# Chinese sticky rice mortar formula **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 26, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sticky-rice-mortar-formula/797380 "2017-09-26T21:40:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![staevart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@staevart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/staevart)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sticky-rice-mortar-formula/797380/1 "2017-09-26T21:40:31Z")
Several years ago it was discovered that the mortar used to build the Great Wall in China was made with sticky rice or a broth made from sticky rice. For several millennia, this mortar has proven to be extremely strong and resistant to the elements. Since its discovery many studies have been done on this mortar explaining the chemical and nuclear composition of the ingredients and many of the studies are posted on line. However none provide a formula/recipe for making it. Can anyone help? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sticky-rice-mortar-formula/797380/2 "2017-09-26T21:59:33Z")
All I could find was a cite to [this paper](http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ar9001944) which probably has the information you seek. But you’ll have to shell out $40 to get the full paper. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sticky-rice-mortar-formula/797380/3 "2017-09-26T22:41:11Z")
1. Why would anyone pay $40 to view a paper? That’s nuts, and it probably costs less than that to get the entire printed journal delivered to your door for a year. (Note that the ACS is a non-profit organization.) Nevertheless, if you run into a ludicrous paywall and no other trick works, try accessing the link from a library. 2. From your link: > [@](#): > > The mortar was made by evenly mixing slaked lime with sticky rice soup. We made a sticky rice solution by cooking a mixture of sticky rice powder and distilled water at 100 °C and 1.0 bar for 4 h. Before any analysis, mortar samples were naturally carbonized at 20 °C under 60 ± 5% relative humidity for 6 months. The proper ratio seems to be 3.0% sticky rice. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sticky-rice-mortar-formula/797380/4 "2017-09-26T23:41:33Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > 1. Why would anyone pay $40 to view a paper? Nothing new or unusual about scientific/professional journals charging obscene amounts for single articles. > [@](#): > > That’s nuts, and it probably costs less than that to get the entire printed journal delivered to your door for a year. No idea about the price for the print copies of any of the multiple journals on that site, but in general that type of publication [is not cheap](http://scienceblogs.com/digitalbio/2012/01/09/how-much-does-it-cost-to-get-a/). ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sticky-rice-mortar-formula/797380/5 "2017-09-26T23:48:35Z")
Some Chinese beaurocrat made a fortune by filling the Great Wall with rice. ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sticky-rice-mortar-formula/797380/6 "2017-09-27T03:05:30Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Some Chinese beaurocrat made a fortune by filling the Great Wall with rice. I got an ideaaa… ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-sticky-rice-mortar-formula/797380/7 "2017-09-28T15:24:47Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Some Chinese beaurocrat made a fortune by filling the Great Wall with rice. You think rice is cheaper than rock???