Study on the causes of secondary cracks of the eave wall mural of Daxiong Hall at Fengguo Temple in Yixian, Liaoning, China

Cheng Liu,Qian Li,Fei Wang,Yuan He

doi:10.1186/s40494-021-00601-5

Abstract

Built in Kaitai 9 years after the beginning of the Liao Dynasty (1020 A.D.), the Daxiong Hall of Fengguo Temple (Yixian County, Liaoning Province) is one of China’s largest existing ancient single-eave wooden architecture structures. In 2012, it was listed on the “Preliminary List of World Cultural Heritage in China.” Preserved Buddhist murals depicting the Yuan Dynasty cover approximately 470 m2 of the hall’s four walls. Since the in-situ reinforcement and protection of the mural, conducted in the 1980s in cooperation with the maintenance and restoration project of the main hall, seriously developed cracks—known as secondary cracks—have become a primary factor affecting the mural’s structural stability. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive investigation using a full-frame digital camera, an industrial endoscope, an infrared thermal imager, an online environmental monitoring system, and a three-dimensional laser scanner. Our results, and other relevant materials, allowed us to deepen our understanding of the existing structural features, the nature of the cracks, the deformation conditions, and the environmental characteristics of the mural. Moreover, we provide a further discussion on the macroscopic formation process of the secondary cracks.

Highlights

One of ancient China’s most prominent type of murals was the architectural variety
The mural depicting the Yuan Dynasty was painted on the entire inner surface of the eave wall, and the content of each unit is independent
After comparing them with existing murals, we found that most of the cracks visible in his photos have been filled with mud and lime plaster (Fig. 3), with only a few remaining in their original state

Summary

Introduction

One of ancient China’s most prominent type of murals was the architectural variety. They appear on the walls of ancient buildings and are an organic part of the building’s architectural structure. The existing cracks on the eave wall mural of Fengguo Temple’s Daxiong Hall mostly appeared after the in-situ reinforcement and. The specialized study of secondary cracks is a vital part of the protection research project of Fengguo Temple’s mural. This paper makes a systematic analysis of the comprehensive investigation materials, and interprets the regularities of distribution of stress release as well as the coupling relations between the environment and the mural body, thereby constructing a formation path model of the secondary cracks and providing a case reference for future studies

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion