Cover news reporter Zeng Jie Wang Xianglong Image courtesy of the interviewee
"From receiving the news to rush to Sanxingdui to measure cultural relics data, customize packaging boxes, and transport them safely to Beijing, to perfectly present the big mask on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, I deeply appreciate what the artists said: 'One minute on stage, ten years off stage'! Every detail of packaging, transportation, security, etc. has been repeatedly deliberated, just so that the national audience can see the beauty of the national treasure. ”
Open the box at the Lu Xun Museum in Beijing to inspect the cultural relics
On the evening of January 31, the Chinese New Year's Eve night of the Lunar New Year, the bronze masks excavated from the Sanxingdui site appeared on the stage of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. This large bronze mask with the most complete shape and the largest volume excavated from the Sanxingdui site was unveiled after the explanations of Zhang Guoguo, the docent of "National Treasure" No. 001, and Ran Honglin, director of the Sanxingdui Archaeological Research Institute, and the shock brought to the audience is self-evident. After the successful broadcast of the program, Zhang Rui, who was responsible for the transportation and security of cultural relics, was in a difficult mood for a long time.
How did the big mask cross nearly 3,000 kilometers and move from Sanxingdui to the stage of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala? The road is long, rain and snow, how to ensure the safety of cultural relics? Zhang Rui, manager of the exhibition department of Huaxie International Treasure Freight Service Co., Ltd., was interviewed by the cover reporter and told the story behind the transportation of cultural relics. 3D scanning of cultural relics data, tailor-made packaging boxes, independent temperature and humidity control systems, behind these high-tech is the staff's awe and love for cultural relics.
Preparations are in progress
3D scan of artifact data
An equivalence model was made
The large bronze mask was excavated from sanxingdui No. 3 sacrificial pit and buried in the south-central part of the pit, when the mask was facing downwards and was superimposed with ivory. On June 23, 2021, the bronze mask was unveiled under the careful care of archaeologists.
This bronze mask is 131cm wide, 71cm high, 66cm deep, weighs 131 pounds, regardless of size or weight, it is a well-deserved "big mask". This angular and large mask brings no small challenge to the transportation of cultural relics.
In mid-December 2021, Zhang Rui received the news that Sanxingdui cultural relics may be on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, and immediately arranged for colleagues in charge of packaging design to go to the Sanxingdui Museum to 3D scan the bronze masks stored there. Cultural relics can not be tried and wrong, how to design a more secure packaging scheme? They used the scanned data to make a 1:1 mask model, conducted multiple packaging tests, and found the optimal solution.
After making a mask equivalence model, the next step is to "tailor-made". In order to avoid bumps in the long-distance transportation, they customized the inner and outer boxes for the cultural relics .) The staff used a supporting material, according to the shape of the mask to make a shape design, the front of the mask protruding, the back of the sunken part of the support, lining some soft protective materials. Then, when the inner box is loaded into the outer box, the cushioning shock absorbing material is also used to double protect and reduce the impact on cultural relics during transportation.
Not only that, the box carrying cultural relics is very exquisite, not only the size is moderate, to avoid bumps, even the screws on the box are not general, only the company's special tools can be unscrewed, both cultural relics protection and anti-theft functions.
It is worth mentioning that when the large mask was unearthed, the left ear was separated from the mask. In order to restore the original appearance of the cultural relics to the greatest extent, the staff specially customized a separate packaging box for the left ear of the mask, and used two boxes to transport the large mask from Sanxingdui to Beijing.
Packaged at the Sanxingdui Museum
The detour is almost 1,000 kilometers
Two drivers take turns driving
When the large mask was found in Sanxingdui Pit 3, it was finally released with its face facing down and layered with ivory on it, and it took more than three months of meticulous cleaning. Before leaving, the cultural security workers specially cleaned up some attachments on the mask and also made some repairs, trying to make the mask present the best state on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala.
On January 22, escorted by two drivers and a spare person, The Big Mask departed from Sanxingdui in a treasure transport van.
If you're a fan of the museum and notice the white-and-green van parked in front of the museum, it means that the exhibition may be new. Hua xie company and a number of museums at home and abroad cooperate closely, dunhuang exhibition, Qianlong special exhibition loan cultural relics, are escorted to Chengdu through them.
Zhang Rui revealed that they have traveled back and forth between Chengdu and Beijing many times before and are very familiar with this route. In the past, when transporting cultural relics from Chengdu to Beijing, they had to pass through Xi'an and Zhengzhou, plus the time of stopover, which took just 3 days. However, at that time, Xi'an and Zhengzhou had medium- and high-risk areas of the epidemic, and they diverted to Yichang and Xuzhou, detouring nearly 1,000 kilometers.
Time is pressing, the two drivers exchange driving for 4-6 hours, and even in order to reduce the stay, everyone takes the initiative to reduce the frequency of drinking water and going to the toilet, and only takes a break when driving into the service area to change the driver.
On January 23, when the van entered Xuzhou, it encountered rain and snow, and stayed overnight in the Xuzhou Museum. Fortunately, there is an independent temperature and humidity control system in the carriage, even if the wind and snow outside the carriage are mixed, the temperature and humidity can still be controlled under a stable condition.
Late on the night of January 24, Zhang Rui was anxious at the Lu Xun Museum in Beijing, and finally waited for the truck to arrive as promised, and placed the large mask that spanned nearly 3,000 kilometers in the museum's cultural relics storeroom.
Packaging artifacts at the Sanxingdui Museum
Lounge waiting rooms are specially equipped
Provide ample space for heritage
Zhang Rui has a strong interest in Sanxingdui, and has seen the style of ancient Shu cultural relics from live broadcasts and variety shows many times before. Although she has previously made a model of a large mask with 3D printing technology, she is already very familiar with the basic situation of cultural relics, and when she first saw the large masks out of the box, she was still a little shocked: the unique historical thickness of the cultural relics came to her face, and there was a feeling of "a thousand years at a glance".
On January 29, Sanxingdui Mask appeared on the stage of CCTV Spring Festival Gala for the first time for rehearsal. Prior to this, in order to avoid moving artifacts as much as possible, 3D printed equivalence models took the stage instead of large masks. Before departing from the Lu Xun Museum, they specially applied to the Beijing Municipal Transportation Administration for a special permit for the transportation of cultural relics, and there was police support along the way to ensure the safety of cultural relics.
There are many performers on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, how to avoid the bumps of cultural relics? Zhang Rui revealed that they customized a cart for moving cultural relics, and in the process of pushing the mask onto the stage, there were 6 staff members to escort them - 4 people were responsible for the implementation, and two people were protecting on the left and right, slowly pushing onto the stage to minimize the bumps caused by the ground screen splicing.
In addition, CCTV has specially opened up a VIP room waiting place for Sanxingdui cultural relics, which can be prepared in advance indoors, and multi-party coordination, reserving the time and space for cultural relics operations to ensure the safe and smooth landing of cultural relics and the appearance to the national audience.
After the Spring Festival Gala was broadcast, the audience praised the stunning appearance of the Sanxingdui mask, and Zhang Rui, who participated in the cultural protection work, was also very proud. She looked forward to having time to visit the Sanxingdui Museum to see the bronze sacred tree up close, as well as other artifacts unearthed along with the large mask, "That feeling must be wonderful." ”