Fan Jinshi | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
樊锦诗 | |||||||
| 3rd Director ofDunhuang Research Academy | |||||||
| In office April 1998 – December 2014 | |||||||
| Preceded by | Duan Wenjie | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Wang Xudong | ||||||
| Personal details | |||||||
| Born | July 1938 (age 87) | ||||||
| Political party | Chinese Communist Party | ||||||
| Spouse | |||||||
| Children | 1 | ||||||
| Alma mater | Peking University | ||||||
| Occupation | Archaeologist, heritage specialist | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 樊錦詩 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 樊锦诗 | ||||||
| |||||||
Fan Jinshi (Chinese:樊锦诗; born July 1938) is a Chinese archaeologist and heritage specialist who served as director of theDunhuang Research Academy between 1998 and 2014.[1] She spends most of her life inMogao Caves,Dunhuang, currently working as an honorary president and professional researcher inDunhuang Research Academy, as well as a part-time professor and a doctoral supervisor inLanzhou University.[2] Fan began working in Dunhuang in 1963, at the age of 25.[3] She has been venerated as "Daughter of Dunhuang" for her over 50 years of devotion to studying and preserving the Dunhuang Grottoes.[4] She was an early proponent of the Dunhuang Academy in contemporary China, and pioneered a series of effective preservation approaches forgrottos.
She was a delegate to the13th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. She was a member of the 8th, 9th and 10th National Committee of theChinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Fan was born inBeijing and was raised inShanghai.[3] Herancestral home is inHangzhou,Zhejiang.[5] Hergiven name, Jinshi, means "beautiful poetry" inChinese.[6] Her father was a graduate ofTsinghua University and was reportedly passionate about Chinese classical art and culture, a passion he passed on to Fan.[6]
Fan Jinshi graduated fromSchool of Archaeology and Museology(previously under the Department of History) inPeking University in 1963. Fan first visited Dunhuang in 1962, on a school-organized trip to the Dunhuang Institute of Cultural Relics (nowDunhuang Academy).[6]Su Bai, a veteran archaeologist at Peking University, was reportedly an instructor and mentor to her during her time at the university.[7]
After graduation, she was dispatched toDunhuang, where she worked in the Dunhuang Institute of Cultural Relics (nowDunhuang Research Academy). At the time of her arrival, the academy's headquarters was not a comfortable place to live and did not have electricity or running water.[8]
In August 1984 she became deputy director of the Dunhuang Research Academy, rising to Director in April 1998, after 35 years of service at the institute. In January 2015 she became the honorary director.[3] She also served as a part-time professor and doctoral supervisor atLanzhou University.
According to colleagues, Fan reportedly once said that her greatest wish is to recover theDunhuang manuscripts lost abroad and house them in a museum at Dunhuang.[9]
Fan married her university classmate Peng Jinzhang (Chinese:彭金章; 1937–2017) in 1966. He was also an archaeologist. Reportedly, as Fan's flourishing career kept the couple apart, Peng resigned his position as deputy director in the Department of History atWuhan University in 1986 in order to live closer to her.[6] Fan has been quoted as saying that "...[my husband] knew that I couldn't live without Dunhuang. He made sacrifices."[6] The couple has a son.[4]
Fan was the subject of aShanghai Huju opera called "The Daughter of Dunhuang".[7][11]
| Date | English title | Chinese title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Lingting Dajia | 聆听大家 | Herself | [12] |
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Duan wenjie (段文杰) | 3rd Director ofDunhuang Research Academy 1998-2014 | Succeeded by |
