Testing the performance of a traditional Chinese adhesive for the conservation of Qing dynasty painted architectural decoration at Shuxiang Temple, Chengde

Efforts to preserve historic painting on imperial Qing architecture in China are increasing, but generally accepted materials and techniques to conserve the paintings in situ have not yet been fully developed and tested. A project to investigate these polychrome architectural paintings and to develop approaches to conserving them was undertaken at Shuxiang Temple, one of the Outlying Temples of the Imperial Mountain Resort, a World Heritage Site, in the city of Chengde. This research is a collaboration between the Getty Conservation Institute and the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, with support from the Chengde Cultural Heritage Bureau and the Hebei Province Cultural Heritage Bureau. The investigation is one component of a larger project to conserve Shuxiang Temple undertaken as a case study for the application of the Principles for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in China, national guidelines for the conservation and management of heritage sites in China. From this investigation an unusual Chinese adhesive – youman – used in the construction of these paintings was researched, tested and proposed for their conservation.