June 2011, Daily News

Remarkable cave temples of China resurrected through technology

By Dan McLerran   Sat, Aug 27, 2011

Looking at these caves, visitors were struck with awe at the beauty of the artwork that adorned them. Some may have asked, "Who even knew these were here?" The location was generally off the map in the minds of most tourists and traveling adventurers. But these same visitors would have noticed that something was missing. Rough, blank areas on great sculptures existed where once there were faces. Details were missing here and there. Massive damage was done by looters who chiseled away key portions of the limestone cave masterpieces during the first half of the 20th century and then offered them for sale on the international art market. They were not the creation that they once were. 

This was the legacy of the cave temples of Xiangtangshan (響堂山, pronounced “shahng-tahng-shahn”, meaning "Mountain of Echoing Halls"), a group of Buddhist shrines carved directly out of limestone cliffs with sculptural images. Located in a rural coal-mining area in the southern Hebei Province of China, there are a total of about thirty such caves divided among three sites. 

But now, as if raised from the dead, the caves and their extraordinary artistic treasures have been restored in their full glory through the remarkable results of intensive research and cutting-edge digital technology.  Through a multiyear research and reconstruction project coordinated by the University of Chicago’s Center for the Art of East Asia, an international team of experts photographed and scanned the cave interiors, including more than 80 sculptures now scattered among museums and collections outside of China. Thanks to the techniques and principles of advanced imaging technology, researchers have been able to digitally restore and reconstruct the appearance of the sculptures and statues to their former state, allowing the public and researchers to again see what the ancients saw during the 6th century, C.E.

The results of this work have recently been showcased in a special exhibit called "Echoes of the Past" at the University of Chicago Smart Museum and the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C.  It is also slated to be shown at the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University in Dallas (Sept. 11, 2011 – Jan. 8, 2012) and the San Diego Museum of Art (Feb. 18 – May 27, 2012).

“This exhibition is the culmination of an imaginative application of digital technology, years of scholarship and an unprecedented collaboration with Chinese art historians and archaeologists,” said Keith Wilson, associate director and curator of ancient Chinese art at the Freer and Sackler galleries. “Museum visitors will have a rare opportunity to experience these beautiful sculptures within their original historical, religious and social contexts. The format offers a new approach to understanding and interpreting damaged cultural sites.”

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Rendering of the Digital Cave video installation. Photo by Jason Salavon and Travis Saul

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The cave temples were the cultural achievement of the sixth-century Northern Qi dynasty (550-577 CE). The Northern Qi dynasty was part of the "Northern Dynasties" period (420-589), when the northern part of China was ruled by the non-Chinese Xianbei, established in the late fourth century through military conquest. The Northern Qi period saw a time characterized by an intermixing of non-Chinese and Chinese elements, including intermarriages between the Xianbei aristocracy with the local Chinese elite. The arts thus flourished in a multicultural environment, permitting close interaction between Chinese and non-Chinese artisans, patrons, and artistic models and influences and creating new art forms. Through the scholarship and influence of the eminent monks of the time, the caves show images of Buddhist deities, architectural and ornamental details, and texts of Buddhist scriptures, reflecting the sponsorship of Buddhism by officials from the nearby capital of Ye.

Seated Bodhisattva, Xiangtangshan, northern group of caves, attributed to North Cave, perimeter wall niches, Limestone with traces of pigment, Northern Qi dynasty, 550-577, F1913.57. Photo Freer Gallery of Art.

The exhibition is curated by Katherine R. Tsiang, associate director of the Center for the Art of East Asia, Department of Art History, University of Chicago, in consultation with J. Keith Wilson, associate director and curator of ancient Chinese art, Freer and Sackler galleries, and Richard A. Born, senior curator, Smart Museum of Art.

Major funding for the exhibition is provided by the Leon Levy Foundation, the Smart Family Foundation, the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

Cover Photo, Top: Seated Buddha accompanied by six standing deities, east wall altar, South Cave, Northern Xiangtangshan. Photo by Dan Downing

By Dan McLerran

As Founder and Editor of Popular Archaeology Magazine, Dan is a freelance writer and journalist specializing in archaeology.  He studied anthropology and archaeology in undergraduate and graduate school and has been an active participant on archaeological excavations in the U.S. and abroad.  He is the creator and administrator of Archaeological Digs, a popular weblog about archaeological excavation and field school opportunities.