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Zhao Yu, a cultural relics restorer from Hainan
He was awarded the title of "National Technical Expert".
It is the first in Hainan to be awarded.
The title of cultural and museum worker.
November 29th.
Zhao Yu said in an exclusive interview with reporters.
National Cultural Relics Industry Vocational Skills Competition.
Let more people know about cultural heritage conservators.
Such a group.
It is her responsibility and obligation to protect cultural relics.
In the future, she will not only continue to work as a restorer.
Also to be a communicator of culture.
Let more people know about cultural relics.
Learn about heritage restoration.
Zhao Yu is in the restoration of cultural relics. Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
He has been interested in ancient culture since childhood
Universities choose "unpopular" majors
In 1995, Zhao Yu was born in Baotou City, Inner Mongolia. Because the elders in the family love collecting and history, and influenced by the family atmosphere, she has been particularly interested in ancient culture since she was a child, and at the same time, she is also deeply in love with cultural relics.
My father was a collector of antiquities, and there were several antique markets nearby, and when I was a child, he would take me there every weekend to 'shop for goods'. ”
Zhao Yu said that because of his love for ancient culture, when he filled in the college entrance examination volunteer, he chose the "unpopular" cultural relics identification and restoration major, focusing on the restoration of ancient ceramics.
Zhao Yu introduced, ceramic cultural relics are generally divided into heirloom ceramics, unearthed ceramics, water ceramics, repair methods are divided into archaeological restoration, exhibition restoration, commercial restoration, the repair process is roughly cleaning, bonding, filling, coloring, etc.
Zhao Yu told reporters that after going to school to start studying, he loved the art of cultural relics restoration even more, and was determined to take it as his lifelong pursuit. After learning the preliminary knowledge in school, in order to better improve the ancient ceramic restoration skills, I went to the ancient pottery house for targeted ceramic restoration learning.
Zhao Yu is in the restoration of cultural relics. Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
It has a lot of fate with Hainan
The restoration of the porcelain from the water is more complicated
I have a very close relationship with Hainan, when the school selected a group of outstanding students to complete a porcelain restoration project at the Hainan Provincial Museum, and I participated in it as a representative of the first grade. ”
She said that when she came to the Hainan Provincial Museum and came into contact with the cultural relics, she was very happy and excited. However, cultural relics are no more important than ordinary utensils, with very great historical, artistic and scientific value, and the damage is irreversible, so she was very careful at that time.
After graduating from university, Zhao Yu followed his lover to work at the Hainan Provincial Museum. Hainan is a major province of underwater cultural heritage. As a cultural relics restorer in Hainan, her work is mainly aimed at the restoration of unearthed porcelain, which is more complex than the restoration of unearthed porcelain.
However, when it comes to the restoration of effluent ceramics, there is a special step in the process – desalination. The soluble salt in the marine water porcelain will dissolve and recrystallize under the change of environmental factors, resulting in glaze peeling, salt return, looseness and other diseases, so after the ceramic is out of the water, the first step is to carry out desalination treatment.
A piece of porcelain from the water to the display, it needs to go through a long process. The restoration of a piece of porcelain needs to be cleaned first, and then desalination to protect the cultural relics, and after the completion of desalination, a restoration plan can be established to splice and repair the damaged porcelain. Finally, after the background color and repainting decoration, it can meet the needs of the exhibition.
She has protected and restored a large number of water porcelain, one of which is a spring vase of Yuan blue and white lotus pond mandarin duck pattern jade pot in the South China Sea, which impresses her deeply, the bottle is a national first-class cultural relic, and this artifact can fully reflect the protection and restoration process of water porcelain and hand-me-down porcelain.
After the cultural relics came out of the South China Sea, they were damaged due to various impacts, and it is necessary to intervene in the protection and restoration of cultural relics before restoration.
Zhao Yu said that after determining the technical route, the restoration of the cultural relics began to begin, first desalination, condensate removal, then supplemental shaping, and finally in the coloring, repainting.
Zhao Yu is in the restoration of cultural relics. Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
In 10 years, more than 300 pieces of ancient ceramics were "cured".
The restoration of cultural relics requires concentration and concentration
In the process of restoring cultural relics, Zhao Yu has experienced many difficult moments of restoration. "Some of the ceramics were buried in the ground, and after they were unearthed, they were broken into multiple pieces and mutilated. At this time, we need to clean the broken porcelain pieces first, then splic, and then complete and draw the decoration of the missing parts, which is a very complex and long process. Zhao Yu said.
From thin tires that are almost transparent, to Ming Dynasty dragon jars that weigh dozens of pounds, sometimes it is even necessary to piece together a porcelain ...... in hundreds of porcelain piecesFor Zhao Yu, it is common for an ancient ceramic to need to be repaired for half a year or even a year or two.
Restoring a cultural relic can take months or years. Although the restoration process is very hard, Zhao Yu is still very excited and happy every time she touches these ceramic fragments that have been buried or inherited for thousands of years, and she is very satisfied when she thinks of giving them a second life through her own hands and helping them to show them in a complete form in front of the world.
Engaged in the restoration of cultural relics for more than ten years, she has "cured" more than 300 pieces of ancient ceramics with a love from the bottom of her heart. What Zhao Yu remembers most is the story of the restoration of a large bowl from Longquan kiln. This cultural relics have traces of historical restoration, after removing the pigment covering, it was found that the glaze was seriously damaged, which was caused by improper operation in the repair and polishing process, and the original restorer covered a large area with imitation glaze material in order to cover this error, which seriously damaged the cultural relics.
Seeing this destroyed cultural relic, Zhao Yu sighed, "If you meet a good work, repair it and prolong your life."In case of bad work, the vitality is greatly damaged". This piece of porcelain has spanned the long river of history, but it was damaged when it was restored, and this damage to the artifact made her extremely sad. In the process of engaging in the restoration of cultural relics, Zhao Yu has always adhered to the awe of cultural relics, always maintained a rigorous attitude, and did not dare to easily live up to the cultural relics that have been encountered with us for thousands of years.
Zhao Yu believes that to do the restoration of cultural relics, we must first have a center, be able to sink down, and repeat simple things without interference from complex external soundsSecondly, we must concentrate on solving complex and difficult problems. Many people think that the job of a restorer is boring, but she doesn't. "Because each artifact is different, it makes me think about it all the time, and it's fun to think about the artifact in my hand while working. After entering this industry, I will always insist on doing my best to study my skills and contribute to the protection of my country's cultural heritage. ”
Zhao Yu was awarded the title of "National Technical Expert". Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
Winning the award motivates you to move forward
I want to train more young people to inherit culture
From May 2021 to April 2023, Zhao Yu worked in the Department of Archaeology of the South China Sea Museum, China (Hainan), responsible for the conservation and restoration of the museum's collections. In March 2023, she represented Hainan Province to participate in the ceramic cultural relics restoration project of the National Cultural Relics Industry Vocational Skills Competition and won the second prize. She said that it was not easy to get this award in the tenth year of study. The first ten years were all about laying the groundwork and learning.
A few days ago, the National Cultural Relics Science and Technology Work Conference was held in Beijing, and 30 people were rated as "" in the National Cultural Relics Industry Vocational Skills CompetitionNational technical expertMedals were awarded to the contestants of the titleZhao Yu from Hainan won the award
Zhao Yu said that she was very touched and that it was a great honor for a young cultural relics restorer to receive such honor and recognition. She hopes that the honor she has won will be a new starting point and guard against arrogance and rashness.
In my opinion, a restorer is the equivalent of a doctor of cultural relics, who can use his own hands to delay aging and make them healthier. ”
At the beginning, Zhao Yu chose the major of cultural relics identification and restoration with a love, and persevered all the way. Nowadays, when work habits are integrated into life, Zhao Yu's understanding of cultural relics restorers has never changed. She has always believed that the meaning of a cultural relics restorer is to protect cultural relics through their own strength, and to continue and disseminate their value.
In May 2023, Zhao Yu resigned from the South China Sea Museum in China (Hainan) and devoted himself to the restoration of ancient ceramics.
Now I choose to quit my job, not only because I don't want to waste my craft, but also because I want to spend more time and energy on cultivating talents. ”
Zhao Yu said that the restoration of cultural relics is a handicraft skill, which requires the summary and inheritance of generations after generations, and the persistence and innovation of generation after generation, which promotes the continuous development and continuation of the cultural relics restoration industry.
Regarding her future career planning, Zhao Yu said frankly that she actually wants to cultivate more "fresh blood". "Now that there is a fault line among cultural relics restorers, I want to use my own strength to cultivate some students who are interested and willing to persevere, and everyone will work together to inherit and carry forward our excellent traditional culture. ”
Zhao Yu told reporters that Hainan is now gradually attaching importance to cultural relics restorers, and she wants to train more young cultural relics restorers for Hainan through public lectures or the inheritance of the mentorship system. As long as more people know about this industry and more young people participate, then we will definitely be able to pass on the ceramic restoration skills.
**: New Hainan Client, Nanhai Net, Nanguo***Review: Wang Chudie