On the Balance Between Virtuality and Fictionality in the Restoration of Artworks: A Case Study of The Night Revels of Han Xizai APP

Xiyuan Feng

doi:10.54254/2753-7064/2025.HT30365

Communications in Humanities ResearchOpen access

On the Balance Between Virtuality and Fictionality in the Restoration of Artworks: A Case Study of The Night Revels of Han Xizai APP

Research Article

Open Access

On the Balance Between Virtuality and Fictionality in the Restoration of Artworks: A Case Study of The Night Revels of Han Xizai APP

Xiyuan Feng ^1*

¹ Beijing Normal University

^*Corresponding author: 3205628024@qq.com

Published on 4 December 2025

CHR Vol.100

ISSN (Print): 2753-7072

ISSN (Online): 2753-7064

ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-577-6

ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-578-3

Download Cover

Abstract

To address the tension between virtuality and fictionality in the digital reproduction of traditional art, this paper takes the Palace Museum’s The Night Revels of Han Xizai APP and the original hand-scroll as case studies, concentrating on the divergences in textual presentation and reader interaction. Adopting a comparative analysis method, the study first dissects how the painting constructs the core carrier of fictionality through the simultaneous presentation of multiple times, spatial metaphors embodied in furniture, and the polysemy of its visual signs. It then investigates the APP’s technical strategies—spatial digital restoration, fixed symbolic interpretation, and multi-sensory rendering—and the attendant erosion of fictionality. By contrasting the two artefacts, the paper highlights differences in the reader’s imaginative engagement, the evolving relationship between audience and work, and the generation of aesthetic experience. The research concludes that the enduring appeal of The Night Revels of Han Xizai lies in its open fictionality; any act of artistic reproduction must therefore safeguard rather than dissolve this quality. A balanced synergy between technological empowerment and artistic essence can be achieved through hierarchical protection of the text layer, open design of the interactive layer, and multi-dimensional annotation of the interpretation layer. The proposed framework offers a transferable model for the digital restoration and dissemination of traditional artworks, advancing the living transmission of cultural heritage in the digital age.

Keywords:

han xizai, virtuality, fictionality, interactive design, digital restoration

View PDF

References

[1]. Yang Dongrun, Meng Xiang. A Study of Interactive Design of Art Information APPs from a Semiotic Perspective—Taking The Night Revels of Han Xizai as an Example [J]. Media, 2018(01).

[2]. Yu Deshan. The Narrative Communication of The Night Revels of Han Xizai [J]. Jiangxi Social Sciences, 2005(10).

[3]. Wu Dongyu. Returning to the Night Banquet Scene—The Spatial Reconstruction and Image Sequence Reorganization of The Night Revels of Han Xizai [J]. Fine Arts and Design, 2025(01).

[4]. Bi Xiaohui. A Brief Analysis of the Narrative Characteristics of Chinese Gongbi Painting Images—Taking The Night Revels of Han Xizai as an Example [D]. Chinese National Academy of Arts, 2020.

[5]. Wang Kewen. The “Multiple Times in One Picture” Issue in Traditional Chinese Painting [J]. Research in Fine Arts, 1988(04).

[6]. Wu Shaojing. Reflections on the Innovative Performance Forms of Nanyin Music and Dance—Taking Taiwan's Nanyin Music and Dance The Night Revels of Han Xizai as an Example [J]. Journal of Zhejiang Art Vocational College, 2012(04).

[7]. Zhuang Shenfei. Exhibition and Emotional Interaction—A Study on the Handscroll Narrative and Visual Form of The Night Revels of Han Xizai [D]. China Academy of Art, 2018.

[8]. Iser, W. The Aesthetics of Reception: Reading Activity: Aesthetic Response Theory [M]. Translated by Huo Guihuan and Li Baoyan. Beijing: China Renmin University Press, 1988.

References

[1]. Yang Dongrun, Meng Xiang. A Study of Interactive Design of Art Information APPs from a Semiotic Perspective—Taking The Night Revels of Han Xizai as an Example [J]. Media, 2018(01).

[2]. Yu Deshan. The Narrative Communication of The Night Revels of Han Xizai [J]. Jiangxi Social Sciences, 2005(10).

[3]. Wu Dongyu. Returning to the Night Banquet Scene—The Spatial Reconstruction and Image Sequence Reorganization of The Night Revels of Han Xizai [J]. Fine Arts and Design, 2025(01).

[4]. Bi Xiaohui. A Brief Analysis of the Narrative Characteristics of Chinese Gongbi Painting Images—Taking The Night Revels of Han Xizai as an Example [D]. Chinese National Academy of Arts, 2020.

[5]. Wang Kewen. The “Multiple Times in One Picture” Issue in Traditional Chinese Painting [J]. Research in Fine Arts, 1988(04).

[7]. Zhuang Shenfei. Exhibition and Emotional Interaction—A Study on the Handscroll Narrative and Visual Form of The Night Revels of Han Xizai [D]. China Academy of Art, 2018.

[8]. Iser, W. The Aesthetics of Reception: Reading Activity: Aesthetic Response Theory [M]. Translated by Huo Guihuan and Li Baoyan. Beijing: China Renmin University Press, 1988.

Cite this article

Feng,X. (2025). On the Balance Between Virtuality and Fictionality in the Restoration of Artworks: A Case Study of The Night Revels of Han Xizai APP. Communications in Humanities Research,100,1-7.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

About volume

Volume title: Proceeding of ICIHCS 2025 Symposium: The Dialogue Between Tradition and Innovation in Language Learning

ISBN: 978-1-80590-577-6(Print) / 978-1-80590-578-3(Online)

Editor: Enrique Mallen, Heidi Gregory-Mina

Conference website: https://2025.icihcs.org/

Conference date: 26 November 2025

Series: Communications in Humanities Research

Volume number: Vol.100

ISSN: 2753-7064(Print) / 2753-7072(Online)

© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who publish this series agree to the following terms:

1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this series.

2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this series.

3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See Open access policy for details).