WangXinjing,anational-levelinheritorofmountingandrestorationtechniquesofRongBaoZhai,atime-honoredcalligraphyandpaintingshopinBeijing,showshisapprenticehowtorepairanantiquepainting.Acrucialreasonthattraditionsandculturescanbepasseddownfromgenerationtogenerationisbecausetangibleculturalproductssuchaspaintings,calligraphies,andbooksarepreservedforposterity.However,theagingprocessandimproperconservationinvariablyresultsindamageordeteriorationtothesepreciousartifactswhich,ifleftunattended,canmeanagreatlosstohumanity.
Therestorationtechniquesforantiquebooks,paintings,andcalligraphieshelptonotonlyprotecttheexistingculturalproducts,butalsorestorethosethataredamaged,makingthemavailableforpublicappreciationinmuseums,artgalleries,andprivatecollectionexhibitions.
TheArtofMountingPaintingsandCalligraphies
Mountingpaintingsandcalligraphiesaimstopreservetheworksandpresenttheminanaestheticallypleasingmanner.ThecraftbecameperfectedbetweentheWarringStatesPeriod(475–221BC)andWesternHanDynasty(206BC–AD25).Wellmountedpiecesarenotonlyconducivetothework’spreservation,butalsoinfavorofitsvisualappeal.TraditionalChinesepaintingsandcalligraphiesareusuallymadeonXuanzhi(ahighqualityricepapermadeintraditionalways)andsilk.However,theChineseinkcontainingaglue-likesubstanceenhancesthecolorfastness,butovertimemakesthefinishedpaintingsorcalligraphieswrinkledandcrumbly.Tomaketheseworksmoredurableandbeautiful,theancientChinesecraftspeopleinventedinnovativemountingtechniquesinthreesteps.First,theypastedandtrimmedrelativelytoughpaperontothebackoftheartworktoremovewrinklesandsmoothoutthepaper.Theglue,madefromglutenfreewheatflour,notonlygavetheworkasmoothappearancebutwiththepassingoftimeitformedaprotectivelayerovertheartwork.Second,theysurroundedtheartworkwithdecorativepaperorsilkfabrics.Finallyacobblestonewouldberolledrepeatedlyacrossthesurfacetoremoveanyairbubblesandthentheworkwouldeitherbeframedorfittedwithtworodstocreateascrollandenableittobehungorrolledupforsafestorage.LiShuzhen,anational-levelinheritorofmountingandrestorationtechniquesofRongBaoZhai,triestomakethehuesofnewlyrepairedpartscompatiblewiththeoriginal.Additionaldecorativematerialscanbeappliedbasedondifferenthues,compositions,andsizesofartworks.
RestorationTechniquesofPaintingsandCalligraphies
Therestorationtechniquesofpaintingsandcalligraphiesaredevelopedbasedonthemountingtechniques.Therestorationprocessrequirestherestorers’greatpatience,highskill,andalotoftime.Theyneedtoremovethebackingandotherdecorativepartsfirstandthencarefullycleanthestainsandmildew,aswellasrepairthedamagedsections.Aftercleaningtheworkisremounted.Thewholeprocessinvolvesover20steps,alldonemanually.Eachstepiscloselylinkedtotheother,sothepreviousstepwillaffectthefollowingone.Beforerestoringapieceofwork,restorersalsoneedtochecktheartwork’sinformation,suchaswhenitwasmade,analyzewhatproblemsithasandunderwhattemperatureandhumidityitwasstored,soastodevelopdifferentrestorationplansaccordingly.
Thetoolsneededfortheprocessincludebrushpens,brushes,tweezers,andblades.Itisnoteasytodoitwellwithoutsustainedandmeticulouseffort.
Thefirststepistoassemblethedamagedpartsandlinkthemtogether,resemblingtheprocessofajigsawpuzzle.Thesecondstepinvolvesremovingtheartworkfromthebackingpaper,whichisthemostdifficultstepasthetwoaretightlystucktogether.Thistaskisdifficultwhendoneonacompleteandundamagedpainting,letaloneononewhichisagingandcrumbling.Itnormallytakestendaystohalfamonthtofinishonepiece.Tomaintainthecorrectlevelofhumidityfortheartworks,restorersuseplasticfilmtocoverthepieceswhentheytakeabreak.Thethirdstepistocleanthesurface,meaningtoremovemildew,dust,andstains.Differentmethodsareadoptedaccordingtodifferenthues,ages,andotherconditionsoftheartworks.Restorersworkonacaseby-casebasis:carefulconsiderationsaremadeconcerningthetemperatureofwaterthatisusedtosoakthepaintingorwhatsuitablechemicalliquidshouldbeadopted.
Thefinalstepistoaddthebackingtotherepairedpainting.Therestorersneedtobeverycarefultoavoidthepapercrackingagainasitisnolongeracompletepage.Therestorersalsoneedtomakethehuesofnewlyrepairedpartscompatiblewiththeoriginal.Ifitisacalligraphywork,therestorersneedtocompletethemissingpartofanyChinesecharacter.Afteralltheproceduresarecompleted,therestorersmounttheartworkagain.AccordingtoWangXinjing,anational-levelinheritorofmountingandrestorationtechniquesofRongBaoZhai,atime-honoredcalligraphyandpaintingshopinBeijing,itnormallytakestwotothreemonthstorestoreanartwork,andiftheartworkisseriouslydamaged,itcouldtakeaslongashalfayeartooneyear.
In2008,themountingandrestorationtechniquesofpaintingsandcalligraphiesofRongBaoZhaiwereincludedasanationalintangibleculturalheritage.
RestorationTechniquesofAntiqueBooks
Antiquebooksrefertothoseproducedbefore1912andfeaturetheChineseclassicalstyleofbindingandlayout.Asnon-renewableculturalresources,theyplayanimportantroleinpassingdownthewisdomandcultureofChinesepredecessors.Therestorationofantiquebooksisaspecialcraft,whichrequirestherestorerstobefamiliarwiththeformsandlayoutofbooksofdifferentdynasties,theirpaperquality,thecharacteristicsofcover,andthestyleofbinding.Talentedproficiencyisamustforthisjob.Thewholerestorationprocessofteninvolvesten-oddsteps,alldemandingmeticulousmanualwork.Therestorersassesstheconditionsofanantiquecalligraphyandfigureoutthebestrestorationplan.Thecrafthasahistoryofover1,000yearsinChina.Manymenoflettersandscholarsmadetheircontributiontoitsdevelopment.Duringitszenith,differentschoolswereformed,amongwhichtheShuSchool(ShuisgenerallyashorttermforSichuanProvince);rumorssaiditwaswidelyappraisedforitstechniquethatwasdescribedas“revivingtheartworkinanewguise.”Restorerswithsuchtechniquecouldreplacethedamagedoldpaper,butallowtheoriginalwritingtostayonthenewsheetsofpaper,thussubstantiallyextendingthelifeofanantiquebook.Itisashamethatthetechniquehasbeenlost.
Therestorationprocessisverycomplicated.Antiquebookssufferfromavarietyofproblemssuchasbookworms,orrodentdamage,acidicoroilstains,andlooseandtornpages.Differentbookssufferfromdifferentproblemsdependingontheclimateinwhichtheywerestored.Forexample,booksinsouthChinainhumidweather,areprobablydamagedbybookwormormold.Whilebooksinthenorth,wheretheweatherisdry,probablyhavepagesthatarebrittle.Therefore,differentrestorationplansneedtobemadeaccordingtodifferentconditions.
Inaddition,therestorersneedtobeversatileandhaveagoodknowledgeofvariousdisciplines.Theyhavetounderstandnotonlytraditionalculturerelatingtopaper-making,printing,philology,differenteditionsofancientbooks,art,andBuddhism,butalsoscienceandtechnologyrelatingtomicroorganisms,physics,andchemistry.Thesequalificationshelptherestorersunderstandthequalityofpaperandfigureoutthebestrestorationplan.
Nearly30toolsareneededfortherestorationwork,includinghigh-poweredmagnifyingglasses,horseshoe-shapedknives,andawls.Inaddition,restorerssometimesneedtocreatespecialtoolstoadapttouniquetypesofdamage.Therestorationprocedurestartswithseparatingthepages,makingserialnumbersondifferentpagesorparts,andselectingproperpaper.Infact,paperproducedbeforethe20thcenturyishardtofindnow.Sotherestorersemployprofessionalpaper-makingstudiostoreproducethesheetsaccordingtothestructureandingredientsoftheoldpages.
Themostdifficultstepistoassembletheshredsofpaper.Somebooks,damagedbywormsorrodents,havebeenshreddedintopieces,withthesmallestonesbeingthesizeofafingernail.Ifrestorerscannotputthesebacktogether,thescrapsarepreserveduntilmorequalifiedcraftspeopleareavailabletocompletetheprocess.
Whenrepairing,therestorersuseglueandbrushestocarefullystickdamagedpartsontonewpaper,flattenthenewpages(whichcantakeuptoamonth)punchholesandbindthebook,whichalsodemandsmeticulousefforts.
Theultimategoalistohavetherepairedbooklookexactlyliketheoldoneinform.Somebooksaretheonlyexistingcopiescontainingrichhistoricalinformation,andvaluableforthestudyofhistory.Accordingtoofficialstatistics,publicinstitutionsaroundChinahaveacollectionofover50millionantiquebooks,whichareinvaluableassets.Amongthemover10millionareinneedofrepair,sorestorershavetheirworkcutoutforthem.
In2008,thetechniquesofrestoringantiquebookswereincludedasanationalintangibleculturalheritage.Differentmethodsareadoptedaccordingtodifferenthues,ages,andotherconditionsoftheartworks.
Theultimategoalistohavetherepairedbooklookexactlyliketheoldoneinform.