Fan Jin-shi is awarded the LUI Che Woo Prize for Positive Energy for her lifelong (more than 56 years) devotion to and diligent guardianship of the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, a Chinese national as well as international cultural treasure, in Dunhuang, Gansu, China. She contributed significantly to the cause of preservation, protection, restoration, study and broad dissemination of the Dunhuang Grottoes.
She and her colleagues led the Dunhuang Academy through its most difficult period, during which traditional culture was denigrated and financial support was lacking. She has overseen the digitisation of the wall paintings and sculpture in the caves so that they are now accessible to scholars and common people alike around the world. Her modernisation efforts have also set new standards for successful cultural preservation.
She has greatly advanced the archaeological and historical understanding of the significance of the Dunhuang Grottoes worldwide. Ms Fan inspires positive energy through her personal example and success as a rare female archaeologist of her times, working in a remote area, heroically committed to seeing this to completion in the face of social and financial challenges.