[Live Voice]
The main damage to this book is the mouth, so we usually call it a walk.
[Explanation] Separate the pages of the book from the backing paper, align, fix, moisturize, and glue the broken pages of the pages... The girl who is repairing the ancient books is called Hou Yuran, an "ancient book doctor" in the Document Restoration Group of the National Library, and her daily work It is to repair damaged rare books. Hou Yuran said that although the office is indoors, the job is not easy.
[Concurrent] Hou Yuran, ancient book restoration engineer
We once repaired a map of the Ming Tombs. It is very large, about two or three meters in size. It takes a long time to cover the back. If it takes two or three days, you need to keep lying on the case. Up, operate in the same posture. Because once you start this painting, it’s hard to stop. You need to keep the painting moist, but it’s too wet. For example, in summer or during the rainy season, you are afraid of mildew or other problems. It has to be done as soon as possible.
[Explanation] With the gradual retirement of the older generation of book repairers, now, more young craftsmen like Hou Yuran have taken up the burden of "calligraphers" and injected new blood into the cause of ancient book restoration. Hou Yuran recalled that in the process of repairing a rare book, she and her colleagues tried repeatedly, but they never found paper with similar colors, textures and textures to the ancient books. So they thought of a new method that they had never tried.
[Concurrent] Hou Yuran, ancient book restoration engineer
When we repaired it, we tried a lot because we wanted to find the same paper as possible. But none of them were ideal. It happened to be connected to a papermaking workshop at the time, so I wanted to try to make a batch of paper by myself. Because the curtain pattern of each paper is different. So we deliberately learned how to weave bamboo curtains, and then used the bamboo curtains that are basically the same as the original to make paper. Then we copied the paper and then used it for a repair. Basically, we finally achieved a satisfactory effect anyway. .
[Explanation] After graduating from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Hou Yuran went to a university in the United Kingdom for postgraduate studies in painting and calligraphy restoration. When she graduated, many of her classmates entered auction houses or art galleries. Out of love for ancient book restoration, Hou Yuran chose to become an ancient book restoration engineer. Since 2005, the National Library of China has successively collected documents from the Western Regions unearthed in Hetian and other places for six times. As a "returnee", Hou Yuran applied the Western restoration techniques he learned overseas to practice.
[Concurrent] Hou Yuran, ancient book restoration engineer
Because our library has a large collection of foreign rare books, these books are also damaged. Because Western books are usually leather-bound books. We will use this leather, which is the thread-bound book from China. Perhaps the most important difference lies in this. It will perform some processing on the leather, such as thinning, thinning, dyeing, and then pasting these, but it is still quite traditional (technique) in the West, which is not the same as the Chinese (ancient books).
[Explanation] 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. 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 all over the world are learning from each other. In 2019, restorers from the British Library visited China, and Hou Yuran communicated with them as the representative of Chinese restorers.
[Concurrent] Hou Yuran, ancient book restoration engineer
For example, the paste like this is thin and thick, and the thread-bound books like ours are generally rice paper, leather paper, and bamboo paper, so our paste is especially thin. But like they are in daily contact, it may be some Western paper, but it is relatively thick. So I asked them to fix our Chinese things with this very thin paste, and they would be very surprised, saying, can this thin paste stick? Then I took them to do experiments and let them see the effect of sticking. They were also very surprised.
[Explanation] Hou Yuran has been working in this position for ten years now. She said that in the future, she will continue to repair more ancient books, serve as a bridge for cultural exchanges between China and the West, and let this traditional technique continue to be passed on and rejuvenated.
Reporter Fan Siyi reports from Beijing
Editor in charge: [Li Ji]