Zhang Kegui
He is currently an expert in the national key cultural relics protection project plan review expert database of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, a member of the Academic Committee of the Palace Museum, a master tutor of ancient building protection and research of the China Academy of Arts, and a part-time tutor for master's degree students of Beijing University of Technology. Since 1991, he has been employed as an expert of the Cultural Relics Safety Technical Prevention Engineering Audit Group of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, a member of the National Safety and Alarm System Standardization Committee, the second vice president and secretary general of the Forbidden City Society of China, and a member of the Lightning Protection Committee of the Chinese Meteorological Society.
He has published the book "Architectural Decoration of the Forbidden City - Catalogue of Interior Eaves Decoration" (the first author), the monograph "Architecture of the Forbidden City - The Node of Thought and Time and Space", the co-author of "Three Hundred Years of the Taihe Temple" (the first author), the editor-in-chief of the "Collection of Architectural Protection and Research Papers of the Forbidden City", and has published many papers on the protection and research of cultural relics and buildings.
As the largest ancient architectural complex in the mainland, the Forbidden City is still standing and magnificent for more than 600 years; more than 600 years is still like a huge encyclopedia, and its superb creativity, extraordinary artistic achievements, and stubborn vitality shock and infect generations of people.
We approached the Forbidden City, walked into the office of Zhang Kegui, a research librarian and senior engineer of the Palace Museum, and listened to the people of the Palace Museum tell how this unparalleled masterpiece of ancient architecture has lasted for a long time and shone with a real and beautiful image.
Entering the Forbidden City from the Xihua Gate, on the south side of the Wuying Hall of the Forbidden City, a red gate, walking in is a row of houses, each door is pasted with a different fu character, and some of the doors also hang a string of peppers.
The original name of this place was "Ji Barrel Place"—a fire squad specially established during the Kangxi Emperor because of the fire in the Taihe Temple, that is, the fire brigade. Many places in the Forbidden City will place water tanks, one of the functions is to store water for fire extinguishing in case of fire.
Zhang Kegui's office is one of the houses in this row. It has been 48 years since he first walked into the Forbidden City as a staff member in 1974.
In a corner of his office was stacked with stacks of tomes of works on the study of the Forbidden City, and on a simple desk there was a large aerial view of the Forbidden City. Zhang Kegui talked about those places in the Forbidden City, and habitually found corresponding positions in the map, in the past 48 years, the conscientious old experts have measured these positions through footsteps and even fingers, and every building and every brick and tile has left the old man's painstaking efforts.
Since 1974, Zhang Kegui has been engaged in the professional technology and maintenance project management of cultural relics building protection in the Palace Museum, presided over the construction projects of the first phase of the Forbidden City's underground cultural relics warehouse, the Forbidden City fire automatic alarm system, the Forbidden City fire protection system, and the technical safety prevention system, and organized and presided over the comprehensive management planning plan of the Forbidden City moat, the Forbidden City building surveying and mapping documentation and other major projects.
In 2002, the Cpc Central Committee and the State Council decided to carry out comprehensive protection and maintenance projects for the Forbidden City, and Zhang Kegui was appointed to preside over the preparation of the comprehensive protection project plan for the Forbidden City, and specifically organized and implemented dozens of maintenance and protection projects such as wuying hall, the two buildings of the central axis, the Taihe Gate, the Taihe Temple, the Shenwu Gate, the Cining Palace, and the Shoukang Palace.
Zhang Kegui said that the comprehensive protection and overall maintenance project of the Forbidden City began in November 2001. The Palace Museum formulated a comprehensive protection plan, and as the director of the Ancient Construction Department of the Palace Museum at that time, he was responsible for the formulation of this plan, which also gave rise to the positioning of the Forbidden City as "a hundred years of major repairs to welcome the completion of the Forbidden City for six hundred years".
The main ideas put forward in this plan are: the maintenance of the ancient buildings of the Forbidden City, first the periphery, then the center; first the outer road, then the central axis; first underground, then aboveground; Demonstrate first, then promote; In view of the theoretical research status, the status of skilled workers and the status of ancient building materials at that time, it was proposed to strengthen the research of ancient buildings, establish an ancient building materials research institute, and an independent accounting design room; improve the construction team of its own ancient buildings; and establish four bases, namely, the expansion of the technical and clearance bases, the ancient building materials base, the external processing base and the flower and wood conservation base.
Although these plans have changed in form and content later, a concept that the Forbidden City people have always adhered to is that the ancient architecture of the Forbidden City is not only the essence of Ancient Chinese architecture, the protection of the Ancient Buildings of the Forbidden City should adhere to the concept and construction practices of the original craft, which is also concerned at home and abroad, so it is necessary to always strictly demand ourselves, respect cultural relics, and be a firm defender of the principle of cultural relics protection, so as to contribute to the exploration, development and formation of the theory of cultural relics protection with Chinese characteristics in the new era, and contribute to the strength of the Forbidden City.
"The ancient buildings of the Forbidden City are representatives of the official architecture of the mainland, and their craftsmanship is the crystallization of the wisdom of ancient architectural planners, designers, and craftsmen, and in the overhaul project of the Forbidden City, strictly check the 'seven masterpieces' of tile, wood, oil, painting, stone, soil, and mounting, and here is missing the 'tie-in' in the 'eight masterpieces' of ancient architecture." In addition to 'tie-up', we strive to focus on the research, excavation and training of the complete process of ancient buildings, especially the ancient buildings of the Forbidden City. Although some processes are complete, some of them are not adhered to, whether it is tiles, wood, oil, paintings, stone works have such problems, we carry out targeted emphasis and improvement. ”
Zhang Kegui counted the efforts, explorations and achievements in the nearly 50 years of work in the Forbidden City, and the shock and excitement of seeing the Taihe Hall for the first time was still in front of him.
All along, these Forbidden City people, no matter how old they are, are keeping pace with the times, tirelessly maintaining their learning and maintaining the courage to explore.
Asked him, "Do you find it more and more interesting to explore and understand the Forbidden City?" ”
Zhang Kegui said, "The more you explore, the deeper your feelings for the Forbidden City, the architecture here is the wisdom of the ancestors, the Forbidden City is here, it is really a blessing for our country and our people." We are working here because the state has handed over the Forbidden City to us, and we should be more respectful and respectful. ”
Mencius, the ancients, once said, "... Scholars have their way. His understanding is that there is something to do here, and there are multiple layers of meaning. At least from the horizontal understanding: all people should have the opportunity to learn; all people should strive for the opportunity to learn; all people should work hard and do a good job of learning when they have the opportunity to learn.
Longitudinal understanding at least: first seize the opportunity to learn; with the opportunity to learn, we must master the fundamental method of learning; with a good method, we must also work hard, eager to learn, good to ask, good teacher, and finally have learning results. No matter which way we understand it, it tells us that there must be certain conditions for doing learning, and if there are no conditions, we must create conditions. Success can only be achieved by applying what has been learned to society. Past and present, countless successful people have proved that society is destined to give everyone the opportunity to succeed.
He was fortunate that he had come to work in the Forbidden City, which gave him the opportunity to understand the Forbidden City and learn the knowledge of ancient architectural protection, research and management. Although he did not systematically study the basic theory of architecture, practical work gave him excellent learning opportunities. The ancient construction engineering team, infrastructure construction office, administrative office, safety engineering office, ancient construction department, and engineering management department where he once worked, except for the general secretary of the regiment and the secretary of the party branch in the ancient construction engineering team, are all directors or division chiefs. These departments have brought together all kinds of professional and technical personnel differently, many of whom are everyone, experts and backbones. He had made up his mind to make up for the lack of his theoretical knowledge, use himself to do management work, especially the conditions for engineering production and technical management, and learn from old comrades, old ancient construction workers, and old craftsmen and masters in practice. The Forbidden City is a big classroom, and in this big classroom, we must learn and succeed.
Zhang Kegui has said more than once on different occasions that it is necessary to unswervingly adhere to the reverence for cultural relics and buildings, always unswervingly adhere to the watchful eye for cultural relics buildings, and unswervingly adhere to the care of cultural relics buildings, which is the sincere voice formed in the Forbidden City for decades. The ancients said: "The sincere person has always been a thing, and the insincere has nothing." "This is true of all undertakings, and if you want to achieve a career, you must have a sincere attitude. To do learning, there should also be a sincere attitude, without a sincere attitude, there will be no successful career.
Up to now, he believes that the protection, research, repair and management of the ancient buildings of the Forbidden City have basically gone through three eras.
First, the 1950s. In the early stage when the Forbidden City was restored and opened to the public, due to the care of the central leaders, the Forbidden City quickly gathered the technical personnel and a large number of workers engaged in the protection of ancient buildings in the capital, and established the Ancient Construction Engineering Team and the Ancient Construction Department of the Forbidden City, thus creating a group of rare scholars, experts and excellent technical personnel for the protection of ancient buildings. Their influence in this area is still deeply rooted today. Our generation of ancient construction conservation workers is still under their shade.
Second, in the early 1970s, facing the opportunity of the Forbidden City's reopening after the tribulations of the "Cultural Revolution", and under the direct care of the central leadership, in April 1974, the State Council approved the "Five-Year Plan for the Renovation Project of the Ancient Buildings of the Palace Museum". This plan includes the protection and repair of ancient buildings, the use of ancient buildings, the safety of ancient buildings, sewage treatment and other infrastructure construction. According to this plan, the central leader Li Xiannian personally signed and approved the increase of the Forbidden City by 300 personnel, allowing hundreds of young people to enter the halls of the Forbidden City's ancient construction and maintenance undertakings, thus increasing the number of the Forbidden City's ancient construction engineering team at that time to 435.
During this project period, the Palace Museum not only planned and implemented the training of new people by ancient architecture experts, but also the old technical workers who repaired ancient buildings to pass on, help and bring. The engineering team has become an ancient building construction team with complete configurations of tile, wood, oil, painting, stone, mounting, erection and soil. It is precisely the best of this group of young workers who have undertaken the heavy responsibility of inheriting the maintenance of the older generation of the Forbidden City today and have become an indispensable generation of talents in the cause of ancient construction protection today. Zhang Kegui is also one of them, more than ten years after arriving at the Forbidden City, there are leaders, experts, and peers, hoping and cultivating him to become an excellent organizer of this generation, and some say that he is a "flag bearer". At that time, he did not dare to respond, and could only work silently. Today, more than forty years later, looking back and introspecting, he feels that he has not lived up to these expectations. Of course, there is still to be worked on.
Now, at the beginning of the 21st century, it should be the third era. This era is precisely the historical stage that requires the ancient construction cause to carry forward the past and open up the future. By 2020, the Forbidden City has carried out the grand project of comprehensive protection and overall maintenance, and this practical process will surely create a group of talents, so that the ancient construction protection of the Forbidden City will continue to be continuous and forever maintain youth.
Q-Beijing Youth Weekly
A- Zhang Kegui
Conduct systematic, historical and sustainable research
Conservation and utilization on the basis of adequate research
Q You once said that the protection and utilization of ancient buildings is a relationship of opposites and unity, and attention should be paid to protective openness, from this point of view, how does the Forbidden City do it, and what experiences do we share?
A First of all, systematic, historical and sustainable research should be carried out, and protection and utilization can only be discussed on the basis of adequate research. The ancient buildings of the Forbidden City are cultural relics buildings, and a basic law and theory in the protection of cultural relics buildings is the principle of not changing the original state. Not changing the status quo ante is a rich theoretical problem, but also a serious practical problem. The general consensus is to maintain the original form, the original structure, the raw materials, and the original process. This "four original" principle, so far, the most difficult is the "raw materials", how to understand the raw materials, how to implement the raw materials, to some extent has become the key to the protection of ancient buildings, and sometimes become a "bottleneck".
It is not difficult to maintain the original form system and the original structure, and the raw materials and the original process are inseparable communities. With raw materials, in order to play the wonderful process, without raw materials, the process has become a source of no water. Raw materials have two meanings, one is directly used in building materials, such as wood; The other layer is the building materials that need to be processed, such as green bricks, green tiles, glazed parts, and stone, and these materials have a problem with the raw material processing process.
The limitation of natural resources, the demand for environmental protection, the development of cities, the indefinite number of materials used and other multiple influences have limited the inheritance space of ancient building materials.
Raw materials can be interpreted as raw materials and similar materials of individual materials, traditional materials. In order to adhere to the principle of raw materials, so that the maintenance materials and raw materials as consistent as possible, especially in order to ensure the quality, the Forbidden City relies on the advantages of management and use of funds, and determines that the main materials are provided by the Forbidden City, that is, the so-called Party A procurement method, including wood, green brick glazed tiles, gold leaf, stone, etc., which runs through the main stage of the Overhaul of the Forbidden City; and has successively clarified several major material procurement bases, such as green brick base, gold brick base, gold leaf base, etc. Strict inspection of fixed-point procurement and reasonable bidding of ancient building maintenance materials have ensured the quality reserve use of materials used in the project and laid the foundation for the protection and maintenance of ancient buildings.
One of the principles of ancient building maintenance is to intervene less, keep as much as possible, protect first before use, can not interfere with the use of protection, nor can it be used because of protection. The use itself includes the overall architectural display, the display of the urban environment, and the addition of related facilities.
The protection and utilization of the Forbidden City is also carried out according to different historical periods, and after 2000, the state invested more in the Forbidden City, so the concept of overall protection was proposed. The building itself needs to be repaired, the decaying components need to be replaced; the display should also fully cover the building, decoration, furnishings, historical sites and the culture reflected; fire protection, security, lightning protection these protection facilities are added later. Nails in the building, the style of the building will be somewhat damaged, so these protections are antithetical and unified, and they are all aimed at sustainable development.
Now we emphasize the concept of protection of the great heritage, not only the overall protection of the building of the Forbidden City, but also the protection of the built environment, including the surrounding environment such as surrounding houses, streets and alleys, parks, public facilities, forming the overall architectural ecology of the Forbidden City, which is a macro perspective.
QWhen the Forbidden City, what is your favorite building, and which building has poured your most effort into it?
A Taiwa Hall. It encompasses all the forms found in our ancient architecture. Until now, we can still find surprises in the Temple of Taihe – the roof of the Temple of Taihe is not leaking or seeping water. For such a large-scale building as the Taihe Temple, and it has experienced hundreds of years of ups and downs, it cannot but be amazed!
Although the glaze of the old tiles of the Taihe Hall has fallen off, the tile tires are intact. New bricks and old tiles, clay tiles, glazed tiles also have the same properties, its waterproof performance is still retained, especially the good texture of the tile tire, after hundreds of years of use, its compactness has been cultivated better. The glazed tiles and ridges of the roof meet the wind and rain and become the first barrier of the Taihe Temple.
The roof of the Taehwa Hall is gray-backed, and to this day, there is not a single crack, and its well-preserved condition is amazing. The gray back is made of white ash, which is the first of its kind in the Forbidden City to have been repaired. The so-called gray back is different from the mud back. Generally, the roof lookout is made of skid ash, mud back, green gray back, tile mud and tile surface. The Temple of Taihe adopts oil, ash, tile ash, and tile surface. After removing the tiles of the Taihe Hall, we found that except for the part of the eaves, the overall ash back was intact, without any cracking, sinking, collapsing, or sliding, which had formed the second barrier of the roof of the Taihe Hall...
This is a very typical ancient building, which has materials and architectural forms that have changed with the changes of time and history, and played a role in inheriting the past and the future.
Interior restoration is a "war of time"
Q You said that interior repair is in a way a "war of time". Even good old craftsmen keep dying. What problems are currently faced by the craftsmen who protect and repair the Forbidden City? How do we race against time?
The key to the inheritance of a craft lies in the craftsman. Due to the embodiment of the law of the construction market in the construction profession, coupled with the limitations on the scale and quantity of ancient building protection and maintenance projects since the end of the 20th century, the number of craftsmen engaged in the protection and maintenance of ancient buildings is decreasing, and even "broken files", and the number of fixed workers in ancient construction workers is reduced, the number of mobile workers is increased, and the lack of skilled workers is a common difficult problem faced by the ancient building maintenance industry.
In the selection of the construction team of the protection project, the Forbidden City has set the qualifications of technical personnel, the number of technical personnel and other conditions; it also cooperates well with the ancient construction team in the society, and the proprietary department is responsible for technical training, and enters the Forbidden City protection project after passing the assessment; strengthens the management of construction technology, sets up the on-site project leader of the Forbidden City, and makes the team form a inheritance mechanism. In the context of the protection of the original craft, the official-style architectural craft has a successor, and also makes the craftsmen in the ancient building construction team in the entire Beijing area transform into young people, to the professional type, and to the social type.
What we need to solve is how to spread the craftsmanship of these old craftsmen to everyone, pass it on, love and respect these craftsmen, and keep them.
I also hope to express these precious cultural relics protection processes in a form. Now that the camera technology is getting better and better, these restoration processes should be recorded one by one, leaving tangible information to leave the skills behind. In the future, there is also a basic reference for maintenance facing the same situation, which is of substantial help to the study and research of future generations.
QWhat life has the advancement of technology brought to the renovation, research and conservation of ancient buildings, and what are your gratifying discoveries?
A technology has entered our industry and solved a lot of problems. Among them, the new technologies are: material identification, building material composition testing, large-area basic testing, the use of new materials and so on.
For example, the survey of wood components has traditionally been based on intuitive, empirical analysis. In recent years, in the repair project, we have specially asked the national timber research unit to conduct testing, which is basically no damage testing. The maintenance of the wooden structure should first determine the part and extent of the damage, especially the degree of decay.
Traditional maintenance methods, only by intuitive tapping, wooden drilling and other ways to judge, this traditional practice, generally can only judge the surface, shallow damage, the judgment of large components, dense components, hidden parts and other damage will be very difficult, new technical wood such as microwave, radar, needle sampling, etc., making this kind of survey more scientific, accurate, fast, improve the protection effect. For example, in the maintenance project of Tiren Pavilion, there is a column with a height of more than ten meters, because it is Nan wood, it begins to decay from the core of the wood, and there are no symptoms on the surface, which is found through the detection of new technology. Later, it was replaced to ensure good repair results. For components such as green bricks and glass, due to the different origins, the material composition will be different, and the processing technology will also be different. Testing with modern experimental equipment allows for targeted customization of materials. If it is found that the foundation of the building is deformed, it is necessary to investigate and analyze the deformation of the internal deformation of the foundation, in addition to the traditional excavation of the pit, we also use radar detection technology.
These new technologies are increasingly being adopted in the maintenance of ancient buildings around the world, not only to make up for the shortcomings of past technology, but also to significantly improve quality and efficiency.
Due to the constraints of the building materials market, some ancient building materials have been replaced by new materials. For example, a prominent hue of ancient buildings is the red wall, and the slurry of the red wall is made of laterite plus pig blood, etc., but for various reasons, the amount of laterite production can no longer meet the needs.
Therefore, in the process of repair, through repeated investigation and experimentation, we have adopted modern red paste to ensure the appearance style and tone effect of the ancient building. This new approach has been extended to the restoration of ancient buildings across the country. Due to the better solution to the material problem in the maintenance of the ancient buildings of the Forbidden City, the comprehensive protection of the ancient buildings of the Forbidden City and the overall maintenance can be smoothly promoted.
Wen Zhangna
Edited by Han Haha
Character photography By Lee Young-woo