Repairer dedicates over two decades to cultural relic restoration

Yang Jinglong repairs a cultural relic. (Photo courtesy of the Cultural Relic Protection Center in Xianyang)

Yang Jinglong is a 50-year-old cultural relic restorer from the Cultural Relic Protection Center in Xianyang, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Thanks to his over 20 years of experience, he has won first prize in the category of mural and painted sculpture restoration in a national competition for cultural relic vocational skills.

In the storage room of the Cultural Relic Protection Center in Xianyang are 245 precious high-grade murals belonging to the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-207 BC), Han Dynasty (202 BC-220), and Tang Dynasty (618-907), covering an area of about 340 square meters.

The Tang Dynasty tomb murals show a wide range of scenes including singing, dancing, and games. The brushwork employed in these murals varies from bold and vigorous to ethereal and delicate strokes. The use of colors also varies, with some murals featuring simple and bright hues while others display a more intricate and exquisite palette. The figures depicted in these murals are very lifelike.

The restoration room, covering an area of almost 50 square meters, is decorated with sketches and damage charts of different murals. Cultural relics from various periods patiently await restoration on the floor.

"The restoration of cultural relics requires extreme care, meticulously cleaning, reinforcing, repairing, and restoring them inch by inch," said Yang. "This is not a simple technical task; modern cultural relic restoration requires knowledge from multiple disciplines."

Archaeology, history, physics, chemistry, fine arts, geology, meteorology, computer science - all of these subjects, and more, must be studied. Repairers must understand the ancient production techniques and materials, archaeological excavation conditions, the environment during excavation, geological conditions, among others, according to Yang.

Yang pursued his studies in cultural relic preservation technology at Northwest University in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. Upon graduating in 1997, he joined the Cultural Relic Protection Center in Xianyang, dedicating himself to the preservation and restoration of cultural relics for more than two decades.

Yang has honed his skills through years of training. When he was entrusted with a damaged painted pottery jar, it was nothing more than a heap of fragmented pieces, with crucial parts missing. With meticulous planning, technical processes, experiments, fitting, bonding, restoration, ageing, and protection, he dedicated eight months to the restoration of this relic, eventually breathing new life into it.

In 2002, Yang's team initiated the first phase of the protective restoration of a mural preserved at the Zhaoling Museum in Xianyang.

Upon receiving the mural, they discovered that the section portraying figures of ladies had been shattered, with scattered fragments. After two years of meticulous work and consulting archaeological and scholarly materials, the team successfully reconstructed a complete mural depicting the figure of a lady holding a fan by piecing together the 283 fragments.

Yang now holds himself to higher standards, aspiring to become a true custodian of cultural heritage.

Yang spent five years completing a research report on the protection and restoration of Tang Dynasty tomb murals. This work is the first of its kind in Xianyang, focusing on the scientific preservation and restoration of cultural relics.

The work covers research outcomes in technology, new materials, and innovative approaches for preserving and restoring these murals. Additionally, the book provides valuable insights into the preservation environment of mural pigments.

As a part-time professor at Xianyang Normal University, Yang hopes that every class he teaches can both impart knowledge to students and also ignite a passion for cultural relic restoration.