From Dunhuang to global recognition

Xue's painting with 290 figures on it, Xibitu of Chaoyuantu, based on the west wall murals of Sanqing Hall in Yongle Gong Temple, depicts a scene where the congregation meets Yuanshi Tianzun, which is an etiquette story of Taoism. Xue used a silk scroll and color pigment for the painting. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The 12 years as a restorer of the Dunhuang frescoes was just the beginning of Xue's story. After 12 years' rooting in Dunhuang, Xue was transferred to the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

He began devoting himself to an art piece based on the murals on the walls of Sanqing Hall in the remote Yongle Gong Temple, also known as the Palace of Eternal Joy, in Shanxi province in 2012 in his spare time.

The murals, with a total of about 290 figures on them, depicts a scene where the congregation meets Yuanshi Tianzun, which is an etiquette story of Taoism. However, they were blurred with heavy mutilation.

Xue's paintings based on the murals started with the west wall murals of them.

He spent the first half year doing research and going to museums and archives where he could study documents on the history of the paintings to understand the original composition, details and colors before devising a strict scheme for the painting based on the damaged murals.