The genius doctor in the cultural relics hospital
A corner of Tien Qinzhai after restoration.
The hall next to it, the rattan frame above the head, and the bamboo fence around it, the whole landscape painting forms a complete scene, seamlessly integrated with the small stage.
Photo by Li Yun/Guangming Picture
Lu Tuanjie is using a small electric drill to polish the stubble on the bronze shards.
Photo by Li Yun/Guangming Picture
Yang Zehua is teaching his apprentices the key points of the "panchromatic" process in the restoration of calligraphy and painting.
Photo by Li Yun/Guangming Picture
【warder】
Cultural Relics Hospital is the nickname people give to the Ministry of Cultural Protection, Science and Technology of the Palace Museum. This hospital adopts "integration of Chinese and Western medicine" to cure diseases and prolong life and save lives for cultural relics. Since the establishment of the Palace Museum, a large number of national treasures have been reborn after meticulous treatment by generations of restorationists. Without these magical doctors, how can we see in the exhibition hall the true features of national treasures such as Zhan Ziqian's "You Chun Tu" in the Sui Dynasty, Zhang Zeduan's "Shang He Tu on Qingming Festival" in the Northern Song Dynasty, and the Bronze Mirror of the Panzhi Pattern in the Spring and Autumn Period?
Recently, the reporter walked into the Forbidden City Heritage Hospital and approached the genius doctors in the hospital.
The combination of Chinese and Western medicine creates miracles
When the reporter walked into the painting and calligraphy restoration group of the Cultural Relics Hospital, a young man was practicing restoration skills with a piece of contemporary calligraphy, and the section chief Yang Zehua was instructed by him.
Yang Zehua, the third-generation inheritor of the national intangible heritage project "Ancient Calligraphy and Painting Restoration Techniques", entered the Calligraphy and Painting Restoration Department in 1985, presided over the restoration of a large number of calligraphy and calligraphy relics in the Palace Museum, Chinese embassies abroad, and local museums. Calligraphy and painting artifacts.
Speaking of the ancient calligraphy and painting that he has repaired, what Yang Zehua felt most is the Tongjing painting by Juan Qinzhai.
He believes that this is the first time that the restoration of ancient paintings and calligraphy is truly combined with modern technology.
Juan Qin Zhai is located in the northeast corner of the Qianlong Garden of the Forbidden City. It was built in the 37th year of Qianlong (1772).
This general scene painting is similar to the current "three-dimensional painting", which is composed of 22 separate frames on the roof and walls to form a complete scene.
Before the restoration, after consultation with doctors in many departments including the laboratory, this general scene painting is already in a state of dying illness: each painting is huge in size, and the painting intent between each painting is coherent; the western painting method makes the color layer of the picture thick, and It loses its guminess over time and is easy to fade, and the silk is embrittled seriously...
Faced with a thick "medical record", they formulated a complete set of elaborate treatment plans.
For example, for mineral pigments that are easy to fade, traditional dough dust removal methods are used: use a soft and hard dough to gently roll on the screen to stick out the floating dust.
For another example, after testing and analyzing the proportion of pigment fixing glue, the method of using chemical fiber paper and seaweed glue to reinforce the center of the silk is used.
In addition, after testing, the backing paper on the back of the general view painting is mulberry paper, which is a kind of extinct paper, and its manufacturing process is almost lost.
After all the setbacks, they finally found a paper mill in the mountainous area of Anhui that still uses ancient methods to make mulberry paper.
In the process of consulting the cultural relics, Yang Zehua and his colleagues also discovered some details that had never been paid attention to before.
A line drawing of the queen's portrait is spread over the large case in the studio.
The line drawing is an uncolored draft, and its fineness is beyond doubt.
Its function is to hand it over to the emperor for review, and formally draw it according to the line drawing after approval.
Under the guidance of Yang Zehua and his colleagues, the reporter noticed that the entire picture was spliced with 7 sheets of paper. There were 6 symmetrical body parts and a single head.
"In the court paintings, the queen's dress and sitting posture are almost the same, is it true that the painter only needs to focus on the head when painting it?" the reporter asked jokingly.
Unexpectedly, Yang Zehua said seriously: "Yes." Thinking about it, sitting still in a posture for a long time for the artist to copy, it is also a hard work for the queen.
This kind of "head changing" caution can probably be regarded as the earliest P-picture.
Of course, for C figures like Empress Dowager Cixi, this "trick" must not be used.
The reporter saw that on the line drawing of the middle-aged Cixi portrait, not only the paper on the head was not spliced, but also the color of the clothing and details of the accessories were marked with special characters.
Yang Zehua’s apprentice Shi Qian, for example, said that “big” means red, “six” means green, “lan” or “feng” means blue, and “this” means purple.
She said that these symbols are like passwords, which are used to transfer information between painters. Some of them can be understood at present, and some have not yet been cracked. Further research is needed.
The Palace Museum has taken the lead in promoting the development of ancient paintings and calligraphy mounting and restoration techniques through the teacher-accredited system among cultural institutions in the country.
At present, there are 23 people in the cultural relics hospital who are engaged in ancient painting and calligraphy mounting and repairing skills, including 5 national inheritors, which can be described as strong.
The reporter saw several young faces in the painting and calligraphy restoration studio.
Yang Zehua said that he brought three apprentices.
He emphasized that in addition to imparting skills, young people must also engrave their responsibilities and obligations in their hearts and consciously assume them.
Modern technology's eye-catching eyes help rejuvenate wonderful hands
Taking off the blue film glove, what is exposed is a pair of ordinary hands, and the blue veins on the back of the hands are clearly visible; however, this is not a pair of ordinary hands, because it has created many miracles of "reborn" and "resurrected".
The owner of these hands-Lu Tuanjie, is the bronze restorer in the Cultural Relics Hospital.
He also has a special identity-the fifth-generation inheritor of the national intangible heritage project "Traditional Bronze Repair and Copy Techniques".
When he saw Lu Tuanjie in the cermet restoration team of the Cultural Relics Hospital, he was polishing a stubble of bronze shards with a small electric drill.
The electric drill is about the size of a soup ladle with a long handle, and the drill bit is extremely thin, like the kind used by a dentist.
He was wearing a mask and gloves, but not because of the need for epidemic prevention and control, but because he was afraid that the breath of his breath and the sweat on his hands would damage the bronze, although this kind of corrosion is almost zero in the eyes of ordinary people.
He stopped his work and introduced to reporters that what was being repaired was a national treasure-class cultural relic-the famous Panyu.
This Zhou dynasty bronze was broken when it was donated to the Palace Museum before the founding of New China. After careful restoration by craftsmen, it has restored its previous appearance.
Time passed, limited by the level of science and technology at the time, the wound that was invisible to the naked eye now had a problem, and he was repairing it twice.
Seeing that the reporter was interested in small electric drills, he explained that he entered the Forbidden City in 1983 to repair bronzes.
At that time, there were no electric tools for bronze restoration, and files were used to clean up the stubble. The strength of the hands should be just right. If the strength is small, the file will not clean, and the strength will cause damage to the cultural relics, and the efficiency is very low.
Having said that, the corner of his eyes raised slightly: “Each cultural relic has different specifications and sizes. In the past, you had to make a set of tools for each repair. Now you can buy them if you don’t use them, and the scope of application of each tool is also different. It's quite wide and work efficiency has improved a lot."
The reporter learned that the repair of traditional bronzes is complicated in craftsmanship, high in technology, and strong in experience and skill.
For example, the Bronze Mirror with Pan Chi pattern in the Spring and Autumn Period is a miracle created by the geniuses of the Forbidden City.
The first thing that was placed in front of the bronze restorers of the Forbidden City was a pile of nearly a hundred pieces of bronze fragments.
Plastic surgery, welding, repairing, making old... After a series of "magic" operations, this pile of fragments turned back to life and became a national first-class cultural relic and presented to the world.
However, traditional bronze repairs also have limitations. For example, the naked eye cannot clearly determine the internal damage of the bronze; the detection and removal of harmful rust on the bronze can be thoroughly judged.
In the cultural relics hospital, the use of X-ray CT technology to detect flaws has become a routine operation, which can not only clarify the specific damage of the cultural relics, but also know whether there are very small cracks during the initial repair.
There are also laser Raman spectrometers, XRD and scanning electron microscopes, etc., which can clarify the specific composition of the bronze and the detailed state of the rust.
In this regard, Lu Tuanjie has a deep understanding.
He took off his gloves, took out his mobile phone, and showed the reporter a local X-ray taken during the "physical examination" of the famous Pan Feng. A "bone fracture" was clearly visible.
He said that this is the crack left during the last restoration, because it is too small and is completely invisible to the naked eye inside the cultural relic.
This kind of flaws that cannot be solved by traditional techniques, with the golden eyes of modern technology, has nowhere to hide.
Pointing to the "traditional bronze restoration and copying skills inheritance pedigree" on the wall, Lu Tuanjie said: "The traditional bronze restoration skills of the Palace Museum have always had certain advantages in the same field across the country. This is in harmony with the careful teaching of Master Zhao Zhenmao. The assiduous study and research of generations of bronze restoration people is inseparable.” In 1952, bronze restoration experts headed by Beijing Zhao Zhenmao entered the Palace Museum and began to use traditional techniques to restore and copy bronze cultural relics.
Over the past few decades, these experts have restored and copied thousands of bronze artifacts, including the famous Ma Ta Feiyan, Bangui, and Lotus and Crane Square Pots.
In 2011, the “Bronze Repairing and Copying Techniques” of the Palace Museum was rated as my country's first national intangible cultural heritage project on bronzes.
As a successor, it is also the unshirkable responsibility and obligation of Lu Tuanjie to lead an apprentice.
After 4 years of study and practice, his two apprentices have been able to independently undertake the restoration of important cultural relics.
However, it is still normal for apprentices to ask for advice and check from the master.
"Even we are like this." Lu Tuanjie said.
Traditional craftsmanship and modern technology fly together
In fact, in the cultural relics hospital, there are still a group of inheritors of traditional skills like Yang Zehua and Lu Tuanjie.
Zhao Guoying, deputy dean of the Palace Museum, introduced to reporters that the restoration of cultural relics in the Palace Museum has a long history. The restoration categories include architecture, painting and calligraphy, metal, clocks and watches, ceramics, woodware, lacquerware, inlays, textiles, etc., and possesses “official ancient architectural skills” (Beijing Forbidden City)" "Ancient calligraphy and painting mounting and repairing skills", "Ancient calligraphy and painting copying and copying skills", "Bronze repairing and copying skills", "Ancient clock repairing skills", "Palace traditional capsule making skills" 6 national intangible heritage projects, and "Traditional Lacquer Repairing Techniques", "Traditional Wood Making and Repairing Techniques", and "Traditional Hundred Treasures Inlaid Making and Repairing Techniques" are 3 Beijing-level intangible cultural heritage items.
The Palace Museum has been focusing on the training of traditional talents since the early days of the founding of New China.
For example, in 1954, Dean Wu Zhongchao had just taken up his new post, and through Wang Yeqiu, then head of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, he successively transferred a large number of top talents from all over the country in various traditional craftsmanships, properly arranged them, and allowed them to work while cultivating inheritance. people.
After decades of work and training, the Palace Museum has a relatively neat inheritance echelon of traditional handicrafts.
For example, in addition to Yang Zehua, Xu Jianhua, Shan Jiajiu, Zhang Xuguang, and Zhou Haikuan are the inheritors of "Ancient Calligraphy and Painting Mounting and Restoring Techniques"; the representative inheritors of "Bronze Repairing and Copying Techniques" include Wang Youliang and Yun Xiaogang in addition to Lu Tuanjie; Guo Wenlin and Zue of "Painting and Calligraphy Copying and Copying Skills", Li Yongge of "Official Ancient Architecture Construction Skills (Beijing Forbidden City)", and Wang Jin of "Ancient Clock Repairing Skills" are all inheritors of their respective projects.
It is the genius doctors in these cultural relics hospitals who have restored a large number of national treasure-level cultural relics for the Palace Museum and many brother museums in China.
With the development of the times, how to use modern technology to help traditional skills has become a subject of active thinking and exploration in the Palace Museum.
Zhao Guoying said that in terms of cultural heritage protection, the Forbidden City has the largest cultural heritage protection and research team in the country with the most complete system. It is engaged in preventive protection of cultural relics, non-destructive analysis and value mining of cultural relics, cultural relics protection and restoration, and digital protection of cultural relics. On the one hand, they all have good personnel, equipment and other conditions, and have a good research foundation.
Walking out of the cultural relics hospital, a few young people walked towards each other with a whisper and a smile.
Fixing your eyes, isn't it just restoring those apprentices in the studio who wear white coats and look attentively.
They have taken off their white coats, they are fashionable and energetic.
These young faces are both traditional and modern. They master traditional skills with their left hand and touch modern technology with their right. Tradition and modernity are naturally linked to them.
They are the magical doctors of the future, and they represent the future of the magical doctors!
(Reporter Li Yun)