When old traditions meet new techniques :

rethinking on the decreasing efforts from the communites in preventive

conservation in China

WU MeipingInternation Scholar, RLICC, K.U.Leuven,Belgium

PhD Candidate, Southeast University,Nanjing,China

Inauguration UNESCO Chair on Preventive Conservation, Maintenance and Monitoring of Monuments and Sites

Leuven, 24-25 March 2009

Introductions

• Preventive Conservation, seems a new concept in China, but acturally, many measures related to it are not new, and they have long been existed throughout the history.

• What are old traditions in Preventive Conservation in ancient China?

• Understanding changes in the special social, historic and political background.

• Two monitoring cases: what have happened when new techniques came? And what have changed? Where is the traditional efforts from Chinese community?

Some historic events in China

• In 1949, New China, the People’s Republic of China was founded

• 1966-1976, the Cultural Revolution• In1978, the open policy• In1985, a signatory to the <Convention Concerning the P

rotection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage >

Old Traditions

• Traditonal conservation system: 1)timely examination and maintenance;2) periodic reconstructions and conservation of the roof, and so on.

• With a great many buildings in such a vast territory, efforts from local communities had played a very important role.

Traditional Preventive Maintenance from Chinese Community before 1950s

• A traditional system;• Periodic preventive maintenance bot

h by owners and local craftsmen, usually, before the rainy season in Spring, and at the beginning of Winter

• Craftsmen cried their services along the street, for repairing the leaky roof, changing the tiles or window glasse, and so on.

• Most owners were experts themselves, knew everything about buildings, and took actions whenever necessary

• Craftsmen and owners coexisted and maintained buildings together.

Lopping off the History: 1950s-1970s

•With the great social reforms after 1949, traditional Chinese communities disappeared, ownerships of architectural heritage changed, many valuable historic buildings were transferred from private owners to the government; •The traditional preventive maintenance based on local communities and owners were gradually lost; •Sporadic preventive measures to some very important architectural heritages in 1950s;•Great damages to architectural heritage during the Cultural Revolution(1966-1976);•Scientific monitoring of architectural heritage appeared in the latter part of 1970s.

Repairing Concentrated and Government Centred from 1980s to 1990s

• Rescue measures and repairings for those destroyed important buildings in the Cultural Revolution;• Heritage conservation work has been under the auspices of various government agencies. Heavy intervence by government leading to the lack of independence of heritage professionals and local communities. •seldom spontaneous efforts from local communities in remote places, almost no non-government-organization existed nor could they play any role in conservation field.

Following the World: from 1980s to 1990s

• China has been trying its best to keep in step with the world, either in conservation theories or conservation techniques.

• Traditional views and practices of conservation may still be deeply rooted among the general public, heritage officials are looking to internationally accepted conservation principles as a superior way to regulate heritage practice.

• The importance of scientific documentation and maintenance were emphasized, and monitoring of some very important architectural heritage were put into practice. Almost all these actions were following the international way.

Hu Qiu Pagada

• Located in Suzhou, Jiangsu

• Built in around 959 A.D.• Of brick and clay mortar.• Seven floors, 47.5 meters

high, with an octagonal plan.

• Leaning towards northwest 400 years ago because of the groundwork, now leaning almost 2.3 meters from the centre.

Two leaning towers

Preventive Measures between 1950s-1970s

• 1954: Su Zhou government invited Prof.Liu Dunzhen (Southeast University) to investigate

• 1955: geological investigation by Academy of Industrial Building Design

• 1956: based on <Report on Geological Investigation>, a draft plan of reinforcement came out, Prof.Liu Dunzhen gave seven comments on reinforcements

• 1956: got fund of 50,000 RMB from the provincial government, the native engineer Wang Guochang pointed out Hooping Reinforcement around the Pagada Body, and an expert meeting was held

Prof.Liu Dunzhen(1897-1968), A Famous Academian and Expert

Preventive Measures between 1950s-1970s

• 1957: rescuing reinforcement started on 19th March, completed in September, costing nearly 100,000; Prof.Liu gave suggestions on matters needing attention for the reinforcement.

• August 1957: a lighting conductor was set up on the Pagada

• 1965: experts’ investigation again• 1975: resetting the lighting conducto

r• 1976: experts’s suggestions on grou

ndwork investigations, leaning measuring, condition examination, and groundwork reinforcement

Temporary reinforcement measures during rescuing engineering

Monitoring of Hu Qiu Pagada

• Ancient monitoring and preventive measures(mystery)• Measuring from 1949-1979

(no scientific system, different persons in charge, datas in chaos)• Monitoring from 1979-1989(essential)• Monitoring from 1989 until now

(based on the old system, new instruments, less monitoring than before—one a season)

Ancient Monitoring of Hu Qiu Pagada

• No documentations on ancient monitorings

• Visible treatments to the groundwork

• Leaning 400 years ago, then how could it stand until today?

• A mistery, and a research topic.

Chinese Ancient Level

Monitoring from 1979-1989

• Monitoring programme/system set up in 1979, different institutions in charge in different period, but the monitoring outline or plan almost keeped the same as from the very beginning;

• Measuring instruments: DSI Level, T3 Transit Instrument, Hand Strain Gauge and so on;

• measurements of ground settlement, horizontal displacement, crack changing, and layer leaning, and so on.

• 73 monitoring points: 24 points for first-floor settlement, 9 points for ground settlement, 16 points for horizontal displacement, and 24 for layer leaning

Monitoring of Horizontal Displacement and Crack Changing

Monitoring points for Ground Settlement

Monitoring points for Vertical Crack Changing in the First Floor

Analysis of Ground Settlement after the Beihu Gate Project in 1984

---25,000 for horizontal displacement---25,000 for ground settlement---3000 for layer leaning---7000 for crack changing

60,000 datas collected after 10 years monitoring

Analysis of Ground Settlement

Monitoring of Main Hall of Baoguo Temple nowadays

• Located in Ningbo, Zhejiang• Built in 1103, corridor added in 1

684;• Very typical timber-frame buildin

g, no nails, with speicial joints, carrying a heavy roof of 50 tons.

Monitoring system

• Set up in 2006, started to work in 2007

• Automatic monitoring system: computer, monitoring station

• 3 separate parts: Information collection(Environmental information, information of material and construction), information management, and information exhibition

• Monitoring of temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction,rain fall

• Monitoring of horizontal displacement, ground settlement, insect movements

Monitoring datas

Comparing these two monitoring cases

Of Hu Qiu Pagada

• In 1970-1980s• Nessary and directly related to res

cuing repairing and reinforcement• Set up by Academy of Building De

sign• Local Institution of Measure in pra

ctice, by local engineers• More hand work, hand measured

datas• Datas could be simply understood• More practical effects

Of Main Hall of Baoguo Temple

• In 2000s• No direct relation with practical projec

ts• Set up by computer department and

architecture department, and computer department were in main role

• Automatically in practice following the set procedure

• Computer work, datas come out automatically

• Datas not simple, only experts understand and explain them

• More theoretic meaning

What have we got?• Automatic monitoring• Scientific datas• Immediate datas• Computer engineers and Indepe

ndent monitoring workers• Rely on computers and scientific

figures

What have we lost?• Field watching and hand feeling• Experiential datas• Immediate analysis• Local craftsmen and other relate

d engineers• Spontanous efforts from local pe

ople or community

And......

When new techniques come, the communities seems growing distant ......

when old traditions meet new scientific techniques, how could we do better?

......

We prefer to ask for help from techniques rather than fine traditions, how to change this attitude?

......

Rethinking......

Rethinking......

Rethinking: from latter 1990s on

• <Principles for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in China> in 2000

• ‘Setting of Heritage’ in the 15th General Assembly of ICOMOS in Xi’an in 2005

• <International Symposium on the Concepts and Practices of Conservation and Restoration of Historic Buildings in East Asia> organized by ICOMOS China in 2007

• Rethinking on the architectural features, the traditional conservation measures and the international charters, trying to find the most suitable way,not just following the world.

• Rethinking on Preventive Conservation both from the traditional and international aspects.

How could we find the way for communities in Chinese up-down conservation system?

......

Social reforms, traditional communities no longer existed, where are new communities for China? ......

We need communities

Email: meilion.8008@yahoo.com.cn

Thank you!