Come and listen to the stories of these guardians

  "Choose one thing for a lifetime. I hope everyone regards research and protection work as a lifelong career and a no-regret pursuit." General Secretary Xi Jinping has high hopes for grass-roots cultural relics protection and research team building.

Today is "Cultural and Natural Heritage Day". This edition invites 4 workers in the field of cultural heritage to review their moving moments in the field of protection and research, and show the remarkable achievements of my country's cultural heritage.

  --editor

  Explore the mysteries behind the artifacts

  Su Bomin, President of Dunhuang Academy

  This year, I have been to Dunhuang for 30 years.

People often ask me: After 30 years of getting along, what are the most moving moments in Dunhuang?

What kind of feelings do you have for Dunhuang?

I rarely ponder these emotional issues.

In retrospect, 30 years seem to have been made up of one conservation project after another.

In the eyes of others, it may not be romantic enough, but my understanding and persistence in the cause of cultural heritage have been deepened in this process.

  Today, technology plays an increasingly important role in cultural relics protection and research.

My connection with the cultural heritage industry is through scientific research as a bridge.

I majored in chemistry. After graduation, I entered the central laboratory of the Gansu Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources to do rock and mineral analysis.

By chance, a colleague introduced me to the Dunhuang Research Institute and told me that there are international cooperation projects there.

In Northwest China in the early 1990s, such opportunities were relatively rare, so, with a longing for scientific research, I stepped into Dunhuang.

  When I first arrived in Dunhuang, I was thrown a pot of "cold water".

At that time, the equipment conditions of the Dunhuang Research Institute were relatively backward.

My task is to do research on the color change of Dunhuang frescoes.

Pigment analysis requires an X-ray diffractometer, but the performance of the diffractometer in the yard is insufficient, making it difficult to work properly.

What else can I do?

Where to start?

With such confusion, with the support of the leaders of the institute, I decided to "rebuild it" and study for a master's and a doctorate in the direction of cultural relics protection.

  Why do murals have diseases such as nails and hollow drums?

What is its relationship with the environment and materials?

Just like a doctor treats a patient, he must first understand the pathology before he can find the best cure.

I gradually feel that there are too many things worth studying here, and I am more and more interested in work.

In particular, the restoration project of Cave 85 of the Mogao Grottoes has benefited me a lot.

In the past, the protection of caves and murals was sporadic, and many problems were solved by relying on the experience of old experts, and the mechanism behind it was not clear.

After the restoration of Cave 85, we finally have a complete and comprehensive idea of ​​what steps to go through and what research methods to adopt to protect a cave.

Since then, the protection of Dunhuang cultural relics has gradually become systematic and scientific.

  Over the past 30 years, Dunhuang has undergone tremendous changes in terms of protection concepts, management levels, technology applications, and cultural dissemination.

This is the result of successive struggles of generations of Dunhuang people.

Every time I think of myself as part of the relay, I feel a sense of pride.

Now, our team has more than 300 people.

Using techniques such as multispectral analysis, it has been possible to achieve contact-free research and preventive protection of frescoes.

More than 260 caves have been digitized and played a great role in external exhibitions and online communication.

Dunhuang murals are extremely rich in content. Our digital team is also working hard on how to further organize and extract the information, and then show it to everyone in different categories.

In addition to their own work, the team is often invited to support projects in other provinces and even abroad.

  As a researcher, I am still exploring the mysteries behind artifacts.

What kind of color changes are included in the mineral pigments and plant dyes of Dunhuang frescoes?

What are the differences between the protection of tomb murals in a humid environment and the experience in Dunhuang?

As the dean of the Dunhuang Research Institute, I am also committed to letting more people know about and fall in love with Dunhuang.

It is hoped that the beautiful Dunhuang can bloom with more dazzling and lasting charm.

  Step on the bamboo alone

  Yangliu, the inheritor of Duzhu drifting skills

  Stepping on a bamboo pole and walking alone on the sparkling water... I became attached to Duzhu Drift when I was 7 years old. In my heart, Duzhu Drift has always had such a romantic color. The more contact, the deeper the love.

  Duzhu drift, also known as single wood drift, originated in the Chishui River Basin and is a traditional skill in northern Guizhou. The people on the shore rely on it to facilitate communication.

When the Red Army crossed the Chishui River on four sides, they used the bamboo as their boat.

With the change of the times, Duzhu drifting no longer has the function of transportation and has become a popular folk sport.

Every year on the Dragon Boat Festival, the local people will hold a single bamboo drifting competition, which is as famous as the dragon boat racing.

  The bamboos of Duzhu Drift have uniform specifications. The bamboo poles under the feet are about 9 meters long and 15 centimeters in diameter, and the bamboo poles in the hands are about 5 meters long and 3 centimeters in diameter.

The key to the practice is to achieve balance by constantly changing the standing position, fighting against the flow of water.

This requires repeated exploration to find an angle that matches your body shape and pace.

The performance on the river looks beautiful, but in summer, the sun is scorching hot, and in winter, the river is freezing cold, and you are often bitten by poisonous insects, bees, and mosquitoes.

High winds, waves, whirlpools, etc. can all lead to mistakes, falling into the water countless times, and climbing back onto the bamboo poles.

But I still persevered, and today, I have practiced for 18 years.

  Some people didn't understand and asked me why I wanted to learn Duzhu Drift. It was hard and tiring, and soaking in water for a long time would hurt my body.

But if no one is willing to suffer, the craft will be lost.

My grandmother is a lover of Duzhu Drift. Influenced by her, I have "acquainted" with Duzhu Drift since I was a child. I think this is a kind of fate, no matter how hard or tired I am.

  In the process of learning, I am also trying to innovate.

Because I learned dance when I was a child, I tried to incorporate movements such as "one-word horse" and lifting the hind legs on the Duzhu Drift.

I also tried my best to understand the origin of Duzhu Drift, imagined the living conditions of the ancestors, specially studied folk dance, ballet, modern dance, and learned about Hanfu culture and opera culture... After integrating dance and national style elements into Duzhu Drift, Not only did I win warm applause from the audience on the shore, but the performance video also received countless likes on the Internet and even spread abroad.

Some netizens ridiculed that the stunts in martial arts novels were staged in real life.

  How fortunate I am to receive so much attention and recognition!

As far as I know, the aging problem of non-genetic inheritors is prominent. In the published list of national non-genetic inheritors, the average age of the fifth batch of representative inheritors is 63 years old, and less than 1% are under 40 years old.

Fortunately, there are many young people around who are willing to join the ranks.

Now, I have a new goal, not only to continue to innovate the form of Duzhu drifting, but also to teach it to more people, to draw Duzhu abroad, and to show our traditional culture to the world.

  Chimes from ancient times

  Ma Yeping, Deputy Head of the Chime Orchestra of Hubei Provincial Museum

  This year, on May 18, International Museum Day, our orchestra specially arranged a concert of "The Rhythm of the Yangtze River", which was performed for the first time in the new Hubei Provincial Museum.

I didn't expect the audience to be so enthusiastic, and it was almost hard to get a vote.

I am delighted to see that with the development and promotion of chime music, chimes, a treasure of traditional Chinese culture, have truly come alive.

  At the end of May 1978, after being buried for more than 2,400 years, the bell of Zeng Houyi reappeared in the world.

In order to detect its music, under the guidance of on-site experts, several music lovers tried out a set of music such as "The East is Red" and "The Internationale".

On the afternoon of August 1, Zeng Houyi's first "modern concert" was held near Chudi.

  In September 1984, the complete set of chimes that had been copied for four years passed the acceptance of the National Appraisal Committee.

The Hubei Provincial Museum set up a chime ensemble with the assistance of Hubei Academy of Arts (now Wuhan Conservatory of Music).

On the National Day that year, the ensemble was invited to perform in Beijing.

In 1987, the Hubei Provincial Museum set up a special chime concert hall, with an average of three or four performances per day for visitors to enjoy.

  I graduated from Wuhan Conservatory of Music, and I learned ethnic musical instruments. The discovery and performance of Zeng Houyi's chimes gave me a great shock.

Since the stage in the museum, I have studied day and night and mastered the technique of playing chimes, which has given me the privilege of being a participant in some important events.

In 1997, at the ceremony of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the bell of Zeng Houyi appeared on the stage.

Musician Tan Dun selected six chime players in Wuhan, and I was one of them.

At that historic moment, hearing the solemn and powerful sound of the chimes perfectly blended with the cello, piano and chorus, I will never forget the shock.

In the music "Golden Sound and Jade Vibration" used in the 2008 Beijing Olympics award ceremony, I was responsible for the production of stone chimes and other stone musical instruments, as well as chimes and chimes, and also participated in the recording of the music.

  From the 1990s to the present, our chimes have gone abroad for many times and appeared on the stage of many famous concert halls. Almost every appearance will cause a sensation.

More than 600 million people around the world have listened to this ancient music.

  Chime bells as cultural relics come from dusty history, but chimes as musical instruments can go to the future only through continuous innovation.

After Zeng Houyi's chime was unearthed, some musicians created a series of ancient music for it, and we have also played traditional folk music such as "Liang Zhu".

But the bells can express far more than that.

In recent years, with the "Book of Songs" and "Chu Ci" as the source, we have created "Guan Ju", "Nine Songs", "Tian Wen" and other pieces.

We also collaborated with modern musicians and made many new experiments.

In 2018, the game song "Warriors Like the Wind" played by chimes received a high number of Internet hits.

In 2022, at the New Year's Day concert of Hubei Provincial Museum, the ensemble of chimes and piano "My Motherland" was well received.

  The ancient and young chimes will be passed down in the music and will gain eternal life.

  Working hard on archaeological drawings

  Luo Zeyun, cartographer of Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology

  Do you know how much trouble it takes to draw a picture of a "big guy" like the nearly 4-meter-high bronze sacred tree in Sanxingdui?

Scaffolding was erected around the sacred tree, climbing up and down the workbench, and it took nearly a year to complete the painting.

The two-meter-high bronze Dali Man is also a tough bone to chew.

The bronze Dali people have intricate and exquisite patterns on their clothes, and they have to be observed repeatedly from head to toe with a magnifying glass.

This painting is more than half a year old.

  I am a cartographer at the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Over the years, I have drawn more than 50,000 cultural relic specimens.

In 1986, Sanxingdui No. 1 and No. 2 sacrificial pits were discovered. In order to conduct research, it is urgent to publish an authoritative archaeological excavation report.

Originally, I was mainly engaged in field excavation work. At that time, I was "driving ducks to the shelves" and came into contact with archaeological drawings for the first time.

From 1992 to 1997, I devoted myself to this work, starting from the simplest bronze head, I could only paint one a week at first, and later I could paint several a day.

  Triangles, rulers, compasses, various types of brushes... These are my daily companions for more than 30 years.

Before writing the pen, it is necessary to observe the objects carefully for a long time, and it is best to imprint all the details in your mind.

Then accurately measure the length, width, and height of the cultural relics, draw the base map in proportion with a pencil, and then cover it with a layer of sulfuric acid paper, and draw the ink line map again.

Not only to be accurate, but also to pursue aesthetics.

The virtuality and thickness of lines, the density and intensity of shadows, can all affect the quality of a work.

To avoid rigidity, lines must have perfect curvature and accurate perspective.

Different cultural relics have different treatment methods.

For example, pottery figurines have rich facial expressions, focusing on vividness; bronze wares have complex patterns, focusing on meticulousness; stone tools need to show their unique polishing marks...

  Some people may ask: Now that technology is developed and there are various advanced recording methods such as high-definition photography and 3D scanning, is there still a need for archaeological mapping?

Don't underestimate the archaeological drawings.

Its role cannot be replaced by photos.

Minor nicks, rust and other factors make the decoration of cultural relics blurred, and the concise lines can extract the information that is slender and difficult to observe, and it is clear at a glance.

It is because of this intuition and precision that archaeological drawings were once called "standard photographs" of cultural relics.

An excellent archaeological report is composed of three parts: text, photos and drawings, all of which are indispensable.

  Archaeological drawings look dull, often sitting in front of a case for hours.

Last year, the "Wonderful Brushes and Flowers - Archaeological Drawings Exhibition" held by Jinsha Site Museum in Chengdu exhibited several of my works.

I hope that more young people will understand and like this work and pass on the archaeological drawings better.

  This edition of the article was interviewed and organized by our reporters Zhou Feiya, Su Bin, Tian Doudou and Song Haoxin

  Layout design: Tian Xingzhou, Chen Xiaojin, Li Yan (People's Daily Media Technology Company)