China: Dunhuang heritage protected across generations

Dunhuang City, in northwest China’s Gansu Province, was the meeting point of four civilizations along the ancient Silk Road. The Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang consist of 735 caves and more than 45,000 square meters of murals. Their preservation has been made possible by the dedication and protection of countless guardians across generations.

Technician Fan Zaixuan has been restoring murals in the Mogao Grottoes for more than 40 years. Since his arrival in Dunhuang on the night of March 31, 1981, he has learned skills passed down from older generations of Mogao Grottoes preservers, such as Li Yunhe, who is now over 90 years old.

Now, Fan teaches his students. Dai Chuan, born in the 1990s, has already spent over a decade protecting the Dunhuang Academy murals. Fan hopes that young people like Dai will continue the responsibility of protecting the Mogao Grottoes for the next thousand years.

As an old Chinese saying goes, “All things in the world have their laws for survival and development, but they know how to preserve their roots.” China cherishes the historical and cultural heritage left by its ancestors. Because of this deep sense of history, Chinese civilization has grown and flourished.

Reference Link:- https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-09-23/Ageless-Dunhuang-heritage-protected-across-generations-1x7BYIbwiJy/p.html

Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan Founder & Chair, Global Silk Route Research Alliance

Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…

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