If it had not been for Fan Jinshi and her team, the world cultural heritage at Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in a remote Chinese desert might have long been destroyed by sand, weather or humans.
Born and raised in Shanghai, Fan has spent half a century fighting an uphill battle to preserve the ancient Buddhist wall paintings at Dunhuang, in Northwest China's Gansu Province. The 1, 600-year-old Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes are a huge collection of Buddhist art — more than 2, 000 Buddha figures and 45, 000 square metres of paintings spread among 735 caves. It is China's first UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Archaeologist Fan was sent to Dunhuang after graduating from Peking University in 1963. While in Dunhuang, a remote village in the desert then, Fan lived in an abandoned temple. At first, she did not even dare to go out to the toilet at night. To protect the treasures from sand and dampness, Fan and other workers put doors on the caves, planted trees and started monitoring temperature and humidity (湿度) in the caves. They also control the number of visitors.
In the late 1990s, with tourism booming nationwide since national holidays were extended, the local government planned to go public with Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, but found Fan firmly in their way. "The heritage would have been destroyed if it had been listed," she said.
Dunhuang Academy has now photographed and catalogued online all the sculptures and paintings. "Despite our efforts to minimize damage, we can't completely stop them from being eroded (腐蚀) . But the digital database will last."
Fan was grateful when her husband joined her in Dunhuang in 1986 after 19 years of separation. Her two sons grew up in Shanghai with their aunt. "I have not been a good mother or wife. With regard to my family, I'm full of guilt," she said. Fan retired as the director of Dunhuang Academy but continues her efforts as a national political advisor.
