There are very few opportunities for "business trips" for lacquer and woodware. "195 cultural relics" are not allowed to go abroad, and the loan of cultural relics is no longer than three years. There are some secrets you don't know
Since October 28, a batch of treasures of cultural relics such as silk jade clothes, the golden seal of "Wendi Xingxi", the pottery owl-shaped five-joint pot of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the "Long Live" tiles have been collected from the Nanyue King Museum in Guangzhou and the Guangzhou Cultural Relics and Archeology Research Institute. "Business trip" to the Guizhou Provincial Museum, 1,000 kilometers away, where the "Exhibition of Yelang and Nanyue Fine Cultural Relics" lasted for more than three months.
According to reports, some of these cultural relics just returned from a "business trip" to the National Museum of China in Beijing in June this year.
The story behind the "business trip" of cultural relics and treasures has attracted the attention of reporters from the Yangcheng Evening News.
If you often visit museums, you will find that there are often a few cultural relics in the display cabinets that will be "leaved"-the explanatory board says "Exhibition of cultural relics, please understand."
And people who travel frequently know that it is inconvenient to go out, and they always have to make various preparations. Then what wonderful experiences will they have when these precious cultural relics are transported in different places?
The Yangcheng Evening News learned more about the relevant person in charge of the exhibition organizer and found that there is a lot of attention to it.
Competing for jobs: not in good condition
Which cultural relics can get the opportunity of "business trip"?
Kuang Guirong, Director of the Preservation Department of the Guangzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, told reporters that not all cultural relics meet the conditions for "business trips".
"Generally speaking, a high degree of matching between the connotation of cultural relics and the theme of the exhibition is the basic condition. At the same time, we will also evaluate the cultural relics, and we will select cultural relics that are in good preservation, stable in nature and not easy to be damaged for 'business trips'." She said Say.
In addition, it is necessary to inspect the exhibition environment for the exhibition to see whether it can meet the cultural protection requirements of cultural relics.
Finally, the cultural relics are allowed to leave the warehouse only after the filing procedures are completed.
In contrast, cultural relics with more fragile textures such as lacquered woodware have fewer opportunities to "travel".
Kuang Guirong explained that because there are few unearthed lacquer and wood cultural relics in Guangzhou, and such cultural relics have high requirements on temperature and humidity.
"The humidity requirement for lacquered woodware is about 55%, while the humidity in the northern region is relatively low. Taking the northwest region as an example, its humidity is usually only 30% to 40%. In this case, we will not consider borrowing exhibitions."
At the same time, for organic cultural relics, such as paper cultural relics, lacquered wood ware, tooth bone ware, silk, wool, cotton and linen, leather, etc., they have higher requirements for the "business trip" environment. Only when the conditions of constant temperature and humidity are met, the museum will agree to lend cultural relics.
According to their historical, artistic and scientific value, the collection of cultural relics is divided into precious cultural relics and general cultural relics.
Precious cultural relics are divided into first, second and third grades, among which, the first grade of cultural relics is the highest.
Kuang Guirong pointed out that the "business trip" regulations for first-class cultural relics are also the strictest, and they need to be reported to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage before they can go on "business trips" to other places, while other cultural relics do not have this special requirement.
Policy Protection: Top "National Treasures" Banned from Exiting the Country
With the frequent cultural exchanges, cultural and museum institutions have improved their introduction capabilities and audience demands, and cultural relics entry and exit exhibitions are no longer uncommon.
In the past 10 years, the number of overseas exhibitions in Guangdong Province has gradually increased.
He Donghong, Director of the Collections Department of the Nanyue King Museum, said that since the 1990s, Nanyue cultural relics have been welcomed abroad and are often invited to exhibit abroad.
But she said: "The procedures for exporting cultural relics will be more complicated. We need to submit the entire exhibition plan to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage for approval."
According to the existing cultural relics management regulations, all cultural relics that have passed the self-assessment of cultural relics institutions can go out to participate in the exhibition.
However, a group of "195 cultural relics" were permanently banned from leaving the country.
What is "195 cultural relics"?
Since 2002, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage has successively released three batches of catalogs of cultural relics prohibited from being exhibited abroad, totaling 195 pieces (sets).
The cultural relics entered into this catalog are simply called "195 cultural relics".
They are China's top "national treasures".
The horn-shaped jade cups and lacquered wood screen components of the Western Han Dynasty unearthed from the tomb of the Nanyue King in Guangzhou were included in the first batch of "195 cultural relics" catalogues.
He Donghong said that in October 1991, at the "Exhibition of Selected Jade Ware Unearthed from the Tomb of the Nanyue King in the Western Han Dynasty in Guangzhou" organized by the Cultural Relics Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a total of 63 pieces (sets) of jade wares unearthed from the tomb of the Nanyue King in the Western Han Dynasty were included. It was exhibited in Hong Kong, which was the first and last exhibition of the angular jade cup of the Western Han Dynasty.
Because it is too precious, not only will it not leave the country anymore, there is no special reason, it will not even leave the Nanyue King Museum, let alone participate in the loan exhibition.
Meticulous handover: "point handover" tests eyesight and patience
Kuang Guirong, who has been engaged in cultural and museum work for many years, said that the handover of cultural relics during "business trips" should be the most important and stressful link.
Handover of cultural relics refers to the process in which the handover party of cultural relics jointly determines the status of cultural relics, carefully checks, records and reaches an agreement on the number, name, quality, quantity and preservation status of cultural relics and other information.
"The description of the cultural relics in the handover records of both parties must be consistent. If there are some situations that are not easy to describe in words, they must be recorded with photos. Because later it will be packaged and transported, unpacked and handed over again, exhibition arrangement, and dismantling. As well as the final process of transporting the cultural relics back, if the status of the cultural relics changes, it is only by submitting a record that we can know which link has a problem, clarify the responsibilities of all parties, and improve it in future work.”
Generally speaking, one point delivery table, two point delivery documents, and three-party staff must be available, and the point delivery work can start.
Among them, in addition to the cultural relic handover party among the three-party staff, the third party is a professional transportation company.
Moreover, cultural relics on "business trips" have to go through at least two delivery points, one at the departure point (in the warehouse), and one at the destination (in the exhibition hall).
"Point delivery is a test of eyesight and patience. For example, the 170 pieces (sets) of cultural relics loaned to Guizhou by the Guangzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology include a large number of beads. We need to confirm the number of beads one by one. And a large In beadwork, some beads may be damaged or stained, which needs to be documented, and their descriptions are often complicated." Kuang Guirong said that in addition to beadwork, the same is true for bronze ware. Sophisticated and detailed.
Fine packaging: multiple insurances, exquisite materials
Cultural relics "business trips" must ensure the safety of cultural relics transportation in accordance with the national "Cultural Relics Transport Packaging Specifications", regardless of the distance.
Therefore, the "packing" before each business trip is also a very delicate job.
The first is to pay attention to materials.
Cultural relics must first be wrapped with acid-free soft paper.
This kind of acid-free paper does not contain active acid and has high strength, which can better protect the cultural relics in direct contact with the paper from acid erosion; then different cultural relics need to be sealed with special pouches according to their shapes and materials. The material used for the pouch should also ensure that it will not affect the cultural relics. At the same time, the design structure must be stable, anti-collision, and moisture-proof. They rub against each other and collide with each other; after all are packed, a sealing strip is affixed, and the seal of the museum is stamped, and the packaging of cultural relics is considered complete.
In addition to the very fine packaging, there are also special requirements for the vehicles used by cultural relics on "business trips", which are usually "special vehicles for exclusive use" to achieve multiple insurances.
The vehicle compartment needs to provide a short-term "living environment" that meets the requirements of cultural preservation. It must have a temperature and humidity control system to ensure constant temperature and humidity; it must also be equipped with real-time monitoring, so that the temperature and humidity in the compartment can be checked at any time and adjusted according to actual needs. For example, some calligraphy and painting cultural relics are more suitable for storage at lower temperatures; the on-board system may also require its own engine to ensure that the vehicle will not stop working due to flameout and refueling; A gentle rubber air spring is used to maintain stability and reduce noise. At the same time, each packing box will be fixed on the seat with a seat belt to prevent possible injuries caused by movement during transportation; there will also be two sets of monitoring systems in the transportation vehicle , One is the compartment monitoring without dead angle, which can be checked at any time in the cab; the other is the GPS positioning of the vehicle, which can monitor the vehicle position and check the status of the vehicle in real time, including monitoring the driver's speed and route.
According to Kuang Guirong, some transport vehicles even use "black technology", which can automatically adjust and control the balance of the vehicle body according to the weight of cultural relics.
In order to ensure the safe and smooth transportation of cultural relics, the staff usually plan the driving speed and route in advance to ensure nothing goes wrong.
Business trip time limit: no more than three years
The "business trip" of cultural relics is also time-limited.
The "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics" stipulates that the duration of borrowing and exhibition of cultural relics shall not exceed three years.
In fact, for temporary exhibitions like "Drinking a River Together—Exhibition of Fine Artifacts from Yelang and Nanyue", the exhibition period usually ends in about three months.
Three months is the general "business trip" time for cultural relics.
Kuang Guirong said that for certain types of cultural relics, changes in the preservation environment will still affect the lifespan of cultural relics to a certain extent.
"Although we can't see it with the naked eye, the structure of cultural relics will actually undergo some changes. Therefore, if cultural relics are exhibited frequently, we will let them return to the familiar warehouse for a while, and wait for a period of maintenance before preparing for the next exhibition. "
In June of this year, 144 pieces (sets) of cultural relics collected by the Guangzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology went back to Guangzhou for a period of rest after a "business trip" to the National Museum of China in Beijing, and then 132 pieces (sets) of them continued in October "Business trip" Guizhou.
"The remaining 12 pieces (sets) are due to the frequent exhibitions and need longer maintenance." Kuang Guirong explained.
(Text/Yangcheng Evening News reporter Wang Siyu Huang Qiaohao, literary correspondent)
(Source: Yangcheng Evening News December 2, 2022 Edition: A08 )