Abstract: The relationship between protection of historical culturalbuildings and mechanics, and the problems of mechanics in theprotection of ancient relics are reviewed in this paper. A brief introduction tothe history of the protection of cultural relics in China and allover the world is followed by a discussion on problems of mechanicsmodeling. Particularly, the achievements made, and the opportunity andchallenge confronted by the researchers are emphasized. Finally, somecomments and suggestions for the future research and protection of ancientbuildings are proposed.