Zhou Haikuan
01 · Lineage & Regional School
In 1983 he entered the Department of Conservation Science and Technology of the Palace Museum, where he studied the restoration of ancient calligraphy and paintings under the researcher Zhang Jinying. Within the regional tradition and school record of Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship in Gugongbowuyuan: The mounting and restoration craft of ancient calligraphy and painting is a unique traditional manual skill of China, mainly used for the decoration, restoration, and recovery of paintings, calligraphy, inscribed stone rubbings, and the like. It has a history of over 1,700 years. Chinese traditional mounting and restoration techniques developed over the long course of the Jin, Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, and by the Ming and Qing periods had largely taken definitive form, giving rise to two schools: the "Jing mounting" (Jingbiao) centered on Beijing and the "Su mounting" (Subiao) centered on Suzhou. During the Republican era, China's painting-and-calligraphy restoration trade formed two major schools represented respectively by Yu Chi Shan Fang and Da Shu Zhai on Liulichang in Beijing, and Ji Gu Ge and Liu Dingzhi Zhuangchi in Shanghai. After the founding of the People's Republic, master mounters from Liu Dingzhi Zhuangchi, Yu Chi Shan Fang, and other establishments were invited to the Palace Museum to take sole charge of the mounting and restoration of its collected painting and calligraphy artifacts. They restored a group of national-treasure-level works—including "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" by Zhang Zeduan of the Song dynasty, "Spring Outing" by Zhan Ziqian of the Sui dynasty, "Five Oxen" by Han Huang of the Tang dynasty, and "Night Revels of Han Xizai" by Gu Hongzhong of the Five Dynasties—while also training many specialists in ancient calligraphy and painting mounting and restoration for the Palace Museum.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Male, Han ethnicity, born in November 1964 in Beijing. Representative bearer of mounting and restoration craftsmanship (the mounting and restoration of ancient calligraphy and paintings), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. Over more than thirty years in the profession he has restored nearly one hundred ancient calligraphy and painting artefacts of different types, materials and conditions of damage, including the Bamboo Garden Birthday Gathering (Zhuyuan Shouji Tu) painted jointly by Lü Wenying and Lü Ji of the Ming, the Ming dynasty Figures after Li Longmian on Silk (Fang Li Longmian Juanben Renwu Juan), and the Qing dynasty large-scale Reeds and Wild Geese after Lu Zonggui of the Southern Song (Nan Song Lu Zonggui Kuan Lu Yan Tu). With solid professional skills and an approach that combines theory with practice, he has published several theoretical articles. Within the documented technical tradition of Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship in Gugongbowuyuan: Mounting was called "biaobei" in ancient times, also known as "zhuanghuang" or "zhuangchi." The ancient calligraphy-and-painting mounting and restoration craft of the long-famous time-honored shop "Rongbaozhai" possesses its own distinctive and complete craft process; it is the most concentrated embodiment of "Jing mounting" and stands uniquely in the national mounting community. Over years of development, the Beijing ancient-character mounting and restoration craft has formed its own distinctive character, with its own specialized tools, materials, styles, and techniques. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Recorded Craft Procedures": The ancient calligraphy-and-painting mounting and restoration craft of the long-famous time-honored shop "Rongbaozhai" possesses its own distinctive and complete craft process; it is the most concentrated embodiment of "Jing mounting" and stands uniquely in the national mounting community.
Recorded Craft Procedures
The ancient calligraphy-and-painting mounting and restoration craft of the long-famous time-honored shop "Rongbaozhai" possesses its own distinctive and complete craft process; it is the most concentrated embodiment of "Jing mounting" and stands uniquely in the national mounting community.
Core Technique I
Mounting was called "biaobei" in ancient times, also known as "zhuanghuang" or "zhuangchi." The ancient calligraphy-and-painting mounting and restoration craft of the long-famous time-honored shop "Rongbaozhai" possesses its own distinctive and complete craft process;
Core Technique II
it is the most concentrated embodiment of "Jing mounting" and stands uniquely in the national mounting community.
Core Technique III
Over years of development, the Beijing ancient-character mounting and restoration craft has formed its own distinctive character, with its own specialized tools, materials, styles, and techniques.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
He emphasises the transmission of skills and the training of talent, having taken on apprentices and supervised master's students in conservation and restoration, and having mentored numerous museum staff in the restoration and mounting of calligraphy and paintings.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
The mounting and restoration craft of ancient calligraphy and painting is a unique traditional manual skill of China, mainly used for the decoration, restoration, and recovery of paintings, calligraphy, inscribed stone rubbings, and the like. It has a history of over 1,700 years. Chinese traditional mounting and restoration techniques developed over the long course of the Jin, Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, and by the Ming and Qing periods had largely taken definitive form, giving rise to two schools: the "Jing mounting" (Jingbiao) centered on Beijing and the "Su mounting" (Subiao) centered on Suzhou.
05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage
National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wang Xinjing | Rongbaozhai, Beijing | 03-1401 | Other regional school |
| Fan Guangchou | Suzhou, Jiangsu | 04-1896 | Other regional school |
| Xu Jianhua | Gugongbowuyuan | 04-1897 | Same declared area |
| Du Weisheng | Guojiatushuguan | 04-1898 | Other regional school |
| Wang Xuejun | Zhongguoshudian | 04-1899 | Other regional school |
| Yang Zehua | Gugongbowuyuan | 05-2830 | Same declared area |
| Zhou Haikuan | Gugongbowuyuan | 05-2831 | This page |
| Danjiajiu | Gugongbowuyuan | 05-2832 | Same declared area |
| Zhang Xuguang | Gugongbowuyuan | 05-2833 | Same declared area |
| Li Shuzhen | Rongbaozhai, Beijing | 05-2834 | Other regional school |
| Ji Senfa | Suzhou, Jiangsu | — | Other regional school |
| Wan Qun | Tianjin | — | Other regional school |
| Wang Jinyu | Ningbo, Zhejiang | — | Other regional school |
| Wang Qi | Rongbaozhai, Beijing | — | Other regional school |
| Liu Jianming | Guojiatushuguan | — | Other regional school |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。