put the pieces back together again to restore the grandeur of the painting. The journey to the
laboratory was really long, I sat in the back of the car for a long time before I saw light again. In
the car, I got mixed with the broken pieces of other Dynasties and other time periods. Some I had
read about them, must most of them I had never knew about. They must be the later part of the
Chinese history. I was really happy to see more time of peace and prosperity, but it was also very
disappointing to see even more wartime in the later part of history, and the weapons used in war
were e getting more and more vicious. There were more and more bloodshed. I thought that the
Northern Wei Dynasty had already reached the limits of war and violence that men could bear,
but I guessed I was wrong. I saw a lot more wars happening during the later part of history in
these broken pieces. I could sense that the desperation of the people continued to grow with their
cries, wrecking their voice and at the same time challenging my sanity.
I finally arrived at the laboratory. An ancient smell of antiques lingered around the lab. A
man carefully picked us up and put us on a large table. Strong light shown on us and blinded my
eyesight. I could not see anything. I could only feel that I was being moved around. I thought they
must be rearranging the pieces and trying to restore this wall painting. My temporary absence of
eyesight got me more focused on the conversation between the two men in the lab.
“It is unbelievable how people created these paintings. We don’t see people nowadays produce
such wonderful paintings, with so much detail and so rich in cultural elements.”
“That’s just your opinion. The world has changed. Art is not so much about only the aesthetic
or culture elements but about self-expression. I think what is more unbelievable is how this wall
painting is still in one piece until the force of nature chose to break it just a few hours ago.”
“Yes, I agree. I have seen so many great architectures, sculptures, paintings, or compositions
devastated and lost in almost just a split second by bombs in wars. This is one of the reasons that
keep us archeologists busy every day.”
“Certainly, I enjoy this part of my job the most. Digging up remains of human civilization lost
in wars every day makes me feel like a hero restoring them.
“Wow I have never thought of it that way. The only thing I feel is that as much as we can
restore things, it is not really up to us to change things.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean we do our best to restore things of the past, trying to undo the damage of war, but
really, have people ever changed? Have people ever stopped war? No. Instead, they become more
and more vicious every single time they try to start one. At first they used arrows and shields,
then there came the bombs, then the trenches, the tanks, the airships…It is killing me just to
count how many horrible weapons men have made.”
“Who wants war? But war is always around. That’s just a part of life I guess.”
Their conversation struck me completely. There were so many things that they mentioned that
I did not understand, that I did not know what they were. Nevertheless, I got the gist of what they
were saying and I could not believe that after so many years, history did not only repeat itself, but
in a more savage version every time.
The two men worked efficiently. The painting was restored in no time and I was soon back on
the wall in the Mogao Caves as if nothing had happened. I was back to the Northern Wei Dynasty
again. I was back to wartime again. Oh! How I had wished there to be another earthquake to
strike the Gobi Desert. How I had wished there to be another opportunity for me to experience
another effortless escape like this. However, I did not think this was going to happen for another
