TOWARD A WIDER AUDIENCE, SYSTEMATIC APPROACH OF REINTERPRETATION AND REPRESENTATION OF THE EAST MAIN HALL OF FOGUANG TEMPLE BASED ON DIGITAL DOCUMENTATION AND 3D VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES

Abstract. Rebuilt in 857 AD, the East Main Hall of Foguang Temple is the highest ranking wooden architecture to survive from the Tang Dynasty, and is regarded as a rare cultural and architectural gem of China and of the world at large1. Since its rediscovery in 1937, extensive research on the East Main Hall of Foguang Temple has been conducted, mostly about its high values and methods applicable to its conservation and management, while less attention is given to its interpretation and representation, especially to the public audiences.

Based on continued digital documentation and study of the East Main Hall of Foguang Temple by Tsinghua Univeristy and Beijing Guowenyan Cultural Heritage Conservation Center over the past 16 years, this paper is a comprehensive overview of the ongoing systematic attempt to leverage digital documentation and acquired research results as content and tool for heritage interpretation and presentation. The works involved include translation of digital survey and documentation of the wooden structure, colored statues and murals of Foguang Temple as content in three approaches: the first approach is the development of an on-site digital display system for Foguang Temple; the second approach involves the planning and designing of a large-scale interactive museum exhibition; the third approach, which wraps up the whole system into a public-centered storytelling experience, involves an ongoing animation series on air at multiple social media platforms that tells unknown stories about Foguang Temple. All three approaches are intended at developing emotional connections between the public and the cultural heritage through reinterpretation and representation, with the aim of making heritage dissemination more dialogical and sustainable by bringing history to life.