Qu Yunfei: Copying Artworks And Revitalizing Millennium Cultural Relics With Printing

Skilled talents are an important force supporting China's manufacturing and creation. In recent years, a wave of skill worship has been flourishing, and skills have become an increasingly popular social trend. The ecological environment for the development of skilled talents is undergoing historic changes. To effectively guide the printing industry and enterprises to attach importance to skilled talents and promote the construction of industrial talent teams, we have launched the "Skilled Talents" column, which will continue to report on the deeds of talent role models in the industry and contribute to the high-quality and sustainable development of the printing industry.
Copying artworks and revitalizing millennium old cultural relics through printing
Shanghai Business Digital Image Technology Co., Ltd
Vice General Manager Qu Yunfei

Qu Yunfei, Deputy General Manager of Shanghai Business Digital Image Technology Co., Ltd., was awarded the honorary title of "Shanghai Craftsman" by the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions in 2018, the 6th "Shanghai Printing Newcomer Award" by the Shanghai Printing Industry Association in 2021, and the May 1st Labor Medal of Shanghai in 2022. In 2024, he was appointed as a practical guidance expert for industry university research by Shanghai Publishing and Printing College.
After graduating in 2009, Qu Yunfei joined Shanghai Business Digital Image Technology Co., Ltd. and has been deeply involved ever since. As soon as he joined the company, he became a member of the innovative development team for printing technology, and began to follow professors from Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts and experienced masters in traditional printing technology, dedicating himself to studying high fidelity technology for artworks. In his work, he combines flat image processing technology to gradually explore the mysteries of art replication techniques.
The high fidelity replication process of artworks is the meticulous craftsmanship and pursuit of excellence in replicating the original, and the ultimate pursuit of high fidelity replication technology is the difficulty in distinguishing the authenticity of the original manuscript. Qu Yunfei quickly became a young technical backbone of the company with his diligent and exploratory spirit, as well as his hardworking and practical work style. He always adheres to high standards and strict requirements, taking "being able to sit on the bench" and working hard as his own principles. He is constantly innovating and experimenting, from replicating paintings and calligraphy on a flat surface, to replicating various ancient books and documents, and even replicating immovable grottoes in three-dimensional form.
Craftsmanship leads to the inheritance and innovation of art spanning thousands of years
In order to bring the art treasures of the Western Regions, which have existed for over 1000 years, out of Xinjiang, he led by the spirit of craftsmanship, delved into the restoration of cave construction and the representation of cave murals, striving for excellence and successfully combining highly realistic printed murals with restored cave models.

In 2012, he led a team to complete the first 1:1 high fidelity replica grotto in China, which was exhibited at the Datong International Mural Exhibition in the same year. Finally, this Western Regions art treasure, which dates back more than 1000 years, became a movable "big guy", bringing unprecedented shock to people and receiving high praise from industry experts, scholars, and audiences. Although he had achieved some success, he was still not satisfied. Due to the bulky nature of the simulated cave, it required about 20 people to install it for nearly two days, which greatly limited the dissemination of cave mural art. Therefore, he led the team to continue exploring and after nearly six years, completed the highly simulated cave of Kizil Cave 38 in March 2018, which was made with new techniques and materials. This cave, which is even larger than Cave 17 in Kizil, only requires 6 people to complete the installation in nearly 4 hours, allowing the cave to be successfully exhibited at the "Overseas Kizil Cave Murals and Cave Restoration Image Exhibition" in Beijing in July 2018. This exhibition, funded by the National Art Fund, toured in ten large cities across the country, and this exquisite feast of Kucha Grottoes attracted more than 200000 professional visitors.

In 2023, he once again accepted the challenge to produce higher fidelity grotto exhibits for the Modern Press and Publication Museum and the Chinese Printing Museum. This challenge has been further upgraded. According to the customer's requirements, the grotto, as a fixed exhibit, has achieved an overall restoration rate of over 90% in the production of the grotto. The team not only successfully completed the grotto production, but also created the external mountain of the grotto, truly realizing the goal of bringing immovable cultural relics to life and going global.
Digital Dream Weaving, Rebirth and Cross disciplinary Interpretation of Grotto Art
Digital technology has restored the craftsmanship of grottoes, and Qu Yunfei's technology has reached the leading level in China. During his tenure, he used ancient mural making methods to create small clay tablets in 2014. Later, he combined modern printing technology with water-based ink to create the first high fidelity mural artwork printed on clay tablets in China. It won the Printing Excellence Award at the Shanghai Printing Quality Competition and the Silver Award at the Benny Awards in the United States in 2017.

He has also made attempts in the development of digital multimedia around the digital data resources of cultural relics, achieving good economic results. In 2016, he designed a VR interactive solution for the 14th cave of Kizil, which restored the real scene environment of Kizil through immersion brought by visual and auditory senses, and conveyed more stories that cannot be performed in the real cave to the audience through interactive controllers; In 2018, the multimedia interactive project "Journey Through Time" was designed for museums in Aksu region, which was innovative in form, strong in storytelling, and beautiful in visuals, and received unanimous praise from visitors; In 2019, the "AR Virtual Fitting Mirror" project was created for the cultural outreach activities of Xinjiang Kucha Research Institute, which restored the costumes in Kucha murals and allowed the audience to experience ancient costume art firsthand.
Deep cultivation without interruption, digital innovation empowers printing and copying technology
As a Shanghai craftsman, Shanghai Printing (Group) Co., Ltd. established the Craftsman Innovation Studio for Business Digital Company in 2019, with Qu Yunfei as the head of the studio. In 2023, Century Publishing (Group) Co., Ltd. awarded him the title of "Qu Yunfei Craftsman Innovation Studio". Combining with the background of the new era, he led the studio to focus on the current and long-term, closely follow the direction of national reform and market development trends, implement employee quality improvement projects and craftsman technology innovation practices, fully leverage the studio's innovation, research and development, aggregation, and leading functions in the improvement of printing and copying digital technology, and effectively promote the improvement of enterprise quality and efficiency.

He fully leveraged the company's successful experience in art replication, cultural relic digitization, and other fields over the past decade. Through the curriculum of theoretical knowledge, practical operation, and innovative development, he effectively enhanced the team members' hands-on ability and practical problem-solving ability in cultural relic digitization. He always adheres to the principle of "old leading new", "new promoting old", "mutual assistance and learning", and "co creation and symbiosis" in building the team. Based on the technical expertise of each team member, combined with the needs of digital workflow, the team members are subdivided into "job types", so that all team members can achieve their strengths and achievements.

Under his leadership, the digital project team of the company has developed operating procedures such as the "Digital Specification for Mobile Manuscripts" and the "Digital Specification for Grotto Temples" based on years of solid experience, contributing to the development of digital printing and copying technology. The team has won honors such as "Shanghai Worker Pioneer", "Shanghai Youth May Fourth Medal", "Shanghai Team Pioneer Characteristic Team", and "Shanghai Model Collective"; The products printed by the team have won various awards such as the Shanghai Printing Grand Prix, the "Keyin Cup" National Digital Printing Grand Prix, and the American Printing Grand Prix over the years.