The conservation and sustainable development of industrial architectural heritage (IAH) have become growing priorities under “Dual Carbon” goals. This review synthesizes literature around three interrelated objectives: multi-dimensional value conservation, environmental performance enhancement, and low-carbon transition. Research has maintained steady growth, with 4.8% publications in 2006–2009 (Initial stage), 34.6% in 2010–2018 (Fluctuating ascent stage), and 60.6% in 2019–2025 (Rapid development stage). Seven hotspot clusters indicate shift towards comprehensive and technological heritage regeneration. Four thematic dimensions reveal trajectories about hierarchical intervention, simulation-based optimization of physical environment, low-carbon strategy under different logics, and multi-objective paradigm in heritage context. After identifying major limitations, it outlines future directions for IAH and provides integrated framework for multi-objective optimization in broader heritage buildings.
Cizhou kiln black and white ceramics are an important painted ceramic tradition in northern China, but the relationship between decoration sequence and pigment position remains incompletely documented. Nine Ming and Qing sherds from the Pengcheng region and Guantai kiln site were examined by colorimetry, optical microscopy, XRF, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM-EDS, and replication experiments. Hematite is the main crystalline phase in the black regions, and the black appearance is associated with Fe-rich layers and glaze microstructure. In this sample set, underglaze pigment is concentrated near the engobe-glaze interface, whereas surface-applied pigment forms a shallow band beneath a thin glassy cover near the glaze surface. Controlled replicas reproduced this contrast. The results indicate that application sequence primarily controls pigment position, although firing may modify its detailed profile. These findings apply to the investigated samples and do not establish prevalence across Cizhou production.
To unify the decoupled dimensions of scientific rigor and contextual narrative in virtual heritage display, this paper uses the VR project developed for Jingdezhen’s bid for World Cultural Heritage as a case study, and establishes a workflow for the virtual recreation of urban heritage that includes data collection and processing, spatial script, virtual reconstruction, and asset production. It answers to the core questions in this process including the integration of interdisciplinary historical materials and the determination of the priorities of 3D virtual recreation in order to balance the requirements of scientific validity and contextual completeness. Focusing on the virtual recreation of the core heritage area of the porcelain industry of Jingdezhen, the paper highlights the potentials and reflects on the challenges in the approach which has involved an interdisciplinary team of over 20 experts and has spanned over one year.
Authenticity links tourist experiences with narrative communication in agricultural heritage tourism. Drawing on the Cognition–Affect–Behavior framework, this study models the relationships among perceived authenticity, well-being, and storytelling tendency. Data from 402 visitors to Hongcun, Chengkan, and Xixinan in Anhui, China, were analyzed using PLS-SEM. The results show that perceived authenticity comprises ecological experience, cultural interaction, heritage reminiscence, personal reflection, and continuity of tradition. Psychological and subjective well-being mediate the relationships between perceived authenticity and storytelling tendency, although support varies across dimensions. Cultural interaction has a significant indirect effect only through psychological well-being, while neither indirect pathway involving personal reflection is significant. These findings provide a theoretical basis for conserving living heritage and communicating heritage values in traditional villages.
This study investigates iron production at the Zhujiazui site in Ezhou, Hubei Province, dating to the late 8th to the early 10th century AD. Macroscopic classification, metallographic analysis, and SEM-EDS examination of slags and iron artifacts were combined with reassessment of archaeological contexts. The analytical results of slags indicate operations within a cast iron technological system rather than bloomery smelting or a fining process. The absence of iron ore and ore-processing debris, together with ceramic molds and cast iron artifacts, suggests that the excavated area was primarily used for melting and casting of cast iron. Elevated CaO and MgO content in some slags may suggest the use of dolomitic flux, while charcoal impressions provide direct evidence for charcoal fuel. The site’s location and regional context raise the possibility that it participated in wider systems of metal supply and product circulation.
