Mogao Grottoes embrace AI to preserve, share millennia-old heritage

LANZHOU, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- With a single tap on a smartphone screen, celestial maidens holding lotuses, painted 1,400 years ago, spring to life and glide toward viewers from the ancient murals.

At the millennia-old Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province, cutting-edge digital immersion is doing more than offering global audiences an unprecedented journey back in time. It is also helping ensure these fragile Silk Road masterpieces survive for generations to come.

Carved into desert cliffs from 366 AD onward, the Mogao Grottoes comprise 735 caves, including 492 sanctuaries featuring Buddhist murals and painted sculptures. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987, the site is recognized as the world's largest, longest continuously constructed, and most richly endowed Buddhist art repository.

Today, local conservators are employing artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced digital tools not only to preserve these delicate relics but also to transform how the world experiences them.

Through the "Discover Dunhuang" VR exhibition, visitors can enter a high-fidelity 3D reconstruction of Cave 285, where they can view ancient murals up close, explore the space in 360 degrees, and even soar above the ceiling to appreciate the early classic grotto renowned for its Sino-Western fusion and iconic flying apsaras.

Lei Zhengguang, a cultural official at the Dunhuang Academy, said the team achieved a 1:1 high-definition restoration of the caves through digital scanning and 3D reconstruction. Combined with interactive design, the project has greatly enriched the visitor experience.

Behind the scenes, digitalization is quietly revolutionizing heritage conservation.

In Cave 44, where complex wall curvatures pose significant challenges, teams now use automated rail systems to capture images. Ding Xiaosheng, a senior researcher in digital preservation at the Dunhuang Academy, noted that specialized software for error-free stitching of billion-pixel images and multi-source 3D reconstruction has greatly improved processing efficiency and quality.

More notably, AI models trained on tens of thousands of high-resolution images are achieving "pixel-level" disease detection. Wang Wanfu, an official at the Academy, said AI can identify early-stage damage thinner than a human hair. Through spectral analysis, the system can even give early warnings for tiny hollows in the plaster base that are completely invisible to the naked eye.

The digital renaissance is now bringing Dunhuang to the world through the "Digital Library Cave" platform, launched globally by the Dunhuang Academy in 2025. To date, the platform has released digital resources of 11,090 manuscripts and artifacts, along with 72,810 images, attracting more than 250,000 visits from 33 countries and regions.

Dunhuang's pioneering efforts reflect a broader national push in China to safeguard cultural heritage through technology. China has updated its heritage law to encourage digital collection and utilization, while top-level guidelines and comprehensive technical standards further steer digital preservation efforts.

Across the country, institutions are racing to leverage digitalization to strengthen heritage conservation. The Palace Museum has assigned "digital IDs" to over one million artifacts, offering free public access to 150,000 items via its digital relic library. Meanwhile, the National Museum of China has completed 2D imaging for 720,000 relics and 3D modeling for over 7,700, achieving replication-grade precision.

"Next, we will deepen the integration of Dunhuang studies and digital intelligence, build a digital-intelligence research platform for Dunhuangology, and ensure that cultural relics 'remain forever young,'" said Yu Tianxiu, vice president of the Dunhuang Academy.