Preservation Project Rolls out for Longmen Grottoes

Preservation Project Rolls out for Longmen Grottoes

龙门石窟50年来首次“大保养”

A major preservation and restoration project has been rolled out for Fengxian Temple, an iconic cave in the renowned Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang city of Henan province, said a source from Longmen Grottoes Academy on December 7. So far, 50 years have been passed since its latest maintenance in the 1970s.

时隔50年，龙门石窟再次迎来“大保养”。12月7日，记者从洛阳龙门石窟研究院获悉，龙门石窟奉先寺大型渗漏水治理和危岩体加固保护工程已正式启动，这是继20世纪70年代以来奉先寺进行一系列加固维修工程后，又一次启动的大型保护工程。

The huge Vairocana Buddha statue. [Photo by Zhang Yixi for Henan Daily]

Longmen Grottoes, the largest treasure trove of stone carving art with the largest number of statues in the world, has been selected as the peak of Chinese stone carving art by UNESCO. Fengxian Temple is highlighted by a group of largest and most exquisite cliff carvings.

龙门石窟是世界上造像最多、规模最大的石刻艺术宝库，被联合国教科文组织评为“中国石刻艺术的最高峰”。其中，奉先寺是龙门石窟开凿规模最大、艺术最为精湛的摩崖型群雕。

It is worth noting that a series of new technologies have been used this time, such as ground-penetrating radar, thermal infrared imager, 3D scanning and mapping.

值得一提的是，此次工程尝试利用了一系列新技术、新方法，探地雷达探测、红外成像技术、3D扫描测绘技术都运用到了前期勘察设计中。（中文来源/河南日报 记者/温小娟 郭歌 编译/赵汉青 播音/王家琦 王君艺 审校/焦丹）