Exhibition displaying relics and digital reproductions from Dunhuang gives public a better view, Zhang Kun reports.

Arguably the most comprehensive and diversified exhibition of Dunhuang art in Shanghai, The Great Art of Dunhuang exhibition was a big hit during the National Day holiday, which lasted from Oct 1 to 7, attracting visitors around the country.

Featuring 168 pieces and sets of cultural relics recognized as national treasures of China, the exhibition is being held from Sept 20 to Dec 20 at the China Art Museum on the east bank of the Huangpu River.

According to the museum's statistics on Tuesday, it welcomed more than 50,000 visitors during the holiday.

On display are some of the most representative and rare artifacts from the collection of Dunhuang Academy in Gansu province, which are making their first public debut in the metropolis.

"We have brought some of our most cherished artifacts to this exhibition," says Bai Jian, an official of the Gansu Provincial Administration of Cultural Relics. "We have reproduced six caves and, presented an unprecedented large-scale reproduction of frescoes by our predecessor scholars."

Dunhuang was an important crossroad along the ancient Silk Road for centuries, where Han and other ethnic groups melded.

"It held a similar status as today's Shanghai," Bai says. "We hope that by bringing Dunhuang artifacts to Shanghai's wider audiences, it will attract more people to visit Dunhuang in Gansu."

The ancient city of Dunhuang is located in an oasis in the Gobi Desert that served as an important trading center along the ancient Silk Road. From the fourth century to the 14th century, it was also a center for Buddhism, where hundreds of caves were dug with Buddha statues and frescoes built inside. The grottoes, known as the Mogao Caves, were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

One of the exhibits is the Shengli Stele, a stone with an inscription recording the beginning of the construction of the grottoes.

The text on the stone reads that in 366, a virtuous monk named Lezun (or Yuezun) "arrived at the mountain and suddenly saw the burst of golden lights with the image of thousands of Buddha inside".Inspired by this, he constructed the first cave on the cliff. Later, Monk Faliang built a second cave beside Lezun's.

From then, new caves were dug and temples were built with statues carved and frescoes painted. The craftsmen drew inspiration from sutra classics and secular life, creating a diverse collection, from legendary immortals flying midair in dance poses to the parade of powerful patrons and life scenes of prestigious families.

Six of the most representative caves — Cave No 2, 17, 45, 158, 285 and 320 — have life-size reproductions on exhibit, bringing an immersive experience of the Mogao Caves to visitors.

According to Zhang Yuanlin, deputy director of the Dunhuang Academy, the six caves were carefully selected to "encapsulate the concise history of Dunhuang art spanning almost a millennium". Some of the caves are closed to visitors at the Mogao Caves to protect the fragile artifacts.

"Thanks to digital technology, visitors coming to the reproduced caves can step in and have a close-up experience with the artworks, which is more than they can do by visiting the real caves."

A visitor to the exhibition, Pang Jian says, "we were not allowed to take photographs when we visited the Mogao Caves and could only follow the dim light from the flashlight the commentator carried … but in the reproduced caves, we have ample light to see all the intricate details of the paintings and statues and can take pictures too".

Duan Wenjie, former director of the Dunhuang Academy, used to call Cave No 285 "the pantheon of diverse cultures" because the frescoes feature Buddhist deities, immortals in ancient Chinese folklore and gods from Hinduism. Writings on the right wall showed that the cave was built in 538 and 539, which makes it the earliest among the Mogao Caves to have its origin year specified.

Cave No 17, or the Cave of Scriptures, was discovered by Wang Yuanlu, a Taoist monk in 1900, when more than 50,000 pieces of relics were excavated, including Buddhist scriptures, social life documents, paintings, embroidery and more. Thanks to digital technology, the exhibition brought several important documents and scriptures from the cave to the public, which are now in museum collections around the world.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of founding of the Dunhuang Academy. "We present this unique experience of Dunhuang art in Shanghai thanks to several generations of scholars who devoted their lives to the research and conservation of the cave art, so we have a section of the exhibition that tells their stories and contributions," Zhang says.

During the exhibition, the museum will invite scholars and researchers to lecture about Dunhuang art every other weekend. A series of workshop activities are held each weekend, enabling participants to try their hand at painting on rocks and making copies of the frescoes.

The exhibition was a highlight of the Shanghai Tourism Festival, which concluded on Sunday. Several tourism companies and airlines joined the exhibition to introduce travel deals between Shanghai and Gansu, as well as other northwestern destinations in China.

Shanghai's jewelry brand Lao Fengxiang also launched gold ornaments featuring some of the most celebrated Dunhuang relics.

Contact the writer at zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn

If you go

The Great Art of Dunhuang

Through Dec 20, 10 am-6 pm (final entry no later than 5 pm), Tue-Sun China Art Museum, Shanghai, 205 Shangnan Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai

400-921-9021