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

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.