Dunhuang is not only what we perceive as a magnificent cave complex in western China, a grand and awe-inspiring grotto site, but also a convergence of traditional Chinese culture and art, forming a spectacular academic legacy, Huang Xiaofeng, dean and professor at the School of Humanities at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, told CGTN.

"To understand, discover and perceive Dunhuang is to witness a living history," he said. 

Huang made the remarks at an exhibition on Dunhuang culture studies held on Wednesday at the 31st edition of the Beijing International Book Fair, one of the most influential book fairs in the world, in Beijing, China.

The exhibition, titled "From Lo Archive to Visualizing Dunhuang: Discovering Princeton's Treasured Photographic Records in Eighty Years," features a nine-volume series of books launched by Princeton University Press in 2021. Believed to have brought together cutting-edge Dunhuang studies and art history achievements, the books include more than 3,000 photos of several caves from Dunhuang's Mogao and Yulin grottoes in northwest China's Gansu Province, taken by photographers James Lo and his wife, Lucy Lo, in the 1940s.

"In 2021, the 'Visualizing Dunhuang' book series was officially published, which represents the culmination of efforts by generations of scholars. The stories within it are closely tied to two key figures. One is James Lo and his wife, Lucy Lo. The other is Wen Fong, a Chinese-American art historian," Huang said, noting that this exhibition aims to tell their stories about them and "Visualizing Dunhuang."

"In fact, Dunhuang culture has, since its inception, been shaped by the intersection of various civilizations," Sun Zhijun, deputy director of the Department of Art Research at Dunhuang Academy, told CGTN at the exhibition.

"The Lo Archives are the product of international, interdisciplinary collaboration among scholars from multiple nations. This vital role also makes it crucial for the study of academic history," Sun said.

"It is a collection of highly valuable visual records, whose foundation was laid in the 1940s. Although only over 80 years have passed, certain views at the Mogao Caves today have already changed compared to those documented in the Lo Archives over eight decades ago," Sun explained.

This is evident in photographs taken in the 1940s of both the exterior structures and interior of specific grottoes at the Mogao Caves, Sun said.

"There is a history in China that is unparalleled elsewhere in the world. And as a global publisher, we're really committed to making sure that we're telling histories throughout the world. Dunhuang represents a cultural and artistic artifact that is truly extraordinary," Christie Henry, director of Princeton University Press, told CGTN.

"Well, the impact of something like this, to show human creativity and human creativity over the ages transcends any global politics or challenges of exchange. These speak to all of us. As our ability as humans to create just extraordinary works of art and sculpture and in this Buddhist tradition to learn about how they lived within their world and experience the world and capture that story for us," Henry said.

"The chance to bring this volume to life gives so many people the world over the opportunity to travel to visit these caves and these sculptures, and for those of us who have not yet been to Dunhuang itself, the book represents an opportunity to travel without flying, and to perhaps even excite people more to get there," the director noted.

(The picture of James Lo and his wife Lucy Lo in the video was provided by the Tang Center for East Asian Art at Princeton University.)