On March 27, 1943, members of the Dunhuang Art Research Institute Preparatory Committee that was established by the Ministry of Education of the government of the Republic of China arrived at Mogao and began their work in the Middle Temple. Since their arrival, and under extremely harsh conditions, teams of ministry workers led by Chang Shuhong carried out various tasks such as conservation and management of the caves and mural copying. In order to effectively protect, manage and safeguard the relics contained in the caves, Chang Shuhong presided over the formulation of many regulations for cave site management and conservation that produced various guidelines and rules, including: Regulations for the Management of the Thousand-Buddha Caves in Dunhuang and the Ten-Thousand Buddha Gorges in Anxi, Regulations for Making Rubbings of the Steles of the Thousand-Buddha Caves, Regulations for Visiting the Thousand Buddha Caves, and Notices from the National Dunhuang Art Research Institute Regarding Cave Tours. All of these guidelines were approved by the Ministry of Education and other government departments. These regulations not only provided practicable standards the institute could refer to when carrying out conservation, management and research work, but also set an example for the formulation of laws and regulations about the management and protection of cave sites and cultural relics that was used until the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
