Author: Yan Jiao Ying Feng Zhijun high
Dunhuang, located in the vast Gobi, has a temperature of more than 40 degrees at the highest point of the year, but restorers who enter the large caves of Mogao Grottoes have to wear cotton jackets, knee pads and waist pads to withstand the cold.
Despite this, they still suffer from "occupational diseases" with leg pain and backache. These people are called "wall-facers" from the outside world. They give birth to love out of loneliness, and have persisted for decades without feeling bored.
The picture shows Niu Yusheng, who has been copying Dunhuang murals for more than 30 years, with white sideburns.
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"Wall Facing Man" at Mogao Grottoes: Wearing knee pads in the sweltering heat, repairing murals for more than 30 years
Mogao Grottoes is now listed as a world cultural heritage, and it is the largest and most abundant Buddhist art site in existence. In the more than a thousand years of development, it has experienced rise, abandonment, and rebirth, during which there is no shortage of mural restoration artists. "Wall-faced people" such as Lin Mianshi, etc., made hard work to preserve the original form and preserve the information.
Yang Tao has been a mural restoration engineer for more than 30 years. With many years of experience, he knows that “the hotter outside the cave, the colder inside the cave”. At the hottest time of the year, some restorers need to wear cotton jackets to enter the cave. Wear knee pads and waist protection.
In the 1980s, young guys from all directions came to Dunhuang to make a living for "a bowl of rice", and they became "trainee restorers" with their ears and eyes.
"I didn't like it much at first, and I felt boring." Yang Tao said. Later, as time settled and experience grew, cultural relic protection awareness gradually increased, and he became interested in caves, and loneliness became a kind of enjoyment.
The picture shows the Dunhuang mural "Doctors" repairing the murals. When the temperature outside the cave reaches 30 or 40 degrees, they still need to wear thick jackets, knee pads and waist pads.
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There were dozens of people who came to Dunhuang with Yang Tao, but in the end only three people stayed, and most of them left because they couldn't bear "the silence of one person".
Yang Tao was one of the three at that time, and he has persisted to this day, becoming the elder of the current restorers.
In Yang Tao's view, a good restorer has at least 10 years of precipitation and polishing. After all, the exquisiteness or roughness of the murals restored when calm and impetuous is obvious, and people in the industry can see at a glance.
"How important is it to restore the murals! Don't be sloppy at all," he said.
Yang Tao treats his apprentices very strictly, often admonishing them: “You must maintain quality and quantity! Go out when you are impetuous, and calm down before entering the cave.” In addition to repairing techniques and experience, he also often mentioned to his apprentices about Mogao Grottoes. Feelings, although in the eyes of outsiders there are only a simple repair knife, a syringe, and a bottle of glue, it is these equipment that protect the cultural heritage left by the ancestors. He wants to stay here forever and never wants to leave.
From inside to outside the cave, copy the "moving murals"
Niu Yusheng, who has been involved in duplicating Dunhuang murals for more than 30 years, from the full head of blue silk to the white sideburns, has devoted himself to copying "impressive murals" from inside to outside the Mogao Grottoes.
Copying is an "emergency need" for the initial rescue protection of the world cultural heritage Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, and now it has developed into a "compulsory course" for "Mogao Grottoes" taking root in the desert.
Recently, reporters from China News Service and China News Service walked into Dunhuang to visit them.
The picture shows the mural copied by Niu Yusheng.
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In a studio located in the suburbs of Dunhuang, few people came to display dozens of murals copied by Niu Yusheng.
The Buddha statue in the painting has its own charm and heaviness, which is awe-inspiring. You can only watch it with bated breath and dare not take out the phone to shoot.
This kind of copying of murals hits people's hearts directly, and is the "moving mural that Niu Yusheng pursues."
"I used to feel lonely and boring, but now I feel it is a kind of enjoyment. I stand and copy for six or seven hours a day without feeling tired." Niu Yusheng participated in a lot of copying and copying of the Mogao Grottoes, Yulin Grottoes and other murals, and he is devoted to cultural heritage. Protection and promotion.
Over the years of accumulation of copying experience, Niu Yusheng has formed a "mural library" in his mind, including different images of Buddha in the murals in different periods such as the prosperous Tang and Xixia.
When copying a mural from a certain period, I will call up the image of that period in my mind, try to figure out the feelings of the ancients, and draw the feeling of the time. "This is the difficulty. It requires a person to paint in a very quiet and dedicated situation."
The mental state of the painter will affect the image of the Buddha in the painting.
Therefore, Niu Yusheng usually imitates the eyes of the Buddha statue when he is in his best condition of the day to outline his demeanor and charm.
A young artist: more than ten years of practice, the combination of brush and heart
In the Fine Arts Research Institute of the Dunhuang Academy, an artist with more than 10 years of copying experience, dun silent and said little.
10 years is a "watershed" for them.
Before this, they needed to spend time "used to drink Dunhuang water, eat Dunhuang rice, and be a good Dunhuang people".
After that, they quietly sketched out the warm and breathable murals from their understanding of getting along with Mogao Grottoes day and night.
The large-scale mural in Cave 172 of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang is one of the representative works of murals in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty. The picture shows the wall painting of Cave 172 copied by Han Weimeng.
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Han Weimeng, who has been rooted in Dunhuang for 17 years, has been busy with the restoration and copying of the entire cave at Mogao Grottoes for more than two consecutive years.
In the studio, piled up with his copy of the murals in pencil and line drawings.
In Han Weimeng's view, the process of copying is also a process of research. It needs to be selective, starting with the preservation of complete and classic caves or the urgent need to rescue some caves.
As one of the representative works of the frescoes in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the large-scale frescoes in Cave 172 of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang contain valuable information on the history of ancient Chinese architecture.
The whole mural adopts a very mature scatter perspective painting method. The bodhisattva and performances on the platform are listening and playing music. The image is rich, the atmosphere is solemn, and the style is elegant.
The picture shows the "young" mural copying master Han Weimeng of Dunhuang Academy, copying a corner of the large-scale mural in Cave 172.
"Mogao Grottoes has been circulating in liveliness and tranquility. The caves are very lively, but the studio is very quiet and quiet." When Han Weimeng first came to Dunhuang, he was a little "impulsive", and he couldn't outline the "taste" of the murals. After more than ten years of accumulation, to achieve a little "combination of pen and heart", can we go from being passive in copying to being active and then vivid.
And in the process of copying, through careful comparison and patient observation, you will see many inner meanings that ordinary people cannot comprehend.
What was the idea of the ancients drawing murals and what was the environment at that time?
Facing the Mogao Grottoes, which have "survived" for more than 1,000 years in the Gobi Desert, and the art treasures it contains, Han Weimeng often laments the insignificance and fleetingness of human beings, and can let off his thoughts while copying the murals, and imagine that he will talk to the ancients. , Temporarily let go of the turmoil in my heart and face the wall in meditation.