Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>The Sichuan-Chongqing region of China has numerous stone carving cultural heritages, including two UNESCO and 39 national relics. Humid, hot conditions and acid rain since the Industrial Revolution cause deterioration of these objects. In response, conservation materials have evolved for millennia. However, their performance is often judged by single engineering criteria, overlooking ethics like authenticity, minimum intervention and reversibility. This paper traces the evolution of these materials over three periods: traditional, synthetic and multifunctional, and proposes an ethics-oriented multidimensional evaluation method integrating engineering performance. Using this method, we evaluated materials from each period. Traditional ones excel in compatibility and permeability but lack durability; synthetics show gains in hydrophobicity or reinforcement but lack compatibility or reversibility; multifunctionals better balance compatibility and durability ethically, though their long-term adaptability and reversibility need work. Future development should center on ethics, pursue smart, eco-friendly, precision-oriented lines, and balance preventive conservation with emergency restoration adaptively.</p>