Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship

Ⅷ-136Traditional CraftsmanshipRongbaozhai, BeijingBatch 2 (2008)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

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 · Core Techniques & Process

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.

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.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Jing mounting, centered on Beijing, rivals the Su mounting of Suzhou, and within the capital it further divides into two lines: Yu Chi Shan Fang and Da Shu Zhai of old Liulichang, and Ji Gu Ge and Liu Dingzhi Zhuangchi of Shanghai. After the founding of the PRC, master craftsmen from these shops were invited into the Palace Museum, where they restored national treasures such as "Along the River During the Qingming Festival," "Spring Outing," and "Five Oxen," and also trained the Palace Museum's own restoration team. The Rongbaozhai line is distinctive, with its own self-contained set of tools, materials, styles, and procedures. Li Shuzhen, a native of Sanhe in Hebei, joined the Rongbaozhai Mounting and Restoration Center in 1986 and specializes in handscrolls and fan paintings.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship · Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship · Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship · Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship · Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship · Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The emergence of this craft has made a tremendous contribution to preserving precious national cultural heritage and transmitting ancient civilization. Because the mounting and restoration craft is complex and requires mastery of a series of knowledge spanning painting, paper, and silk satin across different dynasties, the training period is long and transmission is difficult; it is now on the verge of being lost and requires active protection and rescue. Wang Xinjing (from the official archival records of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in August 1959, a native of Shenzhou City, Hebei Province. Representative inheritor of the third batch of the national-level intangible cultural heritage item, Mounting and Restoration Craft (Mounting and Restoration Craft of Ancient Calligraphy and Painting). Senior technician. He has a full command of the ancient calligraphy-and-painting mounting and restoration craft, and has taken part in restoring Liao-dynasty scriptures discovered inside the Wooden Pagoda at Yingxian, Shanxi, a large Qing-dynasty silk-thread Buddhist image held by the German National Museum, and hundreds of works by renowned painters and calligraphers from the Song dynasty through modern times. He participated twice in the restoration and remounting of the giant traditional Chinese painting "This Land So Rich in Beauty" in the Great Hall of the People, as well as in the mounting of large-scale scrolls for many institutions including Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai and the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. He has taken the initiative to carry on the craft, having trained three apprentices. Li Shuzhen (from the official archival records of the associated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in October 1968, a native of Sanhe City, Hebei Province. Representative inheritor of the fifth batch of the national-level intangible cultural heritage item, Mounting and Restoration Craft (Mounting and Restoration Craft of Ancient Calligraphy and Painting). Senior technician. She entered the Rongbaozhai Mounting and Restoration Center in 1986, received guidance from Zhang Guitong and Wang Jiarui, and was influenced by her father Li Zhendong. She has mastered all the core techniques of mounting and restoration, and excels especially in painting-and-calligraphy restoration and the mounting of handscrolls and fan paintings. She has taken part successively in the restoration of over a hundred ancient painting and calligraphy works; many were severely damaged and on the verge of being lost, but were restored to their original appearance. She participated in the mounting of giant traditional Chinese paintings for the Great Hall of the People, Zhongnanhai, and other institutions, as well as of books such as "Hundred Calligraphers' Version of The Art of War" and "Ten Bamboo Studio Letterpaper Album." She emphasizes the transmission of the craft and has trained apprentices Wang Bin and Li Yan.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回英文名录。