Fan Jinshi: Daughter of Dunhuang
The Mogao Grottoes are a very special place in China, which stand in Dunhuang, Gansu province. The Mogao Grottoes are thousands of years old and were listed as a world cultural heritage (遗产) by UNESCO in 1987.
Many people, including archaeologists (考古学家) and researchers, work hard to take care of the Mogao Grottoes and learn more about them. Fan Jinshi is one of them.
Fan was born in Beijing on July 9, 1938. Her father was a graduate of Tsinghua University and had a strong interest in Chinese classical art and culture.
Influenced by her father, Fan liked visiting museums when she was in middle school. With the great love of Chinese culture, she studied in the archaeology department in Peking University and graduated in 1963. Then she started working at Dunhuang and has worked there ever since. She spends almost 60 years taking care of Dunhuang. People call her the "Daughter of Dunhuang. "
On May 4, 2023, "Daughter of Dunhuang" Fan Jinshi returned to Peking University and brought back 10 million RMB donations to set up the Fan Jinshi Education Fund (基金) to support the research of Dunhuang Studies at Peking University.
"Money made should be spent in the right way. People cannot only think of themselves," she said. "Hopefully the setting of the Fund can help Dunhuang studies at the university, so it can raise cultural confidence and strength. "
