Chinanews.com, Hangzhou, May 13 Question: Interview with the “Doctor” of Zhejiang Ancient Books: One is worth 100 gold for two years

  Author: Strict Tong Xiaoyu

  "For a 196-page family tree, I repaired it with a teacher for two years. 6 pieces of paper are glued together into a thickness of 1 piece of paper. We can only reveal half a word and half a word, and then we can repair the spliced ​​characters together "In the Zhejiang Library, Wang Fan, a restorer of ancient books, has been studying for 13 years. She said that refining ancient books is like practicing, to endure loneliness and toss.

  On May 13, the Gushan Building of Zhejiang Library opened. The library is now the Department of Ancient Books of Zhejiang Library, which has a total of more than 1.1 million ancient books preserved, including the original Lange Siku Quanshu, and other precious ancient books are also collected here. But the most special thing is that there is also an ancient book restoration team here. On the day of opening, the reporter visited the ancient book "Doctor" of Zhejiang Library.

The restoration of ancient books is being restored. Tong Xiaoyu photo

  If you are sick, you should consult a good doctor. Restoration of ancient books is to do "healing" for ancient books. In the Zhejiang Library, which contains rare ancient books such as the Sikuquanshu, there are a group of "doctors" who have worked for more than 10 years to solve the problems of mouse rodents, worms, mildew, flocculation, dyeing, and "book bricks" for the ancient books.

  Brushes, watering cans, brushes, tweezers, homemade paste ... In the Department of Ancient Books in Zhejiang Province, three repairers were sitting under the shadowless table lamp. The yellowed pages were lost due to rat bites or bad repairs. appearance.

Under the shadowless lamp, the repairers brushed the edges of ancient paper with brushes dipped in water. Tong Xiaoyu photo

  And they took the next page carefully and spread it on the white absorbent paper. A brush dipped in water brushed lightly on the edge of the ancient paper, pasted a paper of similar color, or used tweezers to carefully peel off the old paper with thin cicada wings, and re-repaired ... Time passes, and the mottled ancient book is regained newborn.

  Wang Fan said that curing old books is not as simple as filling holes. First of all have to go through laboratory tests. The time spent on the colorimeter, the acid meter, the microscope, and the inspection table can't be less. Only after the detection is meticulous, will there be no errors afterwards. Then the repair usually requires procedures such as disassembling the book, distributing the paper, uncovering the leaves (same as "page"), decontamination, repair, spraying and flattening, nail paper twist recovery, shooting the book shadow before and after repair, and filling in the production file.

The repairer stuck paper of similar color to the edge of each page. Tong Xiaoyu photo

  The restoration of ancient books pays attention to "repairing old ones as before", and it is not necessary to add, replace and change the original appearance of ancient books at will. Strive to ensure the cultural relics, information and artistry of ancient books; minimize intervention and minimize unnecessary repairs, such as local reinforcement.

  In the eyes of the restorer, the most difficult is the "book brick" mentioned earlier.

  The climate in the south is humid. If the paper is improperly handled after being damp, it will easily breed mold. In case of repeated pressing of heavy objects, it is easy to cause multiple pages to stick together, forming a so-called "book brick".

Ancient books under repair. Tong Xiaoyu photo

  In July 2014, the Zhejiang Library accepted a project commissioned by Yuyao Wenbao to rescue Hong Chengchu's genealogy at the end of the Ming Dynasty. This genealogy had been severely rotted into "book bricks", and was also flooded by typhoons. When the book arrived, it was carried in a plastic bag and dripped with water. In order to uncover the pages, the old restorer Yan Jingshu and Wang Fan cooperated, first put the genealogy into the refrigerator, sucked the water to a semi-dry, and then opened it one by one; then put it in the steamer and steamed, then separately We use wet peeling, steam peeling, folder peeling and other methods to open the book page by page; after peeling it into a page of bobbin skin, we then use the folder peeling method to mount a layer on the front of the book page. The paper with a slightly thicker page, using the strength of the paper, to uncover the pages that were originally stuck together, and then use the paper to reinforce the entire back of the book, use the paper to make up for the missing parts, and finally use the finger to rub the front The paper is peeled off, so that the text on the front is presented intact.

  "Here, sometimes I can't finish a page for several days. It's not just overtime." Wang Fan felt that the restoration of ancient books was a "fast" and "slow" battle. On the one hand, the Zhejiang Library has 100,000 ancient books in urgent need of restoration; on the other hand, restoration is meticulous. In her words, "A book has been repaired for more than two years."

  For this reason, the restoration of ancient books requires a combination of patience and technology. To be a qualified repairer requires more than 10 years of experience. And must be all-round talent, not only can make up the book, but also can expand the monument, repair calligraphy and painting.

Zhejiang Provincial Central Library of Ancient Books Restoration Materials located in the Zhejiang Library. Tong Xiaoyu photo

  "When a lot of hard work uncovers a piece of paper from the 'Book Brick'", Wang Fan feels that the sense of accomplishment and happiness that brought the ancient book back to life can not be understood by outsiders, which is why many restorers can bear loneliness. One.

  Yan Jingshu, an old restorer of the Zhejiang Library, who was interviewed by the reporter before. In 1981, 19-year-old Yan Jingshu entered the Ancient Books Department of the Zhejiang Library. He studied with his senior Qian Qianying and took it out with Master's hands. Worked for a lifetime.

  Make bricks without straw. Even if there is no superb skills, the restoration of ancient books cannot be completed without suitable paper.

  In the Zhejiang Library, there is a large wooden cabinet containing more than 200 kinds of 670,000 pieces of handmade paper from Tibet, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Taiwan and other parts of China. This is the Central Library of Ancient Books Restoration Materials in Zhejiang Province. All ancient book collection units in Zhejiang can apply for paper distribution here if they need paper for restoration of ancient books.

The Ancient Books Department of Zhejiang Library where the restoration works. Provided by Zhetu 

  These papers look inconspicuous, but the income is very difficult, some are old papers in the collection, some are distributed by the National Ancient Book Protection Center, and more are the restoration workers who have searched all over the country in recent years. Most of them have a history of more than ten years, and the oldest one was produced in the 1980s.

  According to Chen Yi, director of the Department of Ancient Books of the Zhejiang Library, the paper in the cabinet is currently made by ancient methods, and some craftsmanship has been lost.

  For example, the Mao Tai paper produced in Fujian, a few cents a piece of paper when buying, now almost 20 yuan a piece, has been discontinued now, even if there is money, there is nowhere to buy; there are some papers that are occasionally seen in the market, For example, the paper produced in the 1950s and 1960s costs 400 yuan for 20 sheets; the ancient paper with delicate watermarks even costs 350 yuan for each piece. These can only be sighed.

  "Buying a batch of old paper is more valuable than buying a book." Chen Yi said, sometimes looking at this cabinet, I feel that the Zhejiang library is quite rich, just like the four books of Wenyuan Pavilion in the collection.

  As for repairing books, he said that although the road is narrow, it is also very long. "I hope to pass on the classics of my predecessors, this is a career that I can't finish in my life." Chen Yi said. (Finish)