Yifei Li | A digital tour: Stone Carvings of Manjushri in Mingshan Temple

 
This VR project offers a digital tour of the Manjushri stone carvings in Mingshan Temple, Sichuan, China. The stone carvings were exquisitely made, yet due to their low popularity and remote location, proper preservation has not been conducted, and many parts of them have already been destroyed by erosion.
Compiled in Unity, the scene consists of the virtual reconstruction of the stone carvings made by photogrammetry using the photos taken on-site, as well as other assets to create an immersive experience for the viewer. It includes three scenes: the first scene shows the title of the project, the second one is the main scene where the visit takes place, and it ends with a credit list. The viewer can walk around the second scene freely using the controller and do some simple interactions with the scene, such as clicking. The information board will appear showing the background information regarding the subject and its neutral or even feminine style of iconography, which is an important topic as the feminization of bodhisattvas in China has been a widespread trend since Buddhism was first introduced in China. However, the most famous example of a feminized image is Guanyin, though other bodhisattvas including Manjushri are also one of them. The statue shown in the project is one vivid example: it is depicted with a soft and neutralized face and shows no obvious masculine features such as a beard.
By using digital methods, the project first engages with the topic of the feminization of the bodhisattvas in China, especially of Manjushri, whose feminized image is less known and studied. Though often untouched, the feminization process of Manjushri is worth further research. Second, the project attempts to explore the possibility of the modern preservation of cultural relics that have already suffered from erosion and experiment with the process of digital documentation, restoration, and exhibition, in order to increase the site’s attractiveness to visitors and document digital images for future research.