Preservation Project for Longmen Grottoes Completed

Preservation Project for Longmen Grottoes Completed

龙门石窟完成五十年来首次大修

A major preservation and restoration project has been completed 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 July 21. So far, 50 years have passed since its latest maintenance in the 1970s.

7月21日，记者从龙门石窟研究院举办的奉先寺保护工程完工发布会上获悉，龙门石窟奉先寺大型渗漏水治理和危岩体加固保护工程现已完工。这是继20世纪70年代奉先寺进行一系列加固维修工程后，时隔50年的又一次大型保护工程。

A worker dismantles facilities at Fengxian Temple. [Photo by Zhang Yixi for Henan Daily]

During the maintenance, Longmen Grottoes Academy also set up a research team with a number of universities and scientific research institutes to make a detailed archaeological investigation at Fengxian Temple. Apart from the residuals of green, red and black paints on the surface of Vairocana Buddha statue, the research team also discovered the elements of gold and silver on the Buddha's face for the first time.

奉先寺“大修”的同时，龙门石窟研究院还联合多个院校和科研院所组成科研团队，对奉先寺展开了详细的石窟寺考古工作。研究人员除了在卢舍那大佛身体表面发现绿色、红色、黑色颜料外，还首次在卢舍那大佛面部检测到金、银元素存在。

Besides, the research team also found that the eyeballs of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva statue located to the right of Vairocana Buddha statue are made of colored glaze. The residuals of the white materials on the surface of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva statue are mainly white lead through the analysis of X-ray fluorescence. White lead not only helps paints and gold foils attach to the statue, but also prevents the statue from nature weathering afterwards.

同时还首次发现卢舍那大佛右侧的胁侍普贤菩萨造像眼珠为琉璃所制，造像表面保留的白色物质经过现场X射线荧光初步分析，其成分主要为铅白。铅白不但为颜料附着、金箔黏结提供良好界面，也对后期抵御自然风化发挥了一定作用。（中文来源/河南日报 记者/郭歌 编译/杨佳欣 赵汉青 审校/陈行洁）