From October 22 to November 1, 2019, an innovative field-school was held at the temple of Gongshutang, in Shaanxi province, the cradle of Chinese civilization. For 10 days, a team from the French National Heritage Institute (INP) had the opportunity to access this Ming temple located in a village in Huxian county, about an hour's drive from Xi'an, where you can feel the attachment of the local population to this heritage and the interest of the stakeholders in charge of its conservation.

This Franco-Chinese cooperation involved restoration students majoring in paintings and Chinese heritage professionals working in institutions in Shaanxi province and throughout China: the Palace museum (Forbidden City), Nanjing Museum, Institute of Heritage and archaeology of Chengdu, Zhejiang Institute of Heritage and Archaeology, Beijing University of Science and Technology. A bus was made available by the Chinese partners to go to the site as often as necessary. Some training sessions were hosted at the Shaanxi Heritage Protection Institute in Xi'an. The National Heritage Institute and the Heritage Protection Institute set up this training dedicated to the protection of Gongshutang temple with the support of the French Embassy in China as well as the Fondation des Sciences du Patrimoine since 2017.

This exceptional field-school was officially launched on the 30th anniversary of the Shaanxi Heritage Protection Institute, on October 18th and 19th, 2019, in the presence of senior heritage officials from Shaanxi Province and from all over China. 

This pedagogical experience was a tremendous success thanks to the long preparatory phase. This involved the organization of three missions of prospection on site, the involvement of the teachers, the director of studies of the restorers department, the international relations and the administrative teams of the National Heritage Institute, the support of a professional interpreter trained in heritage vocabulary and the permanent presence of an international technical expert in Xi'an to promote the success of this project. All the requirements were met to promote the highest quality and precision of the exchanges, with the human and professional result over these few days exceeding both parties' expectations.

During the training, the French and Chinese teams worked together on the monument conservation project, supervised by Claudia Sindaco, a heritage restorer and assistant to the head of painting in the restorers’ department, and by Anne Jacquin, a furniture restorer specializing in Far Eastern lacquers.

The professionals present shared their knowledge and reflected on the overall conservation project of this emblematic treasure of the Ming period (built around 1403-1424), while working on a Condition Report on the varied and highly complex polychrome decorations. Indeed, painted and lacquered decorations of an extreme refinement have been preserved on the wooden structure of the temple. These decorations testify to forgotten techniques, quoted in the old treatises and of which no other example has been preserved. 

In addition to the detailed Condition report on the decorations, the training allowed an exchange of theoretical and practical courses, related to the particular problems of the site. Some of these sessions were organized as close as possible to the temple, in the superstructure which was built and laid out in 2019 to protect the building.

The National Heritage Institute has already been requested to provide its expertise in the training pedagogy of the heritage restorers and for the organization of other training sessions in France and in China. It has also been consulted for the design of an initial training course for restorers in The People's Republic of China.

Throughout the field-school, the Chinese participants expressed their interest in the scientific method and rigor applied by the French team. They thus discovered the “researcher / restorer” profile of the students and teachers of the INP, through their scientific approach combined with their practical knowledge of ancient techniques." The Franco-Chinese field-school site will be mentioned in "Wenwu" 文物 (Cultural property), the benchmark journal in the field of heritage since 1959."

This pedagogical experience was a tremendous success thanks to the long preparatory phase. This involved the organization of three missions of prospection on site, the involvement of the teachers, the director of studies of the restorers department, the international relations and the administrative teams of the National Heritage Institute, the support of a professional interpreter trained in heritage vocabulary and the permanent presence of an international technical expert in Xi'an to promote the success of this project. All the requirements were met to promote the highest quality and precision of the exchanges, with the human and professional result over these few days exceeding both parties' expectations.

During the training, the French and Chinese teams worked together on the monument conservation project, supervised by Claudia Sindaco, a heritage restorer and assistant to the head of painting in the restorers’ department, and by Anne Jacquin, a furniture restorer specializing in Far Eastern lacquers.

The project also received a special mention from the France-China Committee as part of the 2021 Innovation Award for Franco-Chinese teams, in recognition of its innovative format and methodology combining different French and Chinese approaches and multiple actors, fostering Franco-Chinese cultural cooperation for the future.