Damaging or Repairing? Young restoration intern draws skepticism over her work on historical relics in N China

Photo of the young artist

A young Shanxi woman is facing heaps of criticism on Chinese social media after posting a picture of an ancient wall mural she restored. The woman originally posted the picture of her restoration as a point of pride, but many are calling into question her technique. Some believe she tarnished a valuable cultural relic.

The mural is located in Hongtong County, north China’s Shanxi province, inside of the Guangsheng Temple, a place famous for the drama murals from the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368).

In photo: Her work of restoration

However, visitors there were skeptical about the restoration work on the mural. They could not tell any work had been done with the naked eye. “Only a professional could determine whether the restoration was done well,” one visitor said.

Museum workers explained that the woman had worked here as an intern. She was just one of twenty or thirty engineers contracted by the museum. Her and her team left months ago. It is reported that the woman responsible for the restoration studied at Shanghai’s prestigious Fudan University, where she majored in restoration of cultural relics. 

In photo: The site where the artist "restores" the wall painting

While the female intern initially gained popularity due to criticism surrounding her work, her fame has since sparked an online debate. There are those who sympathize with the young intern, as well as those like her that have innocently been swept up in the snowball effect of online criticism. One netizen said, “As soon as something happens, all types of professionals come and show off. When nothing’s wrong, how come these pros aren’t coming to restore the murals! Truly ridiculous.”

But then there are those who believe an inexperienced hand should never have had the opportunity to touch these precious Yuan dynasty murals. One comment reads, “We must severely punish this type of behavior, the destruction of cultural relics.” 

The restoration photos the woman had taken from two years ago have since been removed from her social media account.