Disease Investigation of Stone Carving by Spatial Analysis: A Case Study on the Stone Carving of Dazu Thousand-Hand Bodhisattva

Abstract

Abstract. Cultural relics are often threatened by nature and human, especially stone carving relics which have immovable characteristics. Compared with other cultural relics, the diseases of stone carving relics are more complex, and they can affect carvings’ cultural and artistic value to a great extent. This article selects Dazu thousand-hand bodhisattva as a case, not only because it has a strong representation in Chinese stone carving art, but also considering that there are many complex diseases in the whole range after a long history, therefore the Dazu thousand-hand bodhisattva has high research value, and scientific investigation methods are essential for the protection and research of cultural relics. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the arm diseases of Dazu thousand-hand bodhisattva by using the two methods of GIS spatial analysis: kernel density analysis and trend analysis. The past investigation methods are difficult to achieve the expected results because of their strong subjectivity and narrow range, and the use of spatial analysis to investigate the diseases of stone carvings can study the spatial characteristics and coupling relationship of stone carvings from the macro level.