Technology crucial for cultural heritage, deputy says

Heritage professionals stressed the role of technology in the protection of cultural heritage at this year's first deputies' passage interview on Tuesday, just before the second session of the 14th National People's Congress.

Despite progress made in the protection of the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, Shanxi province, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, the grottoes still need protection with greater use of technology, said Hang Kan, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress, who is also director of the Yungang Grottoes Research Institute.

According to Hang, the Yungang Grottoes from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) had a huge cost in human, material and financial resources. A consolidation project on the dangerous rock bodies was carried out for decades and ended in recent years. But the protection efforts may be undermined as the grottoes were carved in a Jurassic sandstone formation with complex geological conditions, and are threatened by weathering and water leakage, said Hang.

He mentioned two technological measures adopted in the protection of the grottoes were awarded at national-level scientific conferences, and they will intensify technological investment in the research of cave deterioration and development of protective materials in future work.

"Yungang Grottoes are a treasure of traditional Chinese culture," said Hang. "We will give priority to protection and add more technological measures to protect them. We will continue to promote the research, display and utilization of the grottoes, do a good job in the inheritance of the cultural heritage so that more people can feel the charm of traditional culture."