孟文杰

Whenever Song Jing visits a museum，she makes a point of checking out the section on ancient books.In addition to appreciating the wisdom hidden in these historical volumes，she also focuses on how they are bound and pre?sented.

“It's more like a force of habit caused by my job，” said Song.This 34- year- old “book doctor”has been working in the restoration di?vision for ancient books at the National Library of China in Beijing for eight years.

Song made her way to the ancient books division after finishing her cultural relic protec?tion studies course at Peking University in 2015.She has since been engaged in restoring more than 100 ancient cultural relics.At the mo?ment，Song and her colleagues are working on restoring a copy of Yongle Dadian，an encyclo?pedia created in 1408 that was commissioned by Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty （1368 — 1644）.

After receiving the challenge at the begin?ning of 2022，it took Song and her colleagues six months to research and decide on how to re?store the books.“Most books from Yongle Da- dian that have survived until today have suf- fered damage to their original binding，” Song said.

“To restore them to their original form，we need to gather information from various sourc?es，such as images and texts，before we can make sure their original binding style and re?pair them accordingly，” she explained.More?over，the ancient encyclopedia's silk texture and color have both grown inconsistent，which makes creating the necessary raw materials and matching the color difficult.

In the past，restorers had to rely on their experience to determine the appropriate materi?als to use for a project.As technology has evolved，they are able to use a new method to finish the task through microscopes.However，technology can only help so much，as ancient?book restoration still requires essential manual skills，including cutting and brushing paper and binding.

Apart from this，the restoration also re?quires strong control when brushing the paper. “If the pressure is not properly controlled dur?ing the brushing process，the paper may tear，but if the touch is too light，the paper won' t ad?here，” Song explained.

Owing to the meaningful and complex pro?cess，the ancient books restoration technique of the national library was listed as a national-lev?el intangible cultural heritage in 2008.

“Hopefully，I can be of some help in in?spiring more young people to find their lifelong passion in the field of cultural heritage preserva?tion，”said Song.

每當(dāng)宋晶參觀博物館時，她都會特意去查看有關(guān)古籍的部分。除了欣賞這些歷史卷軸中隱藏的智慧，她還關(guān)注古籍的裝幀和陳列方式。

“這是工作帶給我的習(xí)慣”，宋晶說。這位34歲的“古籍醫(yī)生”在北京中國國家圖書館的古籍修復(fù)部門工作已有8年。

在2015年，宋晶在北京大學(xué)完成文物保護(hù)專業(yè)的學(xué)習(xí)后，來到了古籍部門。此后，她參與了 100多件古代文物的修復(fù)工作。目前，宋晶和她的同事們正在修復(fù)《永樂大典》 的一個副本，這是一部創(chuàng)作于1408年、由明朝成祖皇帝（1368 — 1644）下令編纂的百科全書。

在2022年年初收到這個挑戰(zhàn)后，宋晶和同事們花費了六個月研究、決定怎樣去修復(fù)這些古籍。“《永樂大典》中保留至今的大部分書籍，其原始裝幀都已損壞，”宋晶說。

“為了把它們恢復(fù)成原始形式，我們需要從各種來源收集信息，如圖像和文本，然后才能確定它們的原始裝訂風(fēng)格并進(jìn)行相應(yīng)的修復(fù)，”她解釋道。此外，古代百科全書的絲綢質(zhì)地和顏色都變得與以前不一致，讓制作必要的原材料和顏色匹配變得困難。

在以前，修復(fù)員必須憑借經(jīng)驗來確定一個項目使用的合適材料。隨著技術(shù)的發(fā)展，他們現(xiàn)在能夠通過顯微鏡用新的方法完成任務(wù)。但是，技術(shù)只能提供有限的幫助，因為古籍修復(fù)仍然需要基本的手工技巧，包括剪裁和刷紙以及裝訂。

除此之外，在修復(fù)過程中還需要在刷紙時有很強(qiáng)的控制能力。“如果在刷紙的過程中力度控制不當(dāng)，紙張可能會撕裂，但如果觸摸過于輕柔，紙張就無法粘合”，宋晶解釋道。

由于其意義深遠(yuǎn)且復(fù)雜的過程，國家圖書館的古籍修復(fù)技術(shù)于2008年被列入國家級非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)。

“我希望，自己可以幫助鼓勵更多年輕人，在文化遺產(chǎn)保護(hù)領(lǐng)域找到一生所愛?！彼尉дf道。

選自《21世紀(jì)英文報》