Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    Culture
    Home / Culture / Heritage

    Stitching up history

    By Wang Kaihao | China Daily | Updated: 2022-03-14 07:48
    Share
    Share - WeChat
    A Palace Museum conservator restores a silk painting.[Photo by Zou Hong and Wang Kaihao/China Daily]

    Including Qu and Wang, all five conservators in the textile conservation studio are women. The studio is the only all-female department in the cultural relic conservation center of the Palace Museum, China's biggest facility of its kind.

    "Men prefer handling artifacts made of wood and metal," Wang says. "Maybe not so many of them are willing to take up sewing needles. But I think in such a job that is highly demanding about details, we can probably do better."

    For instance, they often have to string pearls, the size of millet grains.

    "I always wonder what kind of tools were used by ancient artisans to do that," Qu says. "It's still so difficult for us in spite of all kinds of modern technology."

    A modern technical approach is helping the conservators work in a way that could not be imagined by ancient artisans, like analysis of specific material. In the old days, people could only refer to their eyes, fingers and experiences.

    "A basic principle in our work is not to touch the textile until it is necessary," Chen Yang, a leading conservator in the studio, says. "But even with the help of analytical machines, we cannot be absolutely sure we chose the right material or drafted the perfect conservation plan. Maybe someone in the future will fix our errors."

    So, all the fixing on the textiles are "reversible", Chen says. Newly added materials will not be directly sewed with the original fibers. They will be made into liners that can be later removed if necessary. If some parts of paintings on textiles are worn out, the conservators will not use their needles to remake the missing images as a way to retain historical information.

    "Conservation is not to bring the perfect appearance to a textile like tailors," Wang says. "Our duty is to 'consolidate' these relics and make them survive as long as possible."

    But experienced tailors and artisans can still offer these conservators a helping hand. For example, kesi (literally meaning "cut silk"), a technique representing the highest level of Chinese textile art, is commonly seen on luxurious silk pieces in the Forbidden City, and the technique, which mainly served the royal court during the Qing Dynasty, is now only grasped by some leading artisans in Jiangsu province.

    "We refer to them to make the materials," Chen says. "It's also a way to revive traditional craftsmanship through the conservation of cultural relics."

    There is a wood-framed loom in the studio. In their spare time, the conservators often practice traditional weaving, even kesi technique. Now, in most cases, they can make the needed materials by themselves.

    |<< Previous 1 2 3 4 Next   >>|
    Most Popular
    Top
    BACK TO THE TOP
    English
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    免费VA在线观看无码| 性无码专区| 欧美日韩中文字幕2020| 人妻系列无码专区无码中出| 日本乱人伦中文字幕网站| 亚洲精品无码久久毛片| 色欲A∨无码蜜臀AV免费播| 中文字幕乱码免费看电影| 亚洲精品无码午夜福利中文字幕| 国产在线拍揄自揄拍无码| 国产精品无码av在线播放| 中文字幕无码精品三级在线电影 | 人妻少妇无码精品视频区| 亚洲色偷拍另类无码专区| 亚洲欧美中文字幕| 国色天香中文字幕在线视频| 无码国产亚洲日韩国精品视频一区二区三区| 亚洲VA中文字幕无码毛片| 无码国产精品一区二区免费式直播 | 日本中文字幕中出在线| 一本大道久久东京热无码AV| 国产99久久九九精品无码| 亚洲AV无码日韩AV无码导航| 中文精品无码中文字幕无码专区| 免费看成人AA片无码视频羞羞网| 精品人妻中文字幕有码在线| 天堂资源中文最新版在线一区 | 亚洲中文字幕久久精品无码喷水| 国产精品无码一区二区在线 | 亚洲一级特黄无码片| 亚洲 另类 无码 在线| 日韩精选无码| 亚洲高清有码中文字| 精品久久久久久中文字幕大豆网| 中文字幕人妻无码系列第三区 | xx中文字幕乱偷avxx| 最好看更新中文字幕 | 极品粉嫩嫩模大尺度无码视频 | 日韩人妻无码中文字幕视频| 无码人妻精品一区二区三区66 | 久久精品无码午夜福利理论片|