Riding the wind of rebirth

"Yes, it's clearly in New York City, but we didn't even know about it. It popped up as soon as the elbow arrived! Mr. An said that the ultimate artwork will find its owner by itself. Now I believe it a little bit." Guan Shuning was also speechless: "The Oriental Art Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art has spent a lot of effort to purchase a cowpea and red apple vase from this dynasty, but there has never been such an opportunity. I didn't expect it to be right under our noses. It's such a pity."

Weng Wange said, "Four hundred thousand dollars was given away just like that. Now I am worried, do you still have enough money?"

"The valuation has come out?" Zhou Zhi was surprised and delighted: "So fast?!"

"This is thanks to Yijun's many years of research. The bibliography is very clear, and the books, plates, and quality are described very carefully. The archive is also very accurate. With the bibliography, we can find the right book so quickly."

"Then this estimate..."

"Except for Chen Hongshou's Water Margin Antique Leaves, which needs to be retained temporarily," Weng Yijun said, "the estimated value of these more than 80 books, including the Collection of Rhymes, is more than 2 million US dollars from China Guardian and Christie's."

"Uncle means to round it up to two million dollars. What do you think, Elbow?"

This estimated price was much lower than Zhou Zhi had expected. Ancient books were different from calligraphy and paintings, and also different from porcelain. Both of these items were more expensive abroad and less expensive domestically.

However, the situation is the opposite for ancient books. Apart from some famous inscriptions and Song Dynasty editions that are recognized as good by everyone, there are too few people overseas who recognize the value of the rest of the Qing Dynasty engravings and various manuscripts.

Apart from anything else, in Zhou Zhi's opinion, these precious rare and secret copies will easily double in value within three to five years once their research value is discovered when they return to China.

The current price is almost the same as that of eleven Song-printed editions, four Yuan-printed editions, and twelve Ming-printed editions, while the remaining twenty-six Qing-printed editions and twenty-seven famous manuscripts are equivalent to being given away for free.

"Thank you very much, thank you very much." Zhou Zhi bowed solemnly to Weng Wange and Weng Yijun: "This price is really a friendship price. Apart from thanking you, I have no opinion."

"Then get to work!" Weng Wange pointed to a few large paintings on the wall that had not yet been completed: "When they are finished, we can make the deal!"

"Hey! I can just not sleep!" Zhou Zhi rolled up his sleeves and said, "Let's do it!"

……

"When it comes to restoring old works to make them look like new, many people are afraid of it, thinking that it will definitely damage the paintings." While Zhou Zhi was carefully repairing the paintings, he told the crew filming him, in fact, to the audience behind the camera in the future: "In fact, this is a huge misunderstanding."

"First, let's talk about the destruction. You can see from how I am repairing it that I am actually putting the brushstrokes on the new paper, so that they can be connected with the old painting to achieve a seamless effect."

"Whether it is ink or color, they are not on the original painting. When it is remounted in the future, these parts will be removed. Therefore, in terms of composition, nothing has been added or subtracted from the original painting. The broken picture and meaning have just been reconnected." "Only after this misunderstanding is resolved can we start discussing the possibility of restoring the old as new."

"The first step is of course to remove the rest of the mounting except for the painting or calligraphy. Whether it is a Western oil painting or an Eastern ink painting, it is actually the same. The second step is to remove the dirt. This step is actually similar in the East and the West. However, the methods of removing dirt are different because of the different materials of the drawings, the different pigments used, the way the dirt accumulates, and the different ways of damage.

"Unlike the pigments and paper used in oil paintings, Chinese paintings have an advantage in that the paper or silk used has strong hydrophilicity, so the fine pigments and charcoal powders are easily absorbed into the paper with the water medium, and the two are integrated. After the creation is completed, it is difficult to separate them and can be washed with water."

"On this basis, the so-called mounting of Chinese paintings is actually just gluing the decorative materials, strengthening materials and works of art together with adhesives."

"This adhesive is very simple. It is made of rice paste mixed with rice starch. It is a very good water solvent with stable performance and reliable adhesion. The biggest advantage is that it can easily reverse the mounting process. You only need to soak the work in water again, the adhesive will dissolve, and all the materials can be separated again."

"This will undoubtedly provide great convenience for the restoration and re-mounting of the paintings."

"Of course, nothing is absolute. In Chinese painting, the two types of paintings, green landscape and fine brushwork flower and bird, are created by stacking a layer of mineral color, a layer of alum glue, a layer of mineral color, and a layer of alum glue. This technique is similar to Western oil painting. The biggest problem with this type of painting is that it does not mesh well with the original material, and it is easy to cause discoloration during the restoration and remounting process."

"So for these two types of paintings, you need to be more careful when cleaning them, and you need to do the cleaning and color fixing at the same time."

"The fixing agent is usually the glue alum used in traditional paintings, but there are many kinds of hydrosols used in ancient Chinese paintings, and each mounting master has his own unique formula."

"The last step is restoration. Generally, the restoration of oil paintings is to add a lining material on the back of the painting, and then add a layer of transparent material on the surface to isolate the original work from the air. Then, the color is added on this layer of transparent material. However, the color of Chinese paintings is added directly on the lining material. This is the biggest difference."

"The rest is about technique. The technique of coloring oil painting is relatively simple, while that of Chinese painting is very complicated. This is because Chinese painting, especially literati painting, which occupies the high end of aesthetics, requires brushwork that is closely related to calligraphy. The momentum and continuity of the brushwork are too obvious compared to other paintings. Therefore, it is necessary to first understand its trend, brushwork, ink, and color, and then make repairs."

"Repairing is a slow and delicate process, while the painter's brushwork is unrestrained and smooth. How to use a slow and delicate technique to reconnect this unrestrained and smooth artistic conception is a great test of both aesthetics and technology..."

Zhou Zhi mended the three large paintings while chattering about them for two whole days and one night, and finally completed them. After the mending, the core of the paintings became brand new, with all the old traces gone and the torn and missing parts filled in until it was difficult to tell the old from the new. This was extremely rare for the three "giant scrolls" of such a huge size.

In fact, Zhou Zhi did not feel very tired, because the three paintings, apart from being a little bigger, were actually in a much better state of preservation than those ancient paintings he had restored, which were small in size but so broken and dirty that even the original appearance of the paintings could not be seen. It could be described as a relief.

However, for both the photography team and Guan Shuning, Wang Shaofang, Weng Wange, and Weng Yijun who took turns to watch, Zhou Zhi's mouth was even more powerful than his hands.

Chinese studies is a vast and complex subject. A single move can affect the entire body. A painting is a base point that can be used to pull out a sphere of knowledge network. (End of this chapter)