Since wuyue in the Five Dynasties, Buddhism has prevailed in Hangzhou, and there are many temples. Walking among the mountains and rivers of the West Lake in Hangzhou, many grotto statues that have lasted for thousands of years, such as Feilaifeng, Ciyunling, Yanxia Cave and Shengguo Temple, all show the historical background of the “Southeast Buddhist Country” in wuyue, Hangzhou, and are also the important value support for the cultural landscape of the West Lake as a world cultural heritage.
In order to strengthen the protection and utilization of cave temples in the new era, and deepen the cultivation of archaeological talents and team building in cave temples in China and Zhejiang. On the morning of August 29th, under the guidance of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, sponsored by Zhejiang Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage, Hangzhou Garden Cultural Relics Bureau and Zhejiang University, the key scientific research base of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage for digital protection of cave temples (Zhejiang University), Zhejiang University College of Art and Archaeology, Hangzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Zhejiang Museum, and co-organized by Hangzhou West Lake Scenic Area Management Committee and Zhejiang University City College, the “Special Seminar on Field Archaeology and Archaeological Report Writing of Cave Temples” officially started in Hangzhou. Zhang Ling, director of the Archaeological Department of the Department of Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Huang Xianhai, vice president of Zhejiang University, Yang Jianwu, member of the Party Group of the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and director of Zhejiang Cultural Relics Bureau, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.
Zhuo Jun, Deputy Director of Hangzhou Garden Cultural Relics Bureau, Chen Lin, Deputy Director of Hangzhou West Lake Scenic Area Management Committee, Shi Jiazhen, Dean of Longmen Grottoes Research Institute, Lu Dongming, Director of Key Research Base of National Cultural Relics Bureau (Zhejiang University) for Digital Protection of Cave Temple Cultural Relics, Liu Bin, Dean of Zhejiang University Cultural Heritage Research Institute and Professor of College of Art and Archaeology, About 50 people from the Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology Department of Zhejiang Cultural Relics Bureau, Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology Department of Hangzhou Garden Cultural Relics Bureau, Hangzhou Cultural Relics and Historical Building Protection Center, Hangzhou West Lake World Cultural Heritage Monitoring and Management Center, Qianjiang Management Office of Hangzhou West Lake Scenic Area, Lingyin Management Office, Phoenix Mountain Management Office and Hangzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology attended the opening ceremony.
The opening ceremony was presided over by Hu Lihong, director of Hangzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and was held in the academic lecture hall of Hangzhou Museum. On behalf of the deputy director of the Committee of Religious Archaeology, the director and researcher of the Frontier Ethnic Archaeology Research Office of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Li Yuqun and the student representative Ding Hao, the teachers of this seminar made statements respectively.
Yang Jianwu, member of the Party Group of the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and director of the Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics, expressed gratitude to the State Administration of Cultural Relics for setting up the key scientific research base for digital protection of cave temples in Zhejiang, and said that Zhejiang will not be entrusted by the State Administration of Cultural Relics, and will continue to explore a multi-professional coordinated development path for cave temple archaeology and protection. Director Yang Jianwu also expounded the important and indispensable position of Zhejiang Grottoes and even Hangzhou Grottoes in the development of China Grottoes Temple from three aspects: the time span, regional distribution and artistic angle. He hoped that experts and scholars from China Academy of Social Sciences, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Dunhuang, Longmen, Yungang and other important domestic cave temple protection institutions would pass on scriptures and send treasures to the trainees, and asked all the trainees to cherish the opportunity, listen to the scriptures and ask questions in vain, and in a responsible attitude for future generations, constantly improve the level of Zhejiang cave temple protection research ability.
Huang Xianhai, vice-president of Zhejiang University, said in his opening speech that Zhejiang University is one of the earliest universities in China to conduct research and practice on cultural relics digitization technology. The practice and exploration of cultural relics digitization over the years have contributed to the progress of cultural relics digitization technology in China. He hopes that the trainees can be familiar with the basic requirements for the preparation of archaeological reports put forward in the Guide to the Compilation Style of Archaeological Reports of Cave Temples, have the ability to organize and prepare high-quality field archaeological excavation reports, have the consciousness and ability to incorporate digital achievements into archaeological reports of cave temples, and have the awareness and basic knowledge of multidisciplinary cooperative research and cultural heritage protection, so as to eventually become the mainstay in the development of archaeological undertakings of cave temples, create new glories and make greater contributions to the development of cultural heritage undertakings.
Zhang Ling, director of the Archaeological Department of the Department of Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said that the State Administration of Cultural Heritage attaches great importance to the archaeological work of cave temples and has successively held two seminars in Longmen and Yungang. This year is the third in Hangzhou. She hopes that the trainees can study hard, cherish the opportunity of this study, ask more questions and communicate more, and strive to achieve success; Director Zhang Ling hopes that the organizers of this training work can pay more attention to the students’ study and life, arrange courses reasonably, and try their best to help them solve problems.
The study and training will last for two months. A total of 34 formal students are selected from the research institutions of cave temple protection, archaeological institutes, cultural preservation institutes and other institutions in 12 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China to participate in this training. In the next course, students will receive systematic theoretical study, and master the theories and methods of archaeological work of cave temples while understanding the general situation of Buddhist history in China. In the field practice course, the trainees will do practical work in Yanxia Cave, a cave temple in wuyue, Hangzhou, and strive to master the basic techniques of archaeological investigation, mapping, recording and report writing in practice, learn the application of modern science and technology such as digitalization and equipment in the archaeology and protection of cave temples, and complete the training of archaeological report writing of cave temples.
As the western capital of Wu Yue State and the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou has taken over 80% of the ancient grotto statues in Zhejiang, and it has become the center of China grotto statues since the 10th century. And this “central” city is holding a special training on the archaeological and research work of cave temples. What new breakthroughs will this brainstorming bring to the promotion of academic research, inheritance and protection of cave temples in Hangzhou, Zhejiang and the whole country? It is worth looking forward to!