Wang Jinyu

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Wang Jinyu, Female, Han, from Ningbo, Zhejiang, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-136). The tradition is documented in Ningbo, Zhejiang. Within the regional tradition and school record of Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship in Ningbo, Zhejiang: The Tianyige ancient-book restoration craft is a regional body of experiential knowledge formed by successive generations of Ningbo book collectors and restorers—especially the Fan family of Tianyige—through continuous practice and accumulation in the course of collecting and protecting books, drawing on the distinctive geography, climate, materials, and cultural character of Jiangnan, and carried out chiefly by traditional manual methods. The Tianyige ancient-book restoration craft has a pronounced regional character. It is a restoration method designed specifically for the humid environment of Jiangnan, with strict requirements for repair paper, varied disassembly-and-lifting techniques, distinctive methods for mending tears, and an elegant, dignified binding. It is an important representative of the ancient-book restoration craft of the Jiangnan region. Tianyige (Tianyi Pavilion) has spanned the Ming dynasty, the Qing dynasty, the Republic of China era, and the present day, and the transmission of its ancient-book restoration craft can be verified and reflected in the pavilion's historical records and in the books held in its collection.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Wang Jinyu is anchored in the documented technical standards of Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship in Ningbo, Zhejiang. Within the documented technical tradition of Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship in Ningbo, Zhejiang: The Tianyige ancient-book restoration craft is a traditional manual skill handed down through generations in and around the Tianyige Library, in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. It forms a part of China's traditional mounting-and-restoration craft. Ningbo has a subtropical monsoon climate, lies near the sea, is rich in waterways, and receives heavy rainfall, so its environment stays humid year-round. Ancient books collected in the Ningbo area suffer more problems than those in the north—insect damage, rodent gnawing, rain soakage, and mildew—and it was from this that the ancient-book restoration craft gradually emerged. Centered on Tianyige, it spread step by step across the whole Ningbo area and onward to eastern Zhejiang and the Jiangsu–Zhejiang region. Restoring a complete volume of ancient books requires 28 process steps: investigating damage, drawing up a plan, selecting and matching repair paper, disassembling and lifting the leaves, cleaning the leaves, mending the leaves, damping and pressing flat, folding and trimming the leaves, hammering the leaves flat, aligning the margins and compressing, threading and tying, attaching the cover, binding with silk thread, and pasting in the bookmark. Among these, disassembling and mending the leaves are the core operations. There are four different lifting techniques—dry lifting, wet lifting, steaming lifting, and adhesive lifting—as well as such mending methods as dry patching, wet patching, backing-paper reinforcement, and concealed patching. Examples of restoration across the dynasties can be found, for instance, in such items from the pavilion's holdings as the Wenxian Tongkao, the Linzhou Shicao, and the Li Changji Geshizhujian. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Archival Process Record": Restoring a complete volume of ancient books requires 28 process steps: investigating damage, drawing up a plan, selecting and matching repair paper, disassembling and lifting the leaves, cleaning the leaves, mending the leaves, damping and pressing flat, folding and trimming the leaves, hammering the leaves flat, aligning the margins and compressing, threading and tying, attaching the cover, binding with silk thread, and pasting in the bookmark.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Wang Jinyu was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship, with Ningbo, Zhejiang as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship in Ningbo, Zhejiang: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Ningbo, Zhejiang as its declared area, and Ningbo Tianyige Museum (Ningbo Baoguosigujianzhu Museum) as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

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.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Wangjinyu (Ningbo, Zhejiang) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Wangjinyu · China ICH Official Archive