Cultural memory in the digital world—: Jinling Buddhist Scripture Printing, the Chinese Engraved Block Printing Technique

Jinling Buddhist Scripture Printing was an engraved block printing technique in ancient China. The topic of this research project is “Jinling Buddhist Scripture Printing, the Chinese Engraved Block Printing Technique”, in which the local distinctive culture — “Jinling Buddhist Scripture Printing, of Nanjing in Jiangsu Province of China, is the subject matter. It presents this cultural heritage through characters, pictures, sounds, images and etc, by means of digital collection and storage technology. This project envisions that by involving digital technology in the reproduction of a cultural heritage, that is, applying modern digital information technology and digital equipment to printing Jinling Buddhist Scripture — restoring engraving blocks, and following the traditional technical standards — we can restore the engraved blocks and so continue the life of a traditional art, of engraving blocks in Jinling Buddhist Scripture Printing, in a modern feasible and sustainable manner. Furthermore, this project also refers to research on the feasibility of constructing a digital library of Buddhist books, printed by Jinling Buddhist Scripture Printing. It will present the advantages of modern information and network technology to treat the ancient Buddhist scriptures, to establish a digital library of Buddhist books and to enable better resource sharing and the maximization of educational benefits of this cultural heritage.