Mounting and Restoration Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Tianjin lies at the confluence of the five major tributaries of the Hai River on the North China Plain. Since its founding as a garrison town and city in 1404, it rapidly rose as a commercial center and cultural hub, and the craft of ancient-book restoration gradually emerged alongside. In the early 20th century, the Zhili Library (the predecessor of Tianjin Library)—the largest public book repository in the Tianjin area—was established, and the craft was able to be inherited and developed within the library.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The ancient-book restoration craft comprises the book-repair experience and methods accumulated by Chinese artisans over a thousand years. Tianjin's ancient-book restoration craft mainly circulates in the Tianjin area, centered on the Tianjin Library and radiating to surrounding regions. First, the materials and binding form of the book to be repaired are analyzed and a restoration plan determined; then, through experimental testing, handmade restoration papers and materials with suitable paper properties are selected. Next, using book-repair tools and flexibly applying specialized techniques such as lifting, pasting, mounting, patching, and inlaying, the aesthetic ideal of restoring the old to appear naturally and simply antique is perfectly realized. Furthermore, the craft emphasizes book binding and decoration, favoring corner-wrapping and frequently using methods such as "gold-inlaid jade" (jinxiangyu) and lining-inlay.
Assessing material and binding form
The binding and material of a rare book are analysed and an integral restoration plan drawn up, then test methods select handmade paper of matching fibre before any work begins.
Lifting, posting, backing, patching and inlay
With the restorer's tool kit the techniques of lifting, posting, backing, patching and inlay are combined to reproduce an old book as old yet natural.
Cornered boards and gold-inlaid borders
Binding decoration is a speciality: cornered boards and gold-inlaid or lined borders protect the edges of a volume without disguising its old appearance.
Excavation, inlay, joining and new binding forms
Excavation, inlay and joining were used to rebuild scattered leaves of Dunhuang and Song-Yuan books, inventing flat-opening and gold-inlaid butterfly bindings that show both documentary value and technique.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Tianjin's ancient-book restoration craft mainly circulates in the Tianjin area, centered on the Tianjin Library and radiating to surrounding regions, matching the officially-run character of the ancient-book restoration discipline. Tianjin lies at the confluence of the five major tributaries of the Hai River on the North China Plain; since its founding as a garrison town and city in 1404, it rapidly rose as a commercial center and cultural hub, and the restoration craft gradually emerged. In the early 20th century, the Zhili Library (predecessor of Tianjin Library)—the largest public book repository in the Tianjin area—was established, and the craft was able to be inherited and developed within it. This core also undertakes transmission functions: the Tianjin Library is not only a national-level ancient-book restoration transmission center, a national-level ancient-book restoration center, and a national-level training base for ancient-book conservation personnel, but has also partnered with Tianjin Normal University to cultivate high-end professional talent for the national ancient-book conservation cause; to date they have jointly trained 26 master's-degree graduate students in ancient-book restoration. The Tianjin Library's Ancient-Book Restoration Center currently has 15 ancient-book conservation and research staff who have received professional technical training—few in number, yet they must shoulder the threefold tasks of transmission, protection, and research. The artisan spirit of dedication, refinement, and focus formed in the restoration craft still plays a positive role in contemporary society.
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 ancient-book restoration craft inherited at the Tianjin Library is fairly complex and emphasizes adapting measures to local conditions. The craft relies on ancient methods and excels at using transmitted techniques to effectively solve difficult and thorny problems in damaged old books—aging, fluffing (xuhua), "book cakes," and "book bricks"—so that the restored pages become soft, spreadable, relaxed, and flat, recovering the paper's original properties. In restoring scattered leaves from the Dunhuang collections and Song- and Yuan-dynasty old books in its holdings, it employs fine manipulation techniques such as scooping, inlaying, and joining, and has innovated binding styles such as the flat-folded album binding and the gold-inlaid-jade butterfly binding, highlighting the documents' value and the craft's characteristics. Currently, the Tianjin Library's Ancient-Book Restoration Center has a total of 15 ancient-book conservation and research staff who have received professional technical training. The Tianjin Library is not only a national-level ancient-book restoration transmission center, a national-level ancient-book restoration center, and a national-level training base for ancient-book conservation personnel, but has also partnered with Tianjin Normal University to cultivate high-end professional talent for the national ancient-book conservation cause; to date they have jointly trained 26 master's-degree graduate students in ancient-book restoration. The ancient-book restoration craft has a transmission history of over a thousand years; the craft itself both embodies history and protects history's vehicle—the ancient books—possessing considerable cultural value and making outstanding contributions to preserving precious national cultural heritage, transmitting Chinese cultural classics, and continuing ancient civilization. The artisan spirit of dedication, refinement, and focus formed in the transmission of this craft still plays a positive role in contemporary society.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Xinjing 03-1401
- Fan Guangchou 04-1896
- Xu Jianhua 04-1897
- Du Weisheng 04-1898
- Wang Xuejun 04-1899
- Yang Zehua 05-2830
- Zhou Haikuan 05-2831
- Danjiajiu 05-2832
- Zhang Xuguang 05-2833
- Li Shuzhen 05-2834
- Ji Senfa
- Wan Qun
- Wang Jinyu
- Wang Qi
- Liu Jianming
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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