The Ancient Standard

And You Thought Rice Was For Eating… (ca. 1300 AD)

By: The Scribe on October, 2007

Once thought to be merely an ancient legend, it turns out that several thousand years ago, the Chinese were using sticky rice to cement their walls. Indeed, this glutinous ‘rice porridge’ was the best kind of mortar additive available, surviving until today in the remnants of plaster on ancient Chinese bricks.

It was during a round of maintenance work on the ancient wall of Xi’an that workers found that the plaster on many bricks was extremely difficult to remove – and since the task was much more difficult than it should have been, the substance was tested. Infrared analysis then revealed that the mortar had a molecule structure nearly identical to that of glutinous or “sticky” rice.

In fact, the use of rice as mortar may be the real reason that many ancient Chinese structures are still standing! The wall of Xi’an was built in the early years of the Ming Dynasty that spanned from 1368-1644 AD, and still remains standing at approximately 12 meters high.

While the claim that construction workers used sticky rice to build the Great Wall of China had previously been discounted as a myth, it turns out that there may have been truth to the legend after all.

Think about it: workers wouldn’t have to stop for lunch, they could just snack while they were working…!

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Tomorrow: More Ancient Standard!