By Guo Hairong, Associate Researcher at the Institute of Literature, Henan Academy of Social Sciences
The rapid development of digital technologies — big data, artificial intelligence, remote sensing mapping, virtual reality, and others — has injected powerful new momentum into the project tracing the origins of Chinese civilization.
Building "Digital Twins" for Permanent Cultural Heritage Archiving. Through high-precision 3D scanning, multispectral imaging, and other techniques, digital technology creates "digital twins" that precisely correspond to physical artifacts. At the Dunhuang Mogao Caves, a decade-long project has completed gigapixel digital data collection of over 200 caves, achieving millimeter-level restoration of murals and painted sculptures. At the Shanxi Shuanglin Temple's Hall of Bodhisattvas, a conservation project took 57,787 images, generating approximately 2.5 TB of digital archives that capture every detail of the structure. Digital archiving not only enables the permanent preservation of heritage information but also reduces physical wear and tear caused by research and exhibition, making "touchless preservation" a reality.
Promoting Preventive Conservation: From "Curing Illness" to "Preventing Disease." The "AI Doctor for Murals," developed by the Dunhuang Academy in partnership with Tencent, has trained deep learning models on two million samples of deterioration. It can now identify and predict 23 types of damage, significantly reducing the risk of mural decay. Sensors installed at the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda and the Forbidden City, among other ancient architectural complexes, monitor structural displacement, temperature, and humidity in real time, issuing automatic alerts when data anomalies occur to enable "precision prevention." This data-driven, scientific approach to conservation shifts efforts from reactive responses to proactive defense, greatly enhancing the initiative and effectiveness of preservation work.
Innovating Virtual Restoration: Reshaping Artifact Integrity with Digital Intelligence. Digital technology offers new solutions for damaged artifacts through virtual pre-visualization and precise implementation. An intelligent system developed by Northwest University enables submillimeter-level modeling of terracotta warrior fragments, dramatically shortening restoration cycles. When bronze artifacts from Sanxingdui were unearthed with components scattered across different sacrificial pits, digital virtual restoration and precision modeling allowed the complex task of reassembly to be transformed into a digital model computation, greatly improving matching efficiency and restoration quality.
Digital Re-creation: Bringing Heritage to Life. Digital re-creation technologies reconstruct the pathways of cultural dissemination through dynamic storytelling, allowing long-sleeping heritage to step out of museums and into daily life.
Immersive experiences break down the barriers of time and space, bringing the public into historical sites. VR and AR technologies construct virtual scenes, giving history a tangible and perceptible warmth.
Digital cultural creativity activates the value of cultural heritage, giving new life to symbols of civilization. Digital re-creation not only displays artifacts but also unlocks their potential for secondary creation. Whether it's the Henan Museum's limited-edition 3D digital collectible of the "Fuhao Owl Zun" or the Dunhuang Academy's digital mural衍生 (derivative products), these items have become wildly popular "guochao" (national trend) hits, transforming precious, fragile exhibits into playful, shareable cultural symbols.
As President Xi Jinping said, we must "bring to life the cultural relics stored in forbidden palaces, the heritage scattered across vast lands, and the words written in ancient texts." Digital technology is the key to achieving this goal. It not only expands the reach of civilization but also deepens the public's connection to their cultural roots, propelling Chinese civilization from the depths of history into contemporary life and laying a solid foundation for cultural confidence.
Published on February 5, 2026