Longmen protectors make digital archives for grottoes

Updated: 2015-12-15

During its closure period, protectors of Longmen Grottoes strive to rescue the historic wonder from the ongoing damage caused by time and nature.

They are a group of experts who repair and maintain grottoes, and collect information to help the treasure house of ancient Buddhist cave art restore its glory as 1,500 years ago in a digital way, and hope to share it with the future generations.

These skilled ones are from the different departments of Longmen Grottoes Research Institute. Experts of the protection center are establishing a "health record" for every grotto by investigating their damage and vulnerabilities. It is expected to help customize repair solutions for the grottoes to alleviate nature's effects.

The professionals also say that for Longmen, in the process to go digital, data is vital. "And only with data can we perform restoration, 3D printing, and archaeological analysis," said an expert. "So far we have input 80 percent of the data into the database for its protection," he added.

On West Hill, an unmanned aerial machine is working to take HD photos of the landscapes and geographical information of Wanfo Cave. It is a time-saving way with more accuracy compared with manual measuring. Besides, a close range photogrammetry is also used to take photos of caves, which features a 3D presentation and makes it easier for the research of the cave textures.

Data collection is also applied to sculptures and paintings. Although, 3D scanners and other high-tech tools are employed, it is still a pain-taking process. The experts have to work on high scaffoldings within limited space. "We make slow progress", said a worker, and added, "Because the fragile statutes cannot be exposed to sunlight and the measuring instrument can only collect data of a small region."

Workers busy in repair work on scaffoldings in Longmen Grottoes [Photo / Longmen Grottoes on WeChat]

A man is seen above a scaffolding in a cave in Longmen Grottoes. [Photo / Longmen Grottoes on WeChat]

A staff takes close range photogrammetry for paintings in Longmen Grottoes. [Photo / Longmen Grottoes on WeChat]