Case Studies

Shanxi Province in north-west China is home to some of the country’s richest architectural heritage. The wooden and earthen temples represent two millennia of cultural development. Many of these buildings contain wall paintings which are endangered due to neglect, encroachment and looting, and most are unrecorded.

The Shanxi Digital Documentation of Endangered Temple Wall Paintings Project (SDDP) will record the region’s historic temples, which are scattered in remote villages across an area of 156,000 km² – larger than England and Wales combined. So far, the team have mapped 89 temples based on their vulnerability and historical significance. The project is a partnership between University College London’s Institute of Archaeology and Zhejiang University. The Shanxi Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage (SBCH) and an international advisory board guide the survey and research.

The SDDP uses high-resolution multi-spectral imagery technology to document the structures and wall paintings. These paintings illustrate stories from Chinese folk beliefs, Buddhism and Taoism, and reflect the syncretic qualities of regional religious practice. The project will contribute to the understanding of how these three belief systems have influenced each other.

The project will create a digital archive of the paintings and associated architecture. This database will be freely available in Chinese and English. The project will also produce high-resolution 3D data for virtual reality models of temples, allowing it to engage with different audiences from schoolchildren to conservation professionals.

In addition to creating a free and permanent public record of the Shanxi temples, the SDDP will help to train local expert teams to improve the continuing recording and management of endangered heritage within China, push the boundaries of research practice, and enhance digital recording technologies and methodologies for future research and conservation.