Ancient building restoration, is this a different restoration concept in East Asia than in Europe?

All scenic spots need to be developed and maintained, and there are very few tourist attractions that are completely pristine, even if they are natural scenic spots that need some degree of development and maintenance.

For ancient architectural cultural tourism attractions, protective restoration work is exceptionally important.

The three halls of the Forbidden City before and after the restoration of the comparison

Traditional Chinese buildings are mostly wood-based structures, China's civil engineering construction grandfather Lu Ban is also the grandfather of the carpenters, the construction of China's great influence. Take the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda as an example, as one of the ? The world's three strange towers? one of the three wonders of the world, nearly 70 meters high, pure wood structure, no nails and no rivets, survived for nearly 1,000 years, is a miracle in the existing traditional architecture.

Yingxian Wooden Pagoda

China's history of many wars, frequent changes of dynasties, wooden structures afraid of fire, can not withstand the destruction of war. And many historical figures like to set fire to vent their anger, the most famous of which is Xiang Yu burning Afang Palace, after the war, many buildings are turned into scorched earth.

Western antiquity, although the war is also much, but because many buildings are to marble as a material, so in the cold war era, will remain a little more. Catch up with the era of hot weapons, especially the main battlefield of World War I and II, if not surrendered, for firefighting, the city's ancient buildings were also destroyed in large numbers.

Greek Acropolis under restoration (screenshot from "Dawn of the Dead"

Restoration of ancient buildings is an important topic facing both Eastern and Western civilizations alike.

The Notre Dame fire in Paris shocked the world on April 15, 2019, and the restoration work has been difficult and lengthy.

Whether the existing monuments can be preserved, and whether they can be protected from further weathering and destruction, determines what kind of historical and cultural symbols future generations will see.

Gao Xiaosong, in one episode of his program "Xiao said", talks about the different philosophies of restoring ancient buildings in the East and the West.

China's approach to restoring ancient buildings is different from that of Western countries. China's restoration advocates repairing the old as the old, as far as possible, using the same materials for restoration, the result of the restoration is to look like complete; while the Western restoration advocates for the new part of the repair at a glance, so that people can clearly feel where is the new repair where is the old surviving.