A series of frescos dating back to the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911) were found in an assembly hall in Wafang Village in Ziyang County, Shaanxi Province. The entire area of these frescos covers about 220 square meters, which is very rare in China.
The frescos are exquisite. Experts said that the frescos remain valuable as historical studies because they depict ancient business assembly halls, buildings, paintings and folk cultures. The local government is salvaging and protecting them. Experts noted that these frescos encompass all four walls of the assembly hall.
The experts group also found more than 100 square meters of frescos on the broken walls of another assembly hall, only about 100 meters away from the first batch. They said that China has only five indoor frescos this well-reserved in the whole nation; the newly discovered appears to be one of the largest and most delicate of its kind.
According to researchers, these frescos were painted sometime between the Emperor Daoguang and Tongzhi's Reign (roughly from 1821 - 1874). The frescos retain their original appearance and have never been repainted. The theme of the frescos includes the stories about the Three Kingdoms, stories depicting the twenty-four acts of filial piety and scenes displaying mountains and lakes.
An expert from the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Bureau in Shaanxi introduces a fresco.
A part of a fresco, which describes the story of the Three Kingdoms
Experts from the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Bureau explains methods used to protect and salvage ancient frescos.
A part of a fresco, which recounts one of the twenty-four acts of filial piety
A part of a fresco, which describes part of the story of the Three Kingdoms
(China.org.cn by Chen Lin November 24, 2007)
