China uses modern technology to protect Buddhist grottoes

From Xinhua comes a story about China's efforts to protect its archeological and cultural heritage, in this case the Kizil Buddhist Grottoes:

China will invest 17 million yuan (about 2.12 million U.S. dollars) to install an electronic monitor system in Kizil Thousand-Buddha Grottoes in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The system, which will cover every grotto with infrared detectors and cameras to protect the relics, will start to be built at the end of this year, according to experts with a grotto research institution in Xinjiang.

The Kizil grottoes, one of China's most valuable ones with 10,000-square meters of frescoes and colorful sculptures, were first built in the third century. They depict life in the region where Buddhism thrived after the third century.

The frescoes of the Kizil Grottoes have been seriously damaged by nature and people during the 20th century.

In 1961, the grottoes were listed by the Chinese government as a cultural relic [and] put under the state protection.

Important Buddhist heritage sites in China have suffered an enormous amount of damage at the hands of humans over the centuries, having been the victims of thieves, looters, treasure hunters, Muslim iconoclasts, European adventurer-archeologists, Japanese imperialists, and most recently, Chinese Communists. The Cultural Revolution, which saw a spree of destruction of the symbols of Buddhism in China, was only 40 years ago. So it's heartening to see that the Chinese government seems to have realized the importance of protecting the cultural heritage, that belongs to all humanity, which lies within its borders.

南無阿彌陀佛