Reporter's Notes
What she mends is not just a book, but a piece of history that deserves to be remembered.
As an important carrier of cultural inheritance, ancient books have gradually aged in the long river of time. For the ancient books that are "old", Xu Tong is undoubtedly a "longevity person", and the ancient books in her hands can "live" for another two hundred years.
April 23 is "World Book Day", and we walk into the world of Xu Tong, an ancient book restorer.
Xu Tong is restoring ancient books.
Through her hands, the ancient books "lived" for another two hundred years
Walking in the Ancient Books Restoration Center of Chongqing Library, a long red case, a needle, a mallet, and a paper cutter...... Lined up on it, Xu Tong sat next to the long case, burying his head between the fragments of the paper. She was engrossed and moved very lightly, and when she looked at it from a distance, it seemed as if she had been pressed to pause the still.
Ancient books, impregnated with the traces of time, are proof of the existence of culture.
Books before 1912 are called ancient books. Like people, ancient books are damaged due to "old age" or improper preservation, and need to be rescued and repaired by restorers.
As one of the staff members of the ancient book restoration team of Chongqing Library, Xu Tong has restored hundreds of ancient books such as "Luo Chengxiang Hall Test Paper", "Seven Buddhas Holy Order", and "Collection of Ancient and Modern Books". With the passage of time, Xu Tong has a heart disease: there are too many ancient books waiting to be rescued, but too few people have restored them. Taking Chongqing Library as an example, there are currently 11 members of the ancient book restoration team, and the number of ancient books has reached 430,000. Xu Tong often thinks that she and her colleagues will never be able to finish these books in their lifetime.
The restoration of ancient books is not only a technical work, it needs to go through more than 20 processes such as dismantling and repairing, flattening, and pruning; it is also a great job for patience and careful examination, if you encounter seriously damaged ancient books, the project is more cumbersome, Xu Tong has spent half a year to repair one of the Qing Dynasty rubbings of the "Mi's Ancestral Hall Post".
Even in the face of this almost impossible project, Xu Tong was never discouraged. Because the ancient books she repaired can live for another 200 years, "it is better to repair more than not to do a good job," she said calmly.
Chongqing Library has 430,000 ancient books.
Using books as a medium, we have a dialogue with humanities and history
A book reviser like Xu Tong uses books as a medium to have a dialogue with the humanities and history of hundreds of years ago.
The history of ancient book restoration can be traced back to before the Tang Dynasty, and with the development and refinement of skills, the northern school dominated by Beijing, Tianjin and Shandong and the southern school represented by Shanghai, Suzhou, Yang and Shu were gradually derived, and Chongqing belonged to the southern branch.
Xu Tong believes that the ideal state of ancient book restoration is to use the same materials and methods used to make that book. The ancient books are too old, leaving little room for future generations to innovate, and she dare not use some new materials that have not been demonstrated. Therefore, technically, the delicate and delicate restoration of the southern school is adhered to, and the traditional handmade paper and homemade tools are insisted on.
Working at the desk for a long time caused Xu Tong and his colleagues to suffer from occupational diseases of varying degrees. These occupational diseases are more like the "sequelae of the rules and regulations" of restoring ancient books.
When restoring ancient books, in order to avoid the exhaled breath affecting the ancient books, so wear masks; the paper of ancient books is as thin as cicada wings, in order to avoid sweat sticking to the pages, the arms are gently lifted; because the words on the ancient books are small and faded, during the restoration, the distance between the eyes and the ancient books becomes closer and closer, and floaters also climb up the eyeballs; long-term desk work, cervical spondylosis, lumbar disc herniation is also accompanied......
Xu Tong said that when he was restoring, he devoted himself to serving the book, and he was so engrossed in it that he couldn't think of anything else. If you can't hone your patience in this delicate and hard work, you won't be able to repair the book and save the culture.
Ancient books that have been restored can "live" for at least another 200 years.
The craft of rescuing history ushered in a golden age
Restoring ancient books is a delicate job, and a mature restorer often needs more than ten years of training to master this skill. This also leads to the fact that there are not many people learning this skill.
In 1986, Xu Tong came to Chongqing Library to work as a periodical. "At that time, the restoration of ancient books was a very niche profession. Xu Tong said that until 2007, when the Chinese ancient book protection plan began to be implemented, the first national ancient book restoration training course was enrolled, and Xu Tong, who was very interested in manual work since childhood, took the initiative to apply for registration, and won the only place in Chongqing, opening her road to ancient book restoration.
In 2013, by chance, she worshipped Zhao Jiafu, a master of ancient book restoration in the southern school. Compared with Master's generation, Xu Tong feels that he has still caught up with a good time.
"Social perceptions are changing, from niche to mass, and more and more attention is paid to the industry. Xu Tong said that the benefit of attention is that there are more young people who love this industry. Nowadays, Chongqing Normal University and other colleges and universities have opened courses related to the restoration of ancient books.
To Xu Tong's relief, her apprentices have gradually increased, "After years of study, they will be on their own." ”
More importantly, the society is also paying more and more attention to the restoration of ancient books, and activities such as ancient books entering campuses, business circles, and communities have gradually been carried out on a regular basis. ”
Of all the struggles of mankind, only books can withstand the wear and tear of time the most, and only knowledge is immortal. "Ancient books are the life of every era, and we should save them. Xu Tong said.
When the team of ancient book restorers continues to grow, perhaps, one day in the near future, the 430,000 ancient books lying in the Chongqing Library will finally be reborn.
Reporter Qin Sisi/Text Interviewee/Tu Linnan/Host