When new technology joins old documents and east meets west: virtually reconstructing the Fisher Island Pagoda Lighthouse (China)

• Published in: Virtual Archaeology Review
• Main Authors: Leung, Anthony K.H., Davies, Stephen, Ching, Steve H.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Universitat Politècnica de València 2018
• Subjects: 3D reconstruction; virtual reality; epigraphy; 3D Printing; documentation; reconstrucción 3D; realidad virtual; epigrafía; impresión 3D; documentación; Ruta; Torre; Tower The; Fisher Island
• Online Access: http://polipapers.upv.es/index.php/var/article/view/7982; https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2018.7982

Located on the route between Xiamen and Taiwan (China), the Penghu (Pescadores Islands) are an archipelago and the site of a military garrison. The second largest island, Xiyu or Fisher Island, was accordingly an obvious point to build a navigational marker to guide sailors. Records indicate that some type of a marker, in the form of a tower or pagoda, was constructed in the 17thcentury. However, in 1778the original was replaced by a different sort of pagoda tower. The new structure has long been known to have been a purpose fully designed lighthouse. Although today’s Yuwengdao lighthouse, built in 1875, has become a famous heritage landmark, the earlier 1778 structure, it can be argued has greater heritage significance in that it was an entirely original creation preceding the introduction of western lighthouse technology in China by nearly a century. Thanks to the fortunate discovery of a hitherto unknown photograph of this earlier lighthouse backed by further research in early navigational documents, gazetteers, charts and inscriptions and The authors have been able to make a 3D virtual reconstruction using state-of-the-art Revit software and thus answer several research questions about this old lighthouse pagoda, including dimensions, location, orientation, function and materials. Situado en la ruta entre Xiamen y Taiwán(China), Penghu (Islas Pescadores) es un archipiélago que históricamente tenía una guarnición militar. La segunda isla más grande, Fisher Island, era por lo tanto un punto obvio para construir una señal de navegación para guiar a marineros. Los registros muestran que un tipo de torre o pagoda sirvió también como señal de navegación, que se construyó en el siglo XVII. Sin embargo, en 1778 fue reemplazado por una pagoda conocida por haber sido diseñada principalmente como un faro. Aunque hoy en día el faro de Yuwengdao, construido en 1875, se ha convertido en un hito famoso de la herencia cultural, la estructura anterior de 1778 se puede argumentar que fue de mayor significancia patrimonial ...