Crack the time code——
Returnees in the cultural heritage
Cultural heritage carries the cultural genes of a nation. Only by allowing cultural heritage to come out of classics, archaeology, museums, and ancient streets, and to interpret the mysteries of time and history behind them, can we better maintain cultural identity and better inherit the culture. Thread, crack the cultural code in the precious heritage left by generations of ancestors, and tap the greater cultural value of it. Recently, our reporter interviewed three returnees who worked in the fields of ancient book restoration, archaeology, and historical district protection. They have a deeper experience in the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage.
Hou Yuran: "Book Doctor" Life
So the new journey of paper fragments
Passing through the quiet winding corridors of the National Library of China, the reporter met Hou Yuran, who was working on the restoration of the "Tianlu Linlang" collection. Calligrapher is another name for the restoration of ancient books. He diagnoses and treats ancient books and regain their rebirth so as to better continue the cultural heritage of mankind. This is exactly the work of calligraphers.
After graduating from the Central Academy of Fine Arts majoring in Intangible Cultural Heritage, Hou Yuran went to the University of the Arts London to study calligraphy and painting restoration major. When she graduated, many classmates around her chose to work in auction houses or art museums. Out of interest in the restoration of ancient books, Hou Yuran entered the National Library in 2010, accompanied by paper, and became a member of the document restoration group. Restorer of ancient books. Book-repairing, this ancient and slightly mysterious skill, uses paper supplements in the hands of craftsmen as the medium to connect the past and the present.
"The paper properties, color, thickness, including the width of the curtain pattern, must be consistent with the original book during the restoration process." Hou Yuran told reporters, "During the process, we also did a lot of experiments to deal with the book revision process. The problem of paper color aging. For example, newly repaired books or fragments, the paper was considered suitable at the time, but as the repair time progresses, the paper itself ages quickly, and the color may become darker after one or two years. This brings me to the question-is it better to look comfortable at the time? Or look more comfortable and better after many years? Where are the standards? We are still exploring."
"New Craftsman" who has gone through 10 years
Before he knew it, Hou Yuran had been a book repairer for 10 years. With the gradual retirement of the older generation of book repairers, most of the repairers in the group are now "post-80s" and "post-90s" like Hou Yuran, and young craftsmen groups have taken up a heavier burden. They are as meticulous as they are, learning their crafts hard, inheriting skills and culture, but also the continuation of the exquisite book-cherishing method in the details.
"Sometimes the damage in a book is the same, which requires us to repeat the same repair operation many times." Hou Yuran said, "The character is very important. Teachers often say that'repairing a book is to cultivate the mind.' The technology is the foundation, but how can we make the book better? The key lies in the character. Patience, responsibility, and love for the book itself."
Comparing China and foreign countries, Hou Yuran believes that the restoration of ancient books adheres to the principle of seeking common ground while reserving differences, and the restoration concepts such as "minimal intervention" and "repair the old as the old" are the consensus between China and foreign countries. At the same time, restorers from different countries are also learning from each other. "For example, when the British Library came to China last year for exchanges, they were also learning from us how to better repair Chinese documents, because repairing Chinese documents is their shortcoming. We showed how the scrolls were preserved and discussed how to preserve the Bixi paper. How to fix thinner Chinese paper, etc."
Outside of work, Hou Yuran loves to watch book fairs. “A good exhibition must be seen, and he will also pay attention to such things as what good ancient books are there recently, what new auctions are there, what good papers, and what new tools... The work spreads out for the circle." Hou Yuran said with a smile. "Before entering the industry, I read a book, more from an appraisal point of view, who is the author? What is the date and content of the book? What version value does it have... Now when I go to the book fair, I will look at the binding skills and how to stitch. Looking at'this corner pack is good' and'this brocade is really beautiful', I'm still thinking about how to repair this painting if it breaks." She likes the craft of book repair more and more, and the bits and pieces related to book repair have already been incorporated. All aspects of her life.
Liu Wenao: Looking Back to the Old City
Popularize the concept of cultural heritage protection
Strolling through Italy, from Rome to Florence, from San Gimignano to Vicenza, from Pisa Cathedral Square to the church of Santa Maria Thanksgiving with the painting "The Last Supper" by Leonardo... During my study in Italy, What makes Liu Wenao most memorable is not only the local mature management system for world heritage, but also the people's subtle awareness and conscious awareness of protecting the world heritage.
The main territory of the ancient Roman Empire, which has influenced Europe for thousands of years, is also the gathering place of Mediterranean commercial civilization and the source of the Renaissance. As of July last year, a total of 55 Italian World Heritage Sites have been approved for inclusion in the "World Heritage List" by UNESCO, ranking first in the world with China in number.
Liu Wenao, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in Architecture from the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University, decided to go to the Politecnico di Milano, Italy for a postgraduate degree in architecture in 2012. This century-old school was founded in the 1860s and enjoys a reputation in architecture, design and engineering. . After returning to China, Liu Wenao entered the Tsinghua Tongheng Heritage Protection and Urban-Rural Development Research Center, engaged in historical and cultural heritage protection, historical urban regeneration and block renewal.
Nowadays, the important value of cultural heritage in the field of culture and spirituality is getting more and more attention and recognition by the Chinese people. China has also opened relevant courses in higher education research units, and education and research are in line with the world. However, there is still a long way to go for the cultivation and popularization of public awareness.
In China, many heritage sites overlap with residential communities. Coordinating the protection of cultural and natural heritage resources with the rights of the community’s public to survive and develop is also the focus of the protection system. How to make the public consciously protect the world heritage and form an organized and orderly protection behavior has aroused continuous attention from Liu Wenao. "The popularization of the concept and concept of cultural heritage for all people is not an overnight effort. It requires the joint efforts of cognitive education, support and advocacy from relevant departments. For returnees engaged in heritage protection, it is our duty to let more people understand cultural heritage. One of the responsibility." Liu Wenao said.
Revitalize the old street
After returning from studying abroad, Liu Wenao participated in cultural heritage protection projects including the detailed regulatory planning of the core area of the capital, the protection and rejuvenation planning of the historical and cultural districts of the sub-center of Beijing city, etc. In her view, "coordination" and "balance" It is the most important and difficult point in the project progress. This requires them to consider not only the protection of cultural heritage, but also the needs of people's livelihood and economic development during the implementation of the project, so as to explore the development direction of the old street from multiple perspectives based on local characteristics and the real needs of local residents.
Take Beijing as an example. Many urban areas with deep cultural accumulation are in the old city. The infrastructure construction is relatively outdated, and the overall urban texture, features, and population show diversified characteristics. Many old streets can reflect the diversified characteristics of the times in their architectural styles. They are also the epitome of a period of time and precious material wealth.
Rejuvenating the old streets is not easy. The cramped space brought about by the high population density, the vitality of cultural functions needs to be improved, and the shortcomings of insufficient historical and cultural excavation have been exposed. The deep-seated reasons for the occupation of some public spaces are old communities and unclear management subjects...
In the view of Liu Wenao and team members, if you want to find a breakthrough and better display the capital’s historical and cultural features, you can make efforts from the following aspects: First, make people-centered planning and explore focusing on people’s true needs. A new path for the revitalization of historic districts in the spot, to properly handle the relationship between heritage protection and the improvement of people’s livelihood; the second is to promote legislative work in the field of cultural heritage protection, and promote the study of management systems and mechanisms, so that all parties involved in the work of cultural heritage can assume protection responsibilities in accordance with the law ; The third is to activate the participation of social forces through incentive and guarantee policies, so as to realize the protection and overall rejuvenation of cultural heritage sites.
Zheng Yunfei: Paddy Password
A journey to find the root of a rice
Zheng Yunfei studies the origin and development of rice. He can tell you through the research of plant seed pollen and phytoliths, which staple foods, fruits and vegetables were on the table of Zhejiang people thousands of years ago.
After being transferred to the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology from Zhejiang University in 2002, Zheng Yunfei quickly went to the Kuahuqiao Neolithic site excavation site to investigate the plant remains, and found the remains of cultivated rice 8000 years ago. History pushed back 1,000 years. In 2006, he found the remains of cultivated rice in the Shangshan Cultural Site, and traced the history of rice cultivation back to 10,000 years. In 2007, he discovered the oldest Hemudu cultural rice field in the world. In 2009, he discovered Liangzhu paddy fields with perfect irrigation systems...one by one, recording the archaeological footprints of Zheng Yunfei in the past 20 years.
From 1996 to 2002, Zheng Yunfei studied and worked at Miyazaki University and the National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Nara, Japan. During that time, the dedication and meticulous attitude of Japanese archeologists deeply influenced him. The opportunity of overseas work exchanges gave Zheng Yunfei the opportunity to learn more about Japanese archaeological methods, and it also laid a solid foundation for him to further carry out archaeological work after returning to China. At the same time, some new research fields have also been expanded. "After returning to China, I also put forward new requirements for my archaeological work. We are on the front line of field archaeology all the year round, with a lot of materials, and some problems that need to be solved in archaeological research practice are also emerging. These have also become my new research directions. "Zheng Yunfei said.
A paddy is closely related to the cultural significance of human society. In addition to the attributes of food, it also profoundly affects human life style, social structure and civilization development.
"China is an agricultural country with a long history. The research on rice is a reflection of the production and labor of the entire human society. For example, in the Liangzhu Archaeology, we found a huge grain storage area south of the palace in the city, which contains about 100,000 kilograms of rice. "Zheng Yunfei said. "Archaeology is not simply an exploration of artifacts in specific images, but can also textualize a period of social development history, human development history, and the formation process of a civilization."
Scientific and technological archaeology "Today is for ancient use"
You can see Zheng Yunfei at the Hemudu site, the Liangzhu ancient city site, and the Lingshan site. So far, he has conducted plant remains surveys on dozens of sites and obtained a large number of plant remains to further study the prehistoric socioeconomic history of Zhejiang lay the foundation.
In recent years, the scientific and technological archaeological team led by Zheng Yunfei has carried out research in the field of scientific and technological protection of cultural relics, and provided rich empirical materials for scientific understanding of the civilization process in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Proficiency in the use of modern technology has given prehistoric archaeology a sense of "the present serves the ancient".
At the same time, scientific and technological archaeology itself is closely related to foreign exchanges. In Zheng Yunfei's view, returnees from studying abroad can play more advantages in interdisciplinary research in archaeology.
"Modern archaeology needs compound talents. It is still not enough to rely on traditional methods to excavate and understand. It requires other disciplines to participate in archaeology. Some knowledge, concepts and methods of foreign archaeology have been borrowed from China. It has been transformed to make it more suitable for China’s national conditions. Returnees must play a role in exchanges and mutual learning and two-way learning. They must also seize the opportunity to introduce the achievements of Chinese archaeology abroad."