Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts uses 3D printing and scanning to recreate ancient academic ceremony

Dec 29, 2017 | By David

We’ve reported before on the unique 3D printing work carried out by China’s Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (GAFA), when they teamed up with a Shanghai design studio to create a range of 3D printed furniture. The Academy recently completed another impressive project, this time one that combines cutting-edge 3D printing technology with classical aesthetics, in a tribute to ancient Chinese culture. It’s a 3D printed recreation of a historical scene, representing the event of Tso Tsung-Tsang’s appointment as the principal of Luijang Academy.

Tso Tsung-Tsang, a civilian not to be confused with General Tso of tasty chicken fame, was one of the four prominent ministers in the late Qing Dynasty back in ancient Chinese times. He was chosen for the position of the principal of Luijang Academy and was honoured with a special ceremony. These ceremonies are typical of the traditional Chinese culture, which respects elders and particularly places a lot of importance on the role of a teacher. Giving a new generation the knowledge and skills that they will need to be successful and prosperous is a noble and valuable task, and the team at GAFA wanted to recognize this. Their project could be seen in itself an example of this fine educational tradition, showing a new generation of artists and 3D printing enthusiasts what’s possible when this exciting new technology is applied in the right way.

The team was led by Professor Nan Yu, a sculptor. He carried out research of ancient records to get an idea of how these ceremonies were organized, and used his findings to draft rough sketches of a scenario, which broke the traditional appointment process it up into five distinct parts.

Firstly, to prepare the appointment ceremony, the chief of the academy would ask the magistrate to issue the letter of appointment. The Principal then arrived at the academy next spring, and joined a banquet with the magistrate, instructor, disciplinarian and the chief. The Chief of the academy would then lead students to salute the principal along with the Chinese philosophy OG, Confucius. After school started, the chief of academy would then invite the principal, magistrate and the two instructors for a drink. Finally, after a few days the principal was invited to the Xingxian Hall for a banquet, in a highly respectful manner.

These five parts were then used as prompts for a full real-life static re-enactment of the appointment process. Members of Nan Yu’s team dressed up in traditional costumes and posed as the attendees would have done thousands of years ago. The team then used 3D scanning technology to capture detailed virtual images of these recreated scenes. The Ein-Scan Pro 3D, a 3D scanner made by Shining 3D, was used for this purpose. Shining 3D is one of China’s leading 3D technology providers, and GAFA has made use of its systems in the past for its other notable 3D work.

Once the digital models were created, they could be sent to a 3D printer for fabrication. An advanced Shining 3D SLA machine was used, ensuring that everything would be recreated to a very high level of accuracy. Post-processing techniques were then applied to add final colors to the models, and they were assembled in place to make the final scene.

According to Nan Yu, “The combination of art and 3D technology can make abstract history representational, allowing more public to relive history, experience the traditional virtual of respecting teachers, and memorizing the historical people and events.”

Check out the final results below.