Tang Shunling Stone Body Condition And Preservation Of The Environment Monitoring And Evaluation

Shun Imperial Tomb is the tomb buried Wu Zetian’s mother Yang. It is located about17.5km to the northeast of Xianyang City, the second step of the north bank of Wei River. The four stone sculptures at the south gate of Shun Imperial Tomb (a couple of Tianlu and a couple of Walking Lions) are of the greatest of stone sculptures in the imperial tombs of Tang Dynasty. They are huge in body with majestic face and meticulous carving. It looks grand and spectacular from distance while the meticulosity and luxury could be noticed in the vicinity. They are of the representative products of the early Tang Dynasty and are also of the treasures of the Chinese ancient stone sculptures with their high value in both art and history. In the past1300years, because of the precipitation, human activity and other environmental effect, the sculptures are seriously damaged. Induced by the uneven collapsibility occurred under their base and the influence of a series of earthquakes in the history, the bodies of the stone sculptures have some fissures and the limestone foundations of the sculptures have some fractures. Therefore, in order to find out the law and the controlling factors of the evolution of the fractures of the stone sculptures and the differential settlement, Xi’an Centre For The Conservation And Restoration Of Cultural Heritage carried out an in situ monitoring on the relic reservation environment and sculptures their selves. They got a large amount of data while the data analysis and evaluation are needed urgently for protection in the next step.Based on analysis and evaluation on the investigation and monitoring data on the relic reservation environment and the damage situation on the sculptures, this study investigated the relation between the preservation environment and the fissure and differential settlement of stone sculpture, and it also found out the controlling factors of the evolution of the stability on the relics. Furthermore, this paper tried to have a risk assessment on the controlling factor of the relic deterioration and a discussion about the identification and evaluation method between the sculpture weathering and the reservation environment risks. This paper also introduced how to control the sculpture deterioration effectively by the change of the reservation environment based on the evaluation of the monitored data.