On the occasion of the opening of the special exhibition Affinity of Mountains and Seas · Echoes of the Desert Sands—Meeting Dunhuang in Liaoning, the Liaoning Provincial Museum specially invited Zhang Yuanlin, deputy director of the Dunhuang Academy, to deliver an academic lecture entitled “Witness Through Images: Cultural Integration of Dunhuang and Regions Along the Silk Road”, showcasing the profound Dunhuang culture to the audience.

The lecture was divided into three parts: “Fusion of East and West: Dunhuang Along the Silk Road”, “Dialogue Between Civilizations—Imprints of Diverse Cultures on Dunhuang Murals” and “Shining Forever—Characteristics of Cultural Integration Along the Silk Road Showed by Images of the Sun and Moon in Dunhuang”.

Zhang Yuanlin works currently as deputy director and research librarian of the Dunhuang Academy, and also serves as vice president of the Chinese Association of Dunhuang and Turfan Studies. He has long been engaged in the artistic research of Dunhuang and the Silk Road, and published over 60 papers, such as “The Sogdians and the Construction of Cave 285 in Mogao Grottoes”, and 4 monographs, such as “Study on the Lotus Sutra Images in Dunhuang during the Northern Dynasties and Sui Dynasty” and “Complete Classification Collection of Chinese Murals·Volume of Dunhuang Murals During the Western Wei Dynasty”.