Metal cultural relic restorer Jin Dazhao repairs a lamp from the Yangxin Dian in the Palace Museum in Beijing. - China Daily/ANN
BEIJING: In the painting and calligraphy cultural relics restoration group affiliated with the department of conservation and restoration of the Palace Museum in Beijing, inspired by China's imperial palace from 1420 to 1911, experts are busy restoring a plaque with the words "jiangshan wandai" — the dynasty will linger through generations.
Ma Yue, the 42-year-old deputy head of the group, says the calligraphy on the plaque comprises a layer of silk that the ink was on, and a layer of paper that supports the silk.
The restoration group must separate the layers in order to repair the plaque. Because of its delicate condition, parts can break. Therefore, the experts must find the perfect materials to replace the originals and bring the relic back to life.
Technological methods come into play, helping experts analyse the components of the ink and silk that ancient people used. These methods assist restorers in finding the same materials to use for repairs. Restorer Li Xiaolou says most of the materials ancient people used can still be found today.
The plaque they are repairing is from the Yangxin Dian, or the Hall of Mental Cultivation. The hall was a residential and work complex for emperors in the middle and late periods of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It was closed in 2015 for a major research and restoration project that began the same year.
To mark the centenary of the establishment of the Palace Museum, the hall is scheduled to open to the public again later this year. Therefore, cultural restorers are busy preparing for its reopening.
Ma says the cultural relics her group has repaired from the hall fall into three main categories: plaques, paintings and calligraphy on the partition doors, and simple paintings, which were pasted on walls and ceilings as indoor decorations.
For some severely worn pieces, they have created replicas with digital technology, while the restored originals will be placed in storage.
For the ancient paintings and calligraphy, the mounting methods and restoration techniques are a national-level intangible cultural heritage item passed down for five generations since the establishment of the Palace Museum.
"Even today, we maintain a master-apprentice system. Graduates of various majors joining our group must learn from their masters for three years, practicing their mounting skills and polishing their restoration techniques. That's how our restorers are cultivated," says Ma.
Besides paper relics, some exquisite artifacts from the hall are also restored by professionals in the department.
Jin Dazhao, a 34-year-old restorer from the metal artifacts restoration group, has completed repairing a pair of lamps that was once installed in the eastern chamber of the hall.
Jin is an inheritor of bronze artifact restoration and replicating skills, another national-level intangible cultural heritage item highlighted at the museum.
The lamps were made with extremely refined skills of cloisonne enameling and glass inlaying, and appear to be in the shape of a gourd when viewed from the side.
According to Jin, like many others collected in the Qing court, the artifacts blend various skills and materials, which made a collaborative restoration effort from different groups of restorers necessary.
For example, wooden relics are repaired by the wooden artifacts restoration group, gems and jades are restored by the gem mounting group, and metal artifacts are fixed by Jin and his colleagues. Due to the desk lamps' various elements, their restoration needed the coordination of four to five groups, says Jin.
"If they had been completely made of metal, then we would not have had to consider so much. But they have enamel, glass, colourful patterns, textiles, gems and jade. Each material is in a different state and requires various strategies to restore. That makes its restoration more challenging," says Jin.
After spending three to four months on the artifacts, he has finished their restoration in the several days that followed. These restored pieces will then be featured when the complex opens later this year. - China Daily/ANN
