On August 14, 2024, Li Xiaoqiang, Deputy Director of the Dazu Studies Research Center of the Dazu Rock Carvings Research Institute, and the editorial team of Research on Dazu Rock Carvings including Chen Peili and Liu Yingsha visited the editorial department for investigation, research and exchange activities. A symposium was held with the editorial department of the academy on the relevant matters of the founding of Research on Dazu Rock Carvings.

The symposium was presided over by Ding Detian. On behalf of the editorial department, Ding Detian welcomed the editorial team of the Dazu Rock Carvings Research Institute for their visit and investigation, extended sincere congratulations on the upcoming publication of Research on Dazu Rock Carvings by the Dazu Rock Carvings Research Institute, introduced the journal-running practice of Dunhuang Research, and shared the experience and measures of the founding of Research on the Conservation of Cave Temples and Earthen Sites. At the same time, he also expressed that the editorial department would strongly support the possible problems faced by Research on Dazu Rock Carvings during its founding process.

Deputy Director Li Xiaoqiang believed that Dunhuang Research and Research on the Conservation of Cave Temples and Earthen Sites are not only limited to the field of Dunhuang studies. Their greater significance lies in leading the way forward for peers and similar journals in the fields of grotto temples and cultural heritage. The Dazu Rock Carvings Research Institute regarded this visit to the editorial department of the Dunhuang Academy as a valuable learning experience. The main purpose was to explore how to make its upcoming journal better and more influential.

Ding Detian first gave a concise introduction to Dunhuang Research and Research on the Conservation of Cave Temples and Earthen Sites which are edited and published by the editorial department of our academy. Secondly, he introduced the journal-running measures, relevant columns, development, improvements and honors obtained in recent years of Dunhuang Research, and gave a detailed explanation and communication on the relevant processes, licenses, databases, information-based editing and acquisition systems, and high-precision printing and publication of the new journal Research on the Conservation of Cave Temples and Earthen Sites one by one. Teachers Wu Hailong and Niu Heqiang also elaborated on specific matters such as journal editing and proofreading, and training, and had full communication and experience sharing on some urgent problems.

This exchange activity enhanced the connection in journal editing and publication work between the Dazu Rock Carvings Research Institute and our academy, and provided some journal-running experience and reference for the founding of the journal by the Dazu Rock Carvings Research Institute. The two sides achieved the transfer and sharing of knowledge on academic journal publication in a friendly atmosphere, which will play a positive role in promoting the future development of journal exchanges between the editorial department of our academy and the editorial team of the Dazu Rock Carvings Research Institute, and also lay a good foundation for further cooperation between the two sides in the fields of academic journal research, etc.

It is reported that in 2024, the Dazu Rock Carvings Research Institute has obtained approval from the National Press and Publication Administration and the Chongqing Press and Publication Bureau to officially establish the academic journal Research on Dazu Rock Carvings in the field of cultural heritage. Among the grotto cultural heritage institutions across the country, it is the second cultural heritage unit to establish an official professional journal after the Dunhuang Academy, and it is the only grotto professional journal in the Chongqing area. Research on Dazu Rock Carvings is supervised by the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development and sponsored by the Dazu Rock Carvings Research Institute. It aims to focus on the grotto statue remains in Bashu represented by the Dazu Rock Carvings, publish the latest academic achievements in the research of grotto culture, and strengthen the protection and utilization of grottoes. At present, the Dazu Rock Carvings Research Institute is actively preparing for the founding work, and it is expected to complete the founding, publication and distribution within this year.

(Text/Picture: YANG Hui)