A researcher with Peking University does some 3D scanning of the Yuanying Guan ruins in Yuanmingyuan in July. LI RUI/FOR CHINA DAILY

It has survived rampaging foreign forces and still stands defiant and magnificent. Dashuifa, or the Great Fountain, a group of 18th-century stone ruins, resemble in their fallen splendor ancient Roman architecture. They provide a glimpse of another era, of the glory that was Yuanmingyuan.

Like its name indicates, Yuanmingyuan, or "the garden of perfect brightness", in the northwest of Beijing is generally considered the zenith of ancient Chinese gardens. First built in 1707, construction and expansion of this huge royal resort of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) lasted through five reigns. Spread across 350 hectares, the immense garden is five times the size of the Forbidden City.

However, 160 years ago, havoc was unleashed in the tranquil grounds. Anglo-French allied forces looted and burned down Yuanmingyuan during the Second Opium War (1856-60) and the resort was reduced to ruins after being continuously raided by bandits, more foreign invaders, and social upheaval.

The stone arch, columns of the fountain and the nearby Yuanying Guan (Immense Ocean Observatory) comprise some of the few surviving sites in Yuanmingyuan that remain visible above the ground.

In July, a group of archaeologists and history researchers from Peking University launched a detailed measurement and recording program on Dashuifa and Yuanying Guan. They used 3D scanning and high-definition panoramic photography to form a digitized 3D model of the ruins.

"The measurement of cultural relics can provide crucial references for our studies and enable us to produce a virtual restoration in the digital world," says Shang Jinyu, a researcher with Peking University. "It will also facilitate ongoing supervision of the ruins in their current state."

Shang adds that exquisite stone carvings are subject to erosion from wind and rain. The sites were reinforced in 2018, and the designing of a digital exhibition is also being planned.

Peking University is located just across from the Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park. Statues from the former royal resort are also scattered across the campus.

"This connection creates a closer, emotional attachment to Yuanmingyuan," Shang says.

"Protection of cultural relics has to rely on the participation of communities, and the university is one community."

Last year, 36 students from 15 schools of Peking University organized a "digital workshop" to comprehensively record these relics on campus.

The university signed a cooperative agreement with the administration of Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park to establish a research center dedicated to the imperial garden in its School of Archaeology and Museology.

According to Shang, more archaeological excavations in Yuanmingyuan will be led by the school－one of China's best education institutions for archaeology－to better uncover the original appearance of the destroyed gardens. Digital surveys of the surviving above-ground relics will also expand to more sites beyond Dashuifa and Yuanying Guan.

A student from Beijing Jiaotong University demonstrates an interactive game centered around the restoration of Yuanmingyuan on Oct 17. WANG KAIHAO/CHINA DAILY

A new alliance

In January 2018, Beijing Jiaotong University became the first Chinese university to establish a specialist research center on Yuanmingyuan. Over the following two years, five other universities－Tianjin University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China Agricultural University, Central Academy of Fine Arts and Peking University－have followed suit.

To better coordinate the work of the research centers and enhance cooperation among the universities, China's first alliance of universities for the study of Yuanmingyuan was set up on Oct 17. On the same day, the Beijing Forestry University and Beijing Institute of Technology also joined the organization and opened research centers.

"The original Yuanmingyuan doesn't exist any longer, but its rich cultural and historical legacy is irreplaceable," says Li Xiangyang, deputy director of the administration of the ruins park. "Its stories can be better heard if we can enhance study of the ruins and explain its significance from different perspectives."

The administration has cooperated with members of the alliance to launch over 50 academic research projects on Yuanmingyuan since 2018.

"Systematic academic research at a deeper level will greatly contribute to the protection of the heritage sites and exhibition of the relics," Li says. "The alliance can be a think tank for sustainable development of Yuanmingyuan."

According to Guo Weidong, a history professor at Peking University, Yuanmingyuan played the role of the de facto imperial palace during the mid-Qing Dynasty.

"The Forbidden City was used for major rituals and ceremonies, but living at Yuanmingyuan felt more comfortable. The emperors stayed longer and handled more national affairs there," he explains.

"However, findings from current studies of Yuanmingyuan are insufficient. Related research has been too scattered, leading to many parts of its history remaining vague. The centers within the university alliance provide a good start to greatly improving that situation."

A demo of a digitally restored model of Ruyuan Garden, based on archaeological studies, made by Tianjin University. WANG KAIHAO/CHINA DAILY

Various expertise

After Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park was opened in 1988, a passionate debate in academic circles was ignited, discussing whether the destroyed palaces and gardens should be rebuilt.

Though a consensus has been generally reached in recent years that the underground architectural foundation of the ruins should be kept intact as a witness to history, people probably still have a nostalgic, emotional desire to experience what Yuanmingyuan looked like in its heyday.

Fortunately, with their varied expertise, researchers from each university in the alliance have partially uncovered the original appearance.

For instance, in the last decade, archaeologists unearthed the Ruyuan ruins, once an exquisite garden resembling typical Jiangnan style (a cultural term describing the areas on the southern bank of Yangtze River's lower reaches), and figured out what the architecture really looked like.

Based on studies of the excavated foundations and referring to ancient documents, a team of students from Tianjin University that is strong in architectural studies "reconstructed" the main buildings of Ruyuan as 3D virtual models.

The achievement also opens up the possibility of designing a new exhibition hall on the ruins and thus enabling tourists to better imagine its past glory.

In Zhengjue Temple, one of the best reserved architectural complexes in Yuanmingyuan that survived the inferno, teachers and students from the Central Academy of Fine Arts used old photos and virtual restorations to make replicas of a group of destroyed Buddha statues. Other researchers from Peking University redesigned the time-telling bell and drum in the temple based on their studies.

When Qing Dynasty emperors had the resort built, the basic layout of the lake, rockery, and other scenic spots in the compound were roughly designed as scaled-down replicas of China's geographic features－the high and long mountains on the northwest and oceans on the east. Many current projects of the universities, thus, have focused on restoring the original landscape there.

According to Xi Xuesong, deputy director of the Yuanmingyuan research center at the China Agricultural University, scholars with his center are conducting comprehensive studies of the ancient waterways in Yuanmingyuan.

"Through our studies, we also want to improve the general water environment in the park and increase the efficiency of irrigation of the green lands," he says.

It is estimated that over 40 percent of Yuanmingyuan's area was originally covered by water. Some man-made lakes have been rebuilt based on written references.

And Luo Juchun, a professor from Beijing Forestry University, is leading research on tree varieties in Yuanmingyuan and the original vegetation during the imperial years, aided by ancient paintings and documents.

"Some plants are detrimental to the underground cultural relics, and we have to move or cut them step by step," he says.

Wider benefits

In January, Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park was listed as a top-rated scenic spot in China. About 340,000 people poured into the park during the National Day holiday earlier this month, a slight increase from the figure in 2019 despite disruption caused by COVID-19.

The team from the Beijing Jiaotong University has leveraged its strengths in transportation and traffic management to help the park to design a set of signboards for tourists, while the creative faculty from the Central Academy of Fine Arts has designed food and a series of souvenirs featuring the artistic elements from Yuanmingyuan, which proved to be popular among visitors.

Beijing Foreign Studies University focused on the history of Sino-foreign cultural communications reflected through Yuanmingyuan. The research center there has also widely surveyed related files, old photos and documents in the United Kingdom and Japan and translated relevant domestic publishing into foreign languages.

Xia Haishan, president of the newly founded alliance, also a professor with Beijing Jiaotong University, says that closer cooperation of the research centers will enable universities to launch more related research.

"Many research projects and graduation designs about Yuanmingyuan can be undertaken on the platform, and the results can be practical, meeting the actual needs concerning everyday operation of the park," Xia says.

"It's a long-term task. As our work progresses, we're getting a stronger feeling that the cultural meaning of Yuanmingyuan is uniquely marvelous."

Contact the writer at wangkaihao@chinadaily.com.cn