In the picture above, the younger generation combines the restoration of ancient books with scene displays
The words in the ancient books come alive and the characters in the New Year pictures come out
Standing at the entrance of the exhibition "Ten Thousand Years of Family Celebration - Looking for New Year Paintings of Traditional People", five young people dressed as characters in adult paintings posed in different poses. The person who took their makeup photos was the Document Protection and Restoration Center of the Historical Documentation Center of Shanghai Library. The small team led by Wang Chenmin, deputy director of the department, is responsible for the daily operations of the Art Archives in the East Hall of Shangtu.
In the Shangtu East Building, which features a theme gallery, the Art Archives Gallery is somewhat special. It is a new gallery and there is no equivalent in the main Shanghai Library on Huaihai Road. The reason why this new museum was handed over to the Document Protection and Restoration Department is that two intangible cultural heritage skills - the rubbing and mounting of stone inscriptions and the restoration of ancient books "are most suitable for display in this space." Wang Chenmin described that if the Art Archives is the front stage, the Restoration Department is the backstage. The combination of silence and persistence behind the scenes with the activity and fun in front of the stage is the practice of creative transformation and innovative development of traditional culture, and is also the true meaning of cultural inheritance. ——Let the words written in ancient books "come alive", learn from the past and the present, and continue to live forever.
A few days ago, the new exhibition of New Year paintings in the East Building Art Archives opened. The reporter went to the "backstage" and "frontstage" where ancient books were restored, talked with the inheritors, watched the creativity of young people, and felt that intangible cultural heritage skills and traditional culture have entered contemporary life. temperature.
Backend restoration: take your time and give ancient books a "new life"
On the second floor of the main building of the Shanghai Library, the studio of the Document Protection and Restoration Department is probably the quietest office on Huaihai Road. Zhang Pinfang, director of the Document Protection and Restoration Department of the Historical Documentation Center of Shanghai Library, led reporters to gently open the door and enter. "The leaves of ancient books are extremely fragile. With a gentle breath, a stroke may be blown away. The restorer must hold his breath and no one can move around."
Zhang Pinfang, born in the 1960s, has been working in the ancient book restoration industry for more than 30 years and is currently the leader of the 12 ancient book restorers pictured above. Restorers each have their own expertise and perform their duties, and the ones handed over to Zhang Pinfang are often the most difficult to deal with. "We cannot see things like this when we restore ancient books." She asked reporters to look at the monument of Master Tuo Daoyin from the Northern Song Dynasty, which is currently being "conquered" in the above picture. This national first-class cultural relic, which had been featured in the "Weather of the Tang Dynasty - Exhibition of Rare Books on Tang Steles", had a broken ancient brocade panel and a corner of the inscription missing. Originally, it was only required that the inner pages be taped up before storage, but when Zhang Pinfang saw the condition of the ancient books, she couldn't put them down. She experimented and made the gilt paper herself that was similar to the inscription. After the repair, if you don't distinguish it carefully, you can hardly tell the difference. Next, you have to repair the ancient brocade and the panel.
Restoration of ancient books is a work of both strength and softness, which requires not only the finesse of the hands, but also strength. For example, if you want to flatten a panel, there are machines you can use, but they are not suitable for all materials. Zhang Pinfang picked up the iron pillar on the side and placed it gently on a pile of repaired ancient books. The reporter tried it and found that the weight exceeded expectations. "Maybe it weighs 50 kilograms." Zhang Pinfang said.
Based on years of experience, Zhang Pinfang can quickly think of a plan when he sees ancient books to be restored. But when encountering difficult problems, he "doesn't rush to get started, think and select slowly, and sometimes do experiments, research, and improvements." Throughout last year, almost all the energy of the Document Protection and Restoration Department was devoted to the "The Magnificence of the Han Dynasty - Exhibition of Rare Books on Han Steles Collection in the Shanghai Library", the first domestic and foreign special theme on rare books on Chinese stele. "This exhibition has a lot of vertical scrolls, which have a great visual impact. Let the remounted and repaired vertical scrolls lie flat on the board for as long as possible to achieve a flatter effect. Once the scrolls are removed, there is no going back." It is precisely because of the pursuit of the best effect that the restoration team was still completing the final axle installation work before moving into the exhibition. On the side of the studio wall, there are several vertical scrolls that have been restored but were not finally selected for exhibition. They are still stretched on the board. "Don't rush, give them a little more time. The longer they stay on the board, the better." Zhang Pinfang explain.
Zhou Jiaxou of the Ming Dynasty summarized the skills that an ancient book restorer should have in his "Decoration Chronicles": "Hands that mend the sky, eyes that penetrate lice, a weak spirit and wisdom, and a heart as careful as hair." Zhang Pinfang always remembers the instructions of his master Zhao Jiafu at the beginning of his apprenticeship. , "The restoration of ancient books must be carried out with 100% certainty, and there is no room for 'just in case'" "This is a non-renewable resource, and there cannot be any mistakes."
In 1989, the Library Department of the Ministry of Culture commissioned Shangtu to organize a training course on ancient book restoration, recruiting students nationwide. The lecturer of the training class is Zhao Jiafu, a senior expert in the field of ancient book restoration pictured above. Zhang Pinfang and Xing Yuehua, who were assigned to participate in the training class in the picture above, became disciples of Zhao Jiafu. Later, they became the "second generation" of ancient book restoration practitioners in New China and the "third generation" of ancient book restoration practitioners in the picture above. In 2015, the above picture was listed as the Shanghai Institute of Transmission of National Ancient Book Restoration Skills. Wang Chenmin and other six people officially became apprentices to Zhang Pinfang and Xing Yuehua, reviving the tradition of master-disciple teaching.
"Post-80s generation" Wang Chenmin joined the above-mentioned document protection and restoration department in 2005. He graduated from the Normal University with a major in history and admitted that he was a blank slate at the time. However, he has a simple belief, "If you study ancient books, you will learn slowly, but you may be less likely to be eliminated." He trusts this "slowness" more than a gust of popularity. When he first entered this industry, Wang Chenmin sat in the office of the Document Protection and Restoration Department for more than 40 days, doing only one thing - threading ancient books. "It takes a lot of patience. The teacher sees that I can sit still." After nearly 20 years in the industry, most of Wang Chenmin's colleagues have grown from teachers to "post-80s" and "post-90s" as the main force. "We have 'slowly' completed the change to a younger team." In Wang Chenmin's view, the advantage of this "slowness" is that the team maintains a ladder without gaps.
In 2016, the high-scoring documentary "I Repair Cultural Relics in the Forbidden City" gave many people an in-depth understanding of the profession of cultural relic restorer for the first time. People learned about the "Cultural Relics Hospital" in the Forbidden City, and also learned that the newly unearthed cultural relics were already in dilapidated condition, and the calligraphy and paintings of ancient famous artists were riddled with holes. It was only after the careful restoration of cultural relic restorers that they regained their splendor. Wang Shengyi, born in 1994, joined the Document Protection and Restoration Department of the above picture in 2022 and became a restorer. Wang Shengyi studied finance, and later studied in the UK to get a master's degree in finance, and then worked in a fund company. "In the past, I didn't know about the profession of restoration of cultural relics and ancient books. After watching "I Repair Cultural Relics in the Forbidden City", I was very attracted to it and felt that it was more suitable for me." After quitting his job, he applied for a graduate degree in ancient book preservation and restoration at the Chinese Ancient Books Preservation Institute of Fudan University. As shown in the picture above when he was hired, Wang Shengyi has clear ambitions and clear goals. “There is a sense of accomplishment and happiness”, this is how she describes the restoration work of ancient books. Because of his overseas study background, Wang Shengyi is currently making progress in the direction of restoration of Western documents.
Wang Xin, a 2019 master's degree graduate from the Chinese Ancient Books Conservation Research Institute at Fudan University, is the youngest among the 12 ancient book restorers. He is 29 years old this year. In Fudan Classroom, Wang Xin and Wang Shengyi both took classes from specially appointed instructor Zhao Jiafu. According to Zhao Jiafu's teaching, they seem to be considered "peers" to Zhang Pinfang and Xing Yuehua. In the picture above, they continue to study with Zhang Pinfang and Zhang Pinfang's students. Behind the increasingly blurred "generation" lies the change in the talent training model for ancient book restoration. In the past, there was no ancient book restoration major in universities, but now many colleges and universities have opened related majors. Zhang Pinfang said that in Shanghai, a professional path has been formed to cultivate ancient book restoration talents, from secondary school and junior high school to junior college, bachelor's degree, master's degree, and doctoral degree. She hopes that more comprehensive universities can set up related majors that are compatible with arts and sciences, and cultivate not only applied talents, but also research-oriented talents.
"Repairing ancient books involves science subjects such as chemistry, materials science, biology, and physics, as well as liberal arts subjects such as literature, history, and aesthetics." The restoration of ancient books in the picture above actively explores the use of modern technology on the basis of inheriting traditional handicrafts. The equipment repairs and protects paper documents. The computer-monitored paper tear tester, paper bursting tester, paper folding tester, paper thickness tester, paper fiber measuring instrument, paper acidity meter, ultrapure water system, etc. have become ancient books. A powerful assistant in restoration, the introduction of paper pulp hole-filling machines took the lead in domestic libraries to carry out the practice of mechanical restoration of ancient books. The innovative result of the "Document Anti-Beetle Paper No. 2" developed in the picture above has been used by many domestic libraries, archives, and museums.
In the ancient book restoration industry, restorers always want to "learn more", maybe they will be able to use it some time. Zhang Pinfang has learned how to mount calligraphy and paintings. When she was repairing "Sheng Tang", she applied the mounting skills to the letter paper. She had to repair it well without letting the red color on the paper bleed out. The above picture contains a folded and bound family tree. It is the only family tree that she has seen so far that is bound in this form. "Perhaps you will encounter it once in your life. Once you encounter it, you will feel lucky that you have learned it."
"The restoration of ancient books requires talents of the new era." Zhang Pinfang asked his disciples to develop in the direction of "one skill and multiple specialties." This year, 6 people including Wang Chenmin will officially "depart the profession." "On the one hand, we train students, and on the other hand, we train teachers. The new generation grows, matures, and joins the ranks of mentors. Only this team and this career can continue to be passed down."
Front desk explanation: Have fun and let the tradition "break the circle"
"Hold an exhibition, just like writing a paper. First search for information to see what similar exhibitions have been done, and then look for new breakthroughs and write articles around the collection." In "Ten Thousand Years of Family Celebration - Searching for New Year Paintings from Traditional People" "Wang Chenmin introduced to reporters at the exhibition site.
"Painting pictures today is a good omen, and everything will go well every year." As the New Year approaches, New Year pictures are a new exhibition theme set early by the Art Archives. The picture above collects a large number of folk New Year pictures, which are among the earliest and largest batch of existing New Year pictures in China. However, it takes a lot of thinking from which angle to display the New Year pictures. Everyone was looking for information and inspiration, and each of you and I came up with an idea - to restore the usage scenarios of New Year pictures. The final exhibition starts from the spatiality of New Year picture decoration, refers to the hanging methods of common New Year pictures such as door gods and naves, takes the common custom of visiting relatives and friends during the Spring Festival as the background, and uses "entering the house and entering the hall" as the plot clue. There are five exhibition areas for "recruiting wealth and blessings", "blessing the house and bringing good luck", "full of gold and jade", "hundreds of blessings coming to the door" and "orchid room brings fragrance". "You can imagine that you are visiting a family, and the last 'orchid room produces fragrance' has already entered a more private bedroom." Wang Chenmin said.
The five young librarians of the Art Archives are each responsible for an exhibition area. Now that the scenes of using and posting New Year pictures have been restored, why not let the “people in the paintings” come out in a more immersive way? Librarians dressed in costumes of New Year pictures will explain the exhibition to readers. After forming this consensus, the five young people decided to do it.
Chai Xiaoshan, who is good at calligraphy, dresses up as the "Chinese Gate God". On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, he will be the first to appear and explain the exhibition to readers.
Yang Jing, who graduated from Communication University of China, dressed up as a "lucky boy". In the New Year painting "Lucky Boy", the boy waved money and dragons and led four messengers to stand on a car carrying treasures, soaring in the clouds and mist to deliver to people. When Bao Lai came, Yang Jing held up a shiny dragon lantern, which symbolized the money dragon in the New Year paintings. Even the "money tree" was moved to the scene.
In the indoor exhibition space, Wu Zhian, who is wearing a long-sleeved coat and skirt, cleverly dressed up according to the painting "Deer and Crane Together in Spring" from Yangjiabu, Weifang, Shandong, one of the four major New Year painting production areas. "Deer and Crane" is a homonym for "Liuhe" and "Liuhe". "Spring" means that all sides of the world are bathed in the spring light. The crane in the painting "jumps" onto Wu Zhi'an's head and becomes a headdress, with lotus flowers placed around his neck.
"Post-2000" Ma Qingyuan was unanimously selected to play the role of "New Year Painting Doll". This painting "A Harmony" originated from Taohuawu, Suzhou. Children's images are painted into circles using deformation techniques. It is also said that the characters are a combination of the images of the elderly and children. After listening to Ma Qingyuan's explanation and then taking a closer look, it turned out to be true.
Leng Sihui, who extracted clothing elements from the two New Year pictures "New House" and "Silkworm Blossoms", is Wang Shengyi's classmate and is a professional in ancient book restoration. Choosing a "front desk" job, in her opinion, is also a way to inherit and promote traditional culture. “The Art Archives organizes activities, whether they are exhibitions or related course experiences such as calligraphy, binding, and engraving, which will attract audiences who are interested in ancient styles. By accepting the two intangible cultural heritage skills of ancient book restoration and engraving engraving, it will allow everyone to smoothly It is better to have an in-depth understanding of this entrance than to simply introduce and promote it." Leng Sihui said that for example, it is difficult to achieve perfect results in the first try of Chuantuo. "We do not have such high requirements for skills, but we will encourage everyone to do traditional Chuantuo. There is no artistic expression in Tuoli, such as leaving a blank space, dipping a little ink on Tuoli and drawing a sun. I hope that the public who are willing to get in touch with traditional culture and experience intangible cultural heritage skills can first feel happiness."
Before the opening of the East Building, Yang Jing and Ma Qingyuan studied restoration for a period of time in the Document Protection and Restoration Department. "The teacher taught us that we can usually use discarded paper to try to make a favorite book, and think more about the kung fu we have practiced during the day before going to bed." What impressed Yang Jing during that time were two words: "quiet" and "Enlightenment". Ma Qingyuan, majoring in literature and art, said that some of his classmates like traditional clothing, so they make their own or even set up studios. There are also many friends of the same age who like to visit museums or cultural heritage sites that are not tourist attractions. "Young people are interested in traditional clothing." Traditional culture is indeed becoming more and more interesting.”
Chai Xiaoshan gave an explanation for "The Heroes of the Han Dynasty - An Exhibition of Rare Books on Han Steles Collected by the Shanghai Library". He found that many visitors were not only interested in the cultural connotations of the exhibits, but also very concerned about the restoration and protection of cultural relics. "They would ask about the preservation of these documents." Humidity, temperature, display lighting, distance and other detailed issues."
"The explanation of ancient books and documents by young librarians incorporates their own understanding and interaction with readers, which is a growth process." Wang Chenmin said. Whether it is a series of public welfare activities jointly held with Bandai Namco for three consecutive years, "Integrating the past and present, creating the future with music - Intangible Cultural Heritage Skills Experience Class", or using the Art Archives as a platform to hold relevant exhibitions, digital interactive exhibitions and practices In Wang Chenmin’s view, all activities are aimed at eliminating the sense of distance. “Intangible cultural heritage is not only a matter within the circle, it needs more people’s attention, and even forms a ‘tap water’. Ancient book restorers are not only behind the scenes, but are also becoming more and more comfortable in Taiwan. Currently, we are responsible for cultural dissemination. In order for traditional culture to 'break out of the circle', it must stimulate the public's interest and love."
Zhang Pinfang said that in recent years, many young people who have applied for ancient book restoration positions have studied this major. "They know what they want to do, and they have a certain foundation and preparation. This is very different from the past."
There are more young people who are interested in restoring ancient books, and more young people who like traditional culture. Behind the emergence of the "people in the paintings" of the New Year paintings is the "back-to-back integration" of ancient book restoration techniques, and the simultaneous inheritance and dissemination of Chinese culture, allowing the charm of Chinese culture to infect more people.
Jiefang Daily reporter Shi Chenlu