Chinanews.com, Luoyang, May 18th, title: Looking up, the tombs are often accompanied by the ancient tombs. What have these "underground workers" doing?
Kan Li
At 8:30 in the morning, Zhang Jianwen wrapped his coat, greeted with bursts of cold air, walked into the underground exhibition area of Luoyang Ancient Art Museum, and started his day's work.
Zhang Jianwen is the deputy curator of this museum. The museum is in the stage of closing and upgrading. It is one of Zhang Jianwen's main tasks to inspect the renovation site every day and coordinate the renovation.
"I lived in Suzhou and Hangzhou, and buried in Beimang." Therefore, "There is little idle land at the top of Beimang Mountain, and it is full of old tombs of Luoyang people."
Luoyang Ancient Art Museum, formerly known as Luoyang Ancient Tomb Museum, is located in Zhongtou Village, Manshan Township, Luoyang. It was completed and opened in 1987. It covers an area of 8,6694.3 square meters and a building area of 12,800 square meters. Three major exhibition areas are typical tombs of the past dynasties, Jingling of the Northern Wei Dynasty and Henan Ancient Mural Museum.
The picture shows the guide telling the visitors the past and present of the ancient tomb.
Photo courtesy of Luoyang Ancient Art Museum
Public information shows that this museum is the only large-scale tomb museum in China that integrates imperial tombs, ancient tombs and their affiliated cultural relics, brick carvings and ancient murals.
In the exhibition area of typical tombs of past dynasties, 25 tombs of different specifications and types from 9 dynasties (periods) from the "Two Hans" to the Tang and Song Dynasties were relocated as a whole, and about 600 precious cultural relics such as funeral objects were displayed.
Due to the particularity of ancient tomb protection, the exhibition area is mainly distributed underground.
Zhang Jianwen told a reporter from Chinanews.com that the museum mainly protects the relocated ancient tombs from other places and protects the original site of the Northern Wei Jingling.
"Our job is to be company with these ancient tombs."
Like other staff in the museum, Zhang Jianwen spends a considerable part of his time working underground.
Currently, he is participating in the treatment of infiltration water in the tomb area and the protection of the Jingling Mausoleum of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
"In terms of the protection of Jingling's body, we are working with other units to investigate the causes of the external flash cracks caused by the tomb passage." When it comes to the protection of ancient tombs, Zhang Jianwen, who has 14 years of archaeological experience and nearly 10 years of museum work experience, is eloquent. Absolutely.
The picture shows museum staff viewing the murals in the ancient tomb.
Photo courtesy of Luoyang Ancient Art Museum
"Whether it is an ancient tomb relocated from another place or a Jingling on the original site, it belongs to the protection of earthen relics." In Zhang Jianwen's view, the protection of earthen relics is quite difficult. "I think the biggest difficulty is to restore or simulate it as much as possible. The original state before excavation."
It is Zhang Jianwen's daily work to study and solve these difficulties and try to prevent the further aggravation of the disease in the tomb.
The particularity of the Luoyang Ancient Art Museum determines that the work in the museum is cumbersome and there are many types of work. There are also many "underground workers" like Zhang Jianwen.
Su Dongli, a mural restoration engineer who has worked in the museum for more than 20 years, and his colleagues at the Mural Conservation Center in the museum not only restore the murals of the tomb, but also regularly measure the temperature and humidity in the tomb.
As a fifty-year-old woman, Su Dongli has always adhered to the forefront of restoration of cultural relics and murals, and dealing with cemeteries every day, which seems to outsiders to be very incomprehensible.
But she said, "I have loved cultural relics since I was a child, and mural restoration is my first job, and it will be a lifelong career."
The picture shows the museum's restorer repairing cultural relics in the ancient tomb.
Photo courtesy of Luoyang Ancient Art Museum
Like Su Dongli, Duan Yuehui, who is engaged in interpretation work, has also worked in the museum for more than 20 years. Although she has now transferred to a management position, she still likes to go to the underground exhibition area every day.
"I have been with the ancient tombs for half my life. If I don't come down to look at them for a day, I will feel the shortcomings."
“I also often listen to the audience's comments on the guides, so as to improve the explanation work in the museum in time.” After the transfer, Duan Yuehui still undertakes part of the explanation and reception tasks in the museum, as well as the training of young guides.
Every time I see young narrators telling visitors about the past and present of the ancient tomb with their own words, Duan Yuehui feels a lot. It needs to be communicated to the outside world through their voices."
At present, most of the lecturers in the museum are "post-90s".
Duan Yuehui said, "The young people nowadays are more interested in tomb culture, perhaps because of the influence of literary and visual works on the subject of tombs."
The picture shows museum staff working in the ancient tomb.
Photo courtesy of Luoyang Ancient Art Museum
"When you are in an ancient tomb several meters underground, and the cold and dampness envelops you, are you afraid?" Duan Yuehui smiled and said, "You will get used to it after a long time."
"If you look up without seeing the sky, the ancient tombs are often accompanied." Zhang Jianwen, Su Dongli, Duan Yuehui, and others are the epitome of many ancient heritage conservation workers hidden underground.
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