Let more ancient books go down the high pavilion to "heal", and wake up, live, and pass on in the intimate contact with people and modern life...... In recent years, the National Library of China (National Center for the Protection of Ancient Books) has collaborated with social forces to empower the development of the industry, writing a new era chapter of the deep integration of ancient book protection, cultural relics protection, social forces, and scientific and technological forces, so that traditional classics can continue their life and shine in a new form.
Ancient book restorers "weave" samples one by one under the microscope
Walking into the ancient book restoration team of the National Library, in a peaceful atmosphere, the restorers are devoting themselves to the restoration of ancient books.
In front of the restorer Hou Yuran, needle awls, brushes, brown brushes, qizi, horseshoe knives, row pens, scissors, watering cans, tweezers, rulers, hammers, book pressing stones, cardboard, and stone ...... With a variety of restoration tools, she is carefully restoring the Tongzhi Liechuan, the earliest surviving edition of the Yuan Dade Sanshan County inscription in the National Library.
Beater, paper trough, paper curtain, microscope...... The National Library Restoration Team also has a small laboratory where experiments, papermaking and other tasks are undertaken. Restorer Song Hui was originally a chemistry major, and her professional ability was fully unleashed in this space, and they struggled to find the most suitable restoration materials. "We will use laboratory instruments to test the acidity and fiber of the paper, because the paper used in ancient books has bark, bamboo, grass, etc., which must be detected, so that there is a basis for matching the paper for restoration." Song Hui told reporters that when repairing the silk for book clothing, such as the "Yongle Canon", they measured the warp and weft density of the silk through instruments and equipment, and then knitted the samples one by one under the microscope. Restorer Yang Fan also added that after weaving the sample, the large-format silk should be customized and dyed. In order to make the color closer to the original, it is necessary to analyze the dye used in the detection of the original, and adjust the ratio and aging time through experiments again and again, and strive to achieve perfection.
In fact, it is precisely because the restorers actively carry out scientific analysis, material research and development, simulation experiments, and promote the scientific development of ancient book restoration through the effective combination of traditional technology and modern technology.
The Yongle Dictionary high-definition image database is free of charge
The restoration of ancient books has not only made new breakthroughs in the hands of restorers, but also promoted the "breaking circle" of ancient book protection, and the protection and promotion of ancient books in the National Library have presented a new atmosphere and new breakthroughs.
According to reports, the National Library (National Center for the Protection of Ancient Books), the China Foundation for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and ByteDance have established a long-term strategic cooperative relationship, and launched the "ByteDance Special Fund for the Protection of Ancient Books" as early as June 2021 to implement the "Ancient Books Protection and Activation Project", focusing on "what you need", "what can I do" and "what problems we can solve", integrate resources, connect supply and demand, and carry out in-depth cooperation in ancient book restoration, talent training, and ancient book activation and utilization.
Wang Honglei, director of the Office of the National Center for the Protection of Ancient Books, told reporters that with the support of the "ByteDance Special Fund for the Protection of Ancient Books", 10 national ancient book restoration centers including the National Library have restored 104 precious ancient books such as the "Lake" character album of the "Yongle Canon", the "Yinghuan Zhiluo", the "Western Xia Tripitaka Painting", and the Yellow River Yutu picture book, style Lei Tu file, and tablet rubbing.
Not only that, the "Ancient Books Protection and Activation Project" also focuses on inheritance protection, strives to strengthen the cultivation of restoration talents, and improves the overall quality of the team, and has successively held national seminars on ancient book restoration technology and work management in Yunnan Provincial Library, Tianyi Pavilion Museum, and National Library, training 107 ancient book restorers from all over the country, and restoring a number of important ancient books such as the Yi literature "Cham", the rare ancient books in the Tianyi Pavilion collection, and the Weng collection manuscripts in the National Library.
How to revitalize the originally "cold" ancient books with the help of new technologies and new means of communication? Since the launch of the "Public Welfare Project for the Protection and Revitalization of Ancient Books", many useful explorations have been made for digging deep into the content resources of ancient books and cultivating and revitalizing the ecology of ancient book utilization. In particular, relying on the advantages of ByteDance's platforms such as Douyin, Watermelon Video, and Toutiao, it tells the fresh, interesting and moving stories of ancient books under the "cold" mask in the form of short videos and micro-documentaries, so as to enhance the "interaction" between the audience and ancient books and arouse social attention.
The first documentary on the revitalization of Chinese ancient books launched by the project, "Ancient Books Through Time and Space", launched topics such as "#寻找古籍守护人" and "#全民晒书" on the new media platform, carried out "How much do you know about the Yongle Ceremony" prize answers, and organized activities such as "Yongle Dictionary" research" and "Follow the Style of Lei to the Summer Palace" live broadcast, so that the public, especially young readers, can deeply understand the gathering and circulation of ancient books and the rise and fall of the country and the nation, and the legendary stories of Chinese classics that have been passed down from generation to generation and are endless. In addition, the "Yongle Dadian" high-definition image database, developed by the National Library of China, the National Library Press, Peking University-ByteDance Digital Humanities Open Laboratory, etc., is open to the public free of charge. With the help of technical means to activate the ancient books, the public can intuitively understand the compilation style, historical changes, storage and other knowledge of the Yongle Grand Canon, and pioneer the combination of academic research services and the popularization of ancient book knowledge for the public.
The national map classics were sold for more than 6,000 yuan
To develop the cultural and creative undertakings of classics, the National Atlas explores a new path for reference. Enterprise operation, market-oriented, relying on wholly-owned library enterprises to deeply reveal the value of ancient books and cultural relics in the collection, can be described as the key node of this new path.
According to statistics, since June 2019, Guotu has developed more than 1,500 styles of various cultural and creative products, covering more than 60 categories in 8 categories such as accessories, bags, home furnishings, and gifts, corresponding to nearly 30 themes such as "Yongle Ceremony", Dunhuang Relics, and Gold List titles, realizing the cultural and creative business income from 0 to more than 6,000 yuan, and winning more than 60 awards such as the "China Tourism Commodity Competition", forming a large number of trademarks and patents with independent intellectual property rights.
The relevant person in charge told reporters that at present, the National Library has many innovative measures from product development, marketing ecological construction, to the cultivation of cultural complex formats. In particular, it actively explores the model of "culture + tourism + commerce + real estate", and has built and operated more than 8,000 square meters of complex cultural and creative spaces such as the National Library Guotu Cultural and Creative Space, Tianjin Guotu · Jinwan Cultural and Creative Space, and Huzhou Guotu Cultural and Creative Museum. Among them, the Guotu · Jinwan Cultural and Creative Space integrates Tianjin's profound cultural heritage and the cultural connotation of classic books of the National Library, with both fashionable "appearance" and profound cultural context, and has become a new landmark of local cultural tourism and commerce.
According to reports, the National Library has also extensively linked the technology and resources of all parties, established the "National Library Cultural and Creative Product Development Alliance", trained more than 2,000 library cultural and creative development professionals, promoted the joint development of interlibrary cultural and creative development, commissioned development, shared marketing channels, and effectively drove the cultural and creative development of more than 20 libraries such as Nanjing Library, Tianjin Library, Capital Library, and Shaanxi Provincial Library, forming a library characteristic cultural and creative business model.
Source: Beijing Daily client
Reporter: Lu Yanxia