QQ Music helps revive lyrics of the past

For Zhu Xiaofeng, an expert at the Dunhuang Research Academy, studying the ancient Buddhist paintings in the Mogao Grottoes in Gansu province is a lifetime's work.

Zhu has spent many years in the caves recording and studying the wall paintings, which contain musical elements such as ancient instruments and performance scenes. Such paintings appear in almost half of the 492 caves in the southern Mogao Grottoes.

"Almost all the instruments that have appeared in China's history can be found in the Mogao Grottoes paintings. So much so, some instruments found in the caves don't appear in any record of the nation's history," Zhu said.