Faculty Member(s) / Advisors
- Devin Thomas Fitzgerald, PhD candidate from Harvard
- Potential UCLA Faculty that would be interested: Professor Johanna Drucker from the IS school.
Graduate or Ungraduate
- Graduate
Students
- Devin Fitzgerald
Challenges met
UCLA special collections holds a unique collection of 37 Chinese printing blocks. The blocks come from the Han Yushan collection, which is most famous for its Chinese examination papers, and belong to The Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra, with an Appended Illustrated Explanation of Miraculous Response, published by Zhu Xuzeng in 1798. It is unknown how Dr. Han Yushan acquired the blocks, but it is common for blocks to appear at rare-book auctions or to be sold by publishers when they are no longer in use.
The 37 blocks held by UCLA consist of the entirety of the text in question. Given their remarkable illustrations as well as their completeness, the blocks could theoretically be used to print. However, given their age and new digital possibilities, it would be more desirable to 3D scan and 3D print the all 37 of the blocks. Doing so would have two immediate benefits:
- It would preserve the blocks in digital form and allow students and researchers outside of UCLA to interact with the digital facsimiles.
- It would allow for the 3D printing of the blocks to so that students and educators could use them to learn about traditional Chinese printing practices.
To date, there have been no attempts anywhere in the world to 3D scan and 3D print Chinese woodblock. Early tests have had promising results, and several contacts at libraries both domestically and abroad have shown interest in the process and its promise.
Pictures
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