Research

The remarkable archeological finds from Eastern Wei and Northern Qi burials and temple sites of the late Northern Dynasties Period in recent decades has called for a reassessment of the art of the period to bring together excavated finds, material from long-abandoned above-ground sites, and objects and fragments scattered around the world. Numerous discoveries in northern China and their archeological reports show the historical and artistic importance of the Northern Qi. Major archeological finds of the Northern Qi period in recent decades in Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan provinces have awakened international scholarly interest in the large body of important works of art produced during its brief twenty-eight year history. Among the major artistic achievements of the period were the cave temples and monumental stone carvings of Xiangtangshan. Unfortunately, because these caves have suffered such serious damage, it is difficult for historians to understand their significance in the context of the new picture of Northern Qi art offered by these finds. Current visitors to the caves visitors are confronted with headless and faceless images, figures without hands, and some altars with essentially all their sculptures removed and cannot imagine the original appearance of the Buddhist images. Visitors to museums outside China see displaced, isolated objects from Xiangtangshan and are not aware of their place of origin or of their original arrangements and grouping on the altars and the walls of the caves.

The Xiangtangshan/Northern Qi project was conceived as a collaborative project to further the understanding of the rich art and culture of the late Northern Dynasties Period. Begun in 2004, “The Xiangtangshan Caves Project: Reconstruction and Recontextualization,” was seen as a multi-level and multi-faceted effort. It focused first on the need to reconstruct the appearance of the art of the Buddhist cave temples of Xiangtangshan. This theoretical reconstruction is the foundation for further research. Tracking down sculptures preserved in collections outside of China and relocating them through digital imaging into their former locations in the caves, places them in spatial and conceptual contexts previously unknown. Recreating the arrangements of religious images in the caves offers insights into their relationship within groups of images and relative to the architectural design of the caves and their religious function. It invites comparison to other images and art forms and encourages thinking about artistic production in social and political contexts of patronage, religious ideology, interacting cultural conventions, and innovation. The goals of the project are to acquire a better understanding the caves in broader narratives of the art and visual culture of the Northern Qi period and of the history of China.

Project Components and Objectives

1) A major component of the project is the collaborative research effort to bring scholars together to examine and study the important cultural artifacts of this period from important archaeological finds of Northern Qi tombs, sites of former monasteries, and ancient habitation sites, as well as cave temples. A team of scholars from the U. S. and China met in Beijing in 2005 and traveled together to museums and Northern Qi sites. They discussed a program of research and plans for future meetings. The scholars from China were invited to visit museums in the U.S. in 2006, in particular, those with collections of Xiangtangshan sculptures and other Northern Qi artifacts. They presented talks on areas of their research and new work on the art and archeology of the period. A future international conference is planned.

2) The second major component of this project is the creation of a digital database of images and information on the caves and sculptures of Xiangtangshan. Between 2005 and 2008, The research team at the University of Chicago traveled to museums and collections around the world to examine and record with 3D scanning technology and digital photography the known sculptures from Xiangtangshan and those that can be attributed to the caves. The images include photographs and 3D digital models together with textual information on the sculptures that can be used for research and teaching. In 2007 the project received permission from the Chinese State Cultural Bureau to carry out three-dimensional digital scanning of the caves and fragments of sculptures at the Southern Xiangtangshan cave site. This material is being developed created 3D models of the caves that will show their present and former appearance. This component has depended on the cooperation of many museums and private collectors in the United States, Europe, and Japan; on receiving official access to the Xiangtangshan caves; and on the collaboration of the Fengfeng Office for Protection and Management of Cultural Artifacts, the local office in charge of the Xiangtangshan caves.

3) The third component is the presentation of the results of the research and digital reconstruction.

A complete 3D model of the South Cave at Northern Xiangtangshan is being created with our technical collaborators in China. The 3D models of sculptural fragments from the South Cave will be merged with the cave model and can confirm their original locations. The reconstructed cave offers past and present views of the cave and is a valuable resource for education, research and preservation purposes.

4) Finally we plan to make the digital reconstruction available to a broad audience. The Center for the Art of East Asia in the Department of Art History will create the digital reconstruction and own the copyright. We intend to give institutions that collaborate on the project free access and the right to display the digital reconstruction. We retain the right to license its future use. The digital portion of exhibition planned with the Smart Museum may travel to museums and colleges and universities in the future. The results of this project can have many future applications in museum multimedia display, education, archeological work, and historical preservation and reconstruction. It has made strides in the scholarly and technological cooperation among universities, museums, and other cultural institutions in China, the United States, and countries around the world. Our Chinese collaborators are now conducting 3D scanning at another major Buddhist cave site and have expressed interest in future collaborative work.

People Involved         Dr. Katherine Tsiang Project coordinator and Associate Director of the Center for the Art of East Asia, Dept. of Art History, University of Chicago   Senior Advisers:         Prof. Wu Hung Director of the Center for the Art of East Asia, Department of Art History, University of Chicago         Prof. Su Bai Former professor in the Dept. of Archaeology, Peking University   Principal Members:         Wu Hung University of Chicago         Katherine Mino University of Chicago         Denise Leidy Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York         Li Yuqun   Institute of Archeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing         Li Chongfeng Peking University, Beijing, China         Lec Maj University of Chicago         Nancy Steinhardt University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia         Jan Stuart Formerly Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC         Keith Wilson Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC         Zhang Lintang Fengfeng Office for Preservation and Management of Cultural Artifacts, Handan, China         Zhang Qingjie Northern Dynasties Cultural Research Center, Taiyuan, China   Technical Development:         Lec Maj Technical Coordinator, University of Chicago         Various Research Assistants Technical assistance         Dan Downing Photography