanently.
Wu Jian, director of the Conservation Research Department of the Dunhuang Academy, said: "After 30 years of development, by the end of 2021, the 'Digital Dunhuang' project has completed the digital collection of 268 caves in the Dunhuang Grottoes, the image processing of 164 caves, 45 painted sculptures, The three-dimensional reconstruction of 146 caves and 7 large sites, the production of panoramic roaming programs of 162 caves, the digital scanning of more than 50,000 historical archives negatives, and the establishment of a digital professional technical team of more than 100 people.”
In the process of continuous summarization and refinement, Dunhuang Research Institute has formulated national industry standards and norms for the whole process of digitization of cave temples, leading the development of the digital industry of cave temples, and formed a set of scientific digital work concepts, procedures and methods.
Wu Jian said that the Dunhuang Research Institute not only provided digital support for the Mogao Grottoes and the cultural preservation work in Gansu Province, but also provided digital technical support and project implementation in 14 cultural and cultural institutions in 7 provinces and cities including Xinjiang, Tibet, Shandong, Hebei and Shanxi.
Traveling to Dunhuang is immersive
In 2014, the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center was completed.
The Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center turns the digital data into a film, and plays the theme movie "Millennium Mogao" introducing the historical and cultural background of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang and the dome movie "Dream Buddha Palace" showing the exquisite grotto art in a loop. Before entering the caves, you can have "intimate contact" with the Mogao Grottoes, which greatly improves the visiting experience and eases the contradiction between tourism opening and cultural relics protection.
This is a beneficial attempt by the Dunhuang Research Institute to utilize massive digital resources.
In addition, Dunhuang Research Institute has also built a digital platform for the public, which provides infinite possibilities for academic research and diversified utilization while realizing the permanent preservation of Dunhuang cultural and artistic resources.
Open the "Digital Dunhuang Resource Library Platform" website, and the high-definition images of the classic caves are at your fingertips.
Click to enter the 254th cave, drag the mouse to visit the cave; by zooming in and zooming out the viewing angle, you can clearly see the details on the frescoes near you, and you can get an overview of the whole cave from a distance, even people who imitate the traditional Chinese wooden architectural form The characters on the top of the cave, the rafters on the east and west sides, and the hand-held lotus flowers and the patterns of people in the winter between the rafters are clearly visible, as if they were on the scene.
The "Digital Dunhuang Resource Library Platform" launched in 2016 has now achieved the global sharing of 30 classic cave full HD images and cave virtual roaming programs.
Its English version was launched in September 2017, with users from 78 countries including the United States, Japan, Canada, and Australia.
It is reported that up to now, the global access to the digital Dunhuang resource library platform has exceeded 15.6 million person-times.
And the "Yunyou Dunhuang" applet launched in 2020 not only displays exquisite Dunhuang murals, but also expands on the basis of rich digital resources.
The function of "Lighting up the Mogao Grottoes" reproduces the night scene of the Mogao Grottoes that was crowded with people thousands of years ago. Diseases are popularized one by one; in the "Exploration" section, in addition to the classic panoramic cave exploration, a variety of clues are also added - according to the art forms of murals, painted sculptures, and grotto shapes as clues, according to Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, The Song Dynasty and other dynasties are the clues, and the colors such as pine green, cobalt blue, and wagang red are used as clues, which adds to the fun of exploration and deepens the audience's understanding of Dunhuang art.
It is reported that by the end of 2021, the overall number of visits to the "Yunyou Dunhuang" applet will exceed 50 million person-times, and the number of independent users will exceed 10.4 million person-times.
Compared with the on-site visit, traveling through Dunhuang can not only watch the grotto art clearly, meticulously, and not limited by time and space, but also avoid the irreversible damage caused by the on-site visit to the preservation of the grotto murals.
Activating the use of diverse exploration
From the exhibition of replicas of cave murals and cultural relics, to multimedia programs based on videos, to virtual interactive experiences based on panoramic roaming programs... In recent years, the Dunhuang Research Institute has been constantly embracing new technologies, exploring in multiple ways in terms of revitalization and utilization, so that Dunhuang art approached more people.
The "Dunhuang on the Silk Road" digital exhibition was held in the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the "Dunhuang is no longer far away - into Hebei" digital exhibition was held in the Hebei Museum, and the "From Dunhuang to Yan'an - Grotto Art Digital Video Exhibition" was held in Yan'an, etc. A series of exhibitions bring the audience a perceptible, visual, audible and tactile viewing experience.
Reproduction of colored sculptures, fidelity digital mural reproductions, reproduction of caves... Each piece of exquisite digital exhibits allows the immovable cultural relics of the Dunhuang Grottoes to break through the physical limitations, walk out of Dunhuang and approach the audience.
In terms of digital display, the Dunhuang Research Institute has used the technology of 3D reconstruction of models and high-fidelity reproduction of murals to combine 2D images with 3D models. After careful planning and artistic design, the Dunhuang Grottoes have been reconstructed in 3D with high fidelity.
Up to now, the Dunhuang Research Institute has held 30 digital Dunhuang exhibitions in Beijing, Hong Kong, the United States, Russia, Oman and other countries and regions, which have been widely praised.
Recently, the Dunhuang Cultural Heritage Digital Creative Technology Joint Laboratory jointly established by Dunhuang Research Institute and Tencent has launched the first batch of cooperation projects such as the "Digital Book Collection Cave".
The project will restore the murals of the Buddhist scriptures cave with millimeter-level precision of 1:1, build a digital scripture cave online, realize the digital high-fidelity reproduction of the physical scene, and reproduce the grand occasion of the scripture cave in that year.
The two sides also jointly created and launched the official avatar "Jayao" of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang.
Its prototype comes from the melodious voice of the divine bird "Kaling Pinga" in the frescoes of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. The design of clothing patterns and colors are inspired by the donors and the "Boundless View" in Cave 217 of the Mogao Grottoes. The Bodhisattva in Life Sutra Changes.
"Jayao" can not only make expressions in real time, but also hair, clothes and accessories can move with the wind just like in reality.
In the future, "Jayao" will serve as the first digital Dunhuang cultural ambassador to meet the public through virtual live broadcast of exhibitions, popularization of Silk Road culture, and cross-border cooperation in IP innovation, bringing richer cultural content interaction.
With the blessing of digital technology, Dunhuang, the pearl in the desert, is gradually moving towards "eternal preservation and sustainable utilization".
The elegant flying sky, the dignified and solemn Buddha statues, the devout supporters... These precious human art treasures will allow every audience to appreciate their charm without restriction.
In the digital world, the Dunhuang Grottoes shine with new brilliance.
(The picture attached to this article is provided by the Dunhuang Research Institute)
Huang Jingwei