How many books does Qianlong, who loves to collect, have? "Tianlu Linlang", which took 8 years to repair, takes you to reveal the secret

"Source of this article: Zhejiang Daily"

Zhejiang News Client reporter Liu Chenyin

On January 7, the National Library of China held a press conference on major achievements, announcing the successful completion of the eight-year-old restoration project of the Qing Palace of the National Library of China. This is the largest special restoration action for precious ancient books of the national map since the implementation of the "Chinese Ancient Books Protection Plan" in 2007, and has achieved significant results.

Press conference on the major achievements of the Qing Palace "Tianlu Linlang" restoration project in the collection of the National Library of China Zhejiang News Client reporter Liu Chenyin photographed

What is "Heavenly Lotus"? The Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty was an emperor who loved the collection and collation of ancient Chinese paintings and calligraphy and ancient books. A few years ago, the "Shiqu Baodi" that attracted social attention because of the exhibition in the Forbidden City was a catalogue of calligraphy and paintings collected by the Qing Palace in the Qianlong Era, and the full name of the catalogue of rare books and rare books of the Qing Dynasty court was called "The Bibliography of The Heavenly Lu Of The Qing Dynasty". Qianlong wrote a plaque and couplet for this purpose. The term "Tianlu" is taken from the Han Dynasty Tianlu Pavilion collection, "Linlang" is the name of beautiful jade, which means that its collection of books is full of dazzling.

The Qianlong Emperor selected the old books of the Song, Jin, Yuan, and Ming editions in the collections of books in the imperial palace, and set up a shelf in the Zhaoren Hall of the Qing Palace, and hung a plaque with the inscription "Tianlu Linlang" in the imperial pen. The term "Tianlu" is taken from the Han Dynasty Tianlu Pavilion collection, "Linlang" is the name of beautiful jade, which means that its collection of books is full of dazzling.

Although "Tianlu Linlang" was cherished by the Qing Palace, from its establishment until the 1950s, it experienced several ups and downs and frequent tribulations. During this period, fire, theft, soldiers, and beetles caused a large number of losses in the collection, and nearly 60 of the 664 books have disappeared, and more than 600 surviving parts are mainly stored in mainland China and Taiwan.

The Qianlong Emperor's collection of books

Urgent need for "rescue repair"

Tianlu Linlang part of the restoration results display Zhejiang news client reporter Liu Chenyin photo

Xiong Yuanming, director of the National Library and director of the National Center for the Protection of Ancient Books, introduced that at present, the National Library has 279 "Tianlu Linlang", of which the Song and Yuan inscriptions account for a relatively large proportion, and preserves most of the most precious ancient books in the "Later Edition of the Bibliography of Tianlu Linlang". These books are not only engraved for a long time, but also have a unique and precious copy. However, the proportion of damage is higher, accounting for more than half. This is related to the fact that the above-mentioned national treasures have been torn around and improperly preserved. Fragments affect the cataloguing, which is not conducive to reading and research; if it is not repaired in time, the damage will only aggravate and affect survival. Although the rare book warehouse already has good constant temperature and humidity conditions, the mold carried in the damaged books and paper diseases such as flocculation and adhesion will become more serious over time.

In June 2013, the National Library of Ancient Books completed the cataloguing of the uneducated books of "Tianlu Linlang" and conducted a damage investigation. The survey results show that ten percent of these books have serious problems such as paper decay, flocculation, adhesion, and binding disintegration, which are first-class damage according to the ministry standards and urgently need rescue repair;

The National Center for the Protection of Ancient Books took this opportunity to plan to carry out the "Tianlu Linlang" restoration project and complete the restoration of these precious ancient books in a few years. Subsequently, relevant experts in the field of ancient book restoration were invited to demonstrate the restoration plan and work plan of "Tianlu Linliang". In July 2013, at the expert demonstration meeting of the "Tianlu Linlang" restoration project held by the National Center for the Protection of Ancient Books, experts unanimously approved the restoration plan, believing that the project is of great significance to the restoration of ancient books, the cultivation of restoration talents and scientific research, and suggested that relevant work be carried out as soon as possible. With the support of the "Chinese Ancient Books Protection Program", the Restoration Project of the National Library of China's "Tianlu Linlang" in the Qing Palace was officially launched, with Zhu Zhenbin, senior restorer of the National Library of Ancient Books, as the chief expert, leading Cui Zhibin, the backbone of the restoration of ancient books of the National Library, to undertake the restoration work.

Each piece of the collection is carried out

"Personalized" customization

"Tianlu Linlang" is different from the large-scale rare book restoration projects such as the "Zhao Cheng Jinzang" in the history of the National Library, the Dunhuang Testament, the Western Xia Literature, and the Yongle Canon, the former involves a relatively single category of Tibetan varieties, and can basically be completed at one time in the formulation of restoration plans and the preparation of restoration materials. However, the damage of the "Tianlu Linliang" collection is complex and diverse, and the restoration plan cannot be generalized, but needs to be "personalized" customized for each book. There is a prominent feature in the "Tianlu Linliang" collection, that is, most of the collection can see traces of previous restorations. Under the guiding principle of "the old as it is", a new problem is faced - whether to retain or erase the remains of these "latecomers".

The National Library of China has repeatedly and deeply explored this problem in this restoration, and finally when dealing with ancient books that have traces of intervention by predecessors, the impact of its intervention methods on the quality of use and preservation life of the book at present and even in the future is fully analyzed before restoration, so as to reasonably control the time node of the current restoration cycle that needs to be restored, strictly maintain historical relics, and leave objective evidence for future generations.

Cui Zhibin, a young restorer at the National Library of Ancient Books, introduced that the restoration plan of Tianlu Linlang is not a rigid copy of the principles of "the whole old is as old as the old, the least intervention", but has formed a more specific and detailed topic, and has also produced a series of scientific research results, achieving new breakthroughs in practicing the concept of restoration, and achieving "learning from the ancients without mud, breaking the law without violating the law". This is not only a comprehensive display of restoration techniques, but also reflects the increasingly rigorous attitude of restoration workers, thus helping to further improve the level of the ancient book restoration industry.

Repair process

After 60 years, the post-80s generation

Due to historical reasons, there is a fault in the age of the ancient book restorers of the National Library, and the age group directly crosses from the post-60s to the post-80s, but most of these post-80s graduates have master's degree graduates and have certain theoretical foundations and research capabilities. After 2008, the young employees who have successively entered the museum, driven by the demonstration of experts with more than 35 years of restoration experience, faced with the complex and diverse damage of the "Tianlu Linliang" collection, mastered relatively comprehensive skills through actual restoration work, and carried out research on related materials, processes, equipment, tools and other related materials in the process of project restoration.

In September 2018, the National Center for the Protection of Ancient Books held the "Ninth National Ancient Book Restoration Technology and Work Management Seminar", taking the restoration of "Tianlu Linlang" as the training theme, and according to the recommendation of the transmission institute and the tutor attached to the National Ancient Book Restoration Technique Transmission Center, 12 backbones of the ancient book restoration business from Beijing, Tianjin, Shanxi and other places who have outstanding performance in the front-line positions of ancient book restoration were selected to receive training, exchange skills, and participate in the restoration work of "Tianlu Linlang", which better promoted the national ancient book restoration force. It has played a good exemplary role in the cultivation of ancient book restoration talents nationwide, and the leading role of the industry has been brought into play.

After more than 8 years of efforts, all the damaged ancient books involved in the project have been repaired and a series of scientific research achievements have been achieved. In December 2021, the Office of the National Center for the Protection of Ancient Books organized an expert acceptance meeting, and experts gave high praise to the results of the restoration project. Experts attending the meeting believed that the restoration project of "Tianlu Linlang" exceeded the expected goal and was another important and precious ancient book restoration project of the National Library of China after the restoration projects such as "Dunhuang Testament" and "Zhao Cheng Jinzang". At the same time, fruitful results have been achieved in project management, restoration steps, restoration techniques, restoration materials, scientific research achievements, skill inheritance, technological innovation and other aspects, comprehensively, detailed and rich records of the restoration process, the restoration work of the National Library of China to a new level, but also for the subsequent large-scale ancient book restoration projects 3. Standardized development provides useful experience and information, which is of landmark significance.

It is reported that the National Library (National Center for the Protection of Ancient Books) will hold the "Tianlu Linlang" restoration exhibition this year, publish relevant restoration results, and promote restoration experience and scientific research results.