Riding the wind of rebirth

During their conversation, Zhou Zhi, after further examination, discovered a clue. Although the set of books looked very new and intact, it had actually been repaired. It was just that the repairman's technique was so skillful that he hadn't noticed it at first glance: "This person is an absolute master. The aging process is so accurate and creative. The repair marks are done in the style of the Yuan and Ming dynasties, creating a difference from the original. Impressive! Who is this person?"

"Don't ask who it is yet." Jiang Tianxi glanced at Yuan Dongjue to stop him from speaking, then smiled meaningfully and said, "Elbow, you tell us first, how does this repair technique compare to your skills?"

"In terms of restoration techniques alone, I don't think I'm inferior to him. However, his method of aging is too exquisite. He even aged it in two ways, perfectly showing the three levels of Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, and Ming Dynasty repairs. The traces of aging are so well done that it's like a work of art. It's amazing, truly amazing." Zhou Zhi stared at the ancient books in the display case with fascination: "Director Jiang, Director Yuan, where is this person? I want to meet him."

"Hahahaha..." Jiang Tianxi and Yuan Dongjue finally couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Zhi was jolted awake from his daze by their laughter and looked at them with a bewildered expression.

“Everyone says you’re incredibly smart, but now it seems that no matter how smart a person is, once they get caught up in their own interests, they’ll become a fool.” Jiang Tianxi was overjoyed, clutching his stomach: “Hahahaha… Elbow, don’t you understand yet? This ‘Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government’ was originally repaired in both the Yuan and Ming dynasties, but most importantly, after the Ming dynasty repair, its preservation conditions were perfect, and it was even better preserved after it entered the Sichuan Normal University Library.”

"So what you call 'original cultivation' and 'manifest cultivation' are genuine original cultivation and manifest cultivation, not modern restorations that are artificially aged." Yuan Dongjue laughed uncontrollably: "How could someone as smart as you not think of this? Don't you even consider your own level? If you can't do it, then probably no one else in the world can either?"

“That’s not quite right,” Zhou Zhi leaned back against the shop window. “If only I could restore the ancient book to this condition, the traces of time recorded on it… it’s so beautiful.”

Jiang Tianxi and Yuan Dongjue looked at each other in bewilderment. Although one was an archaeologist and the other a restoration expert, they were still a level below Zhou Zhi's current level. They could not appreciate the shock that the restoration traces of two masters on the scroll, after nearly a thousand years of aging, brought to Zhou Zhi.

This is an art. At this moment, Zhou Zhi raised his standards for ancient book restoration to a new level. Before seeing this book, Zhou Zhi thought that if he just kept pushing himself, he would be able to reach the ceiling. However, after seeing this book, a vast space was opened up for him. There is still much to explore in his skills.

The *Tongjian Jishi Benmo* can be understood as a "reference book," a kind of "popular science version" of the *Zizhi Tongjian*. The *Zizhi Tongjian* is an extremely voluminous book with a vast number of chapters; reading it from beginning to end requires considerable effort and time. In ancient times, this was even more extreme. Besides effort and time, there was another important constraint: economic strength.

In the Ming Dynasty, a book cost an average of four fen of silver. The Zizhi Tongjian had 294 volumes, which would cost 117 taels of silver. Even with a 50% discount, that would still be sixty taels, which was not affordable for an average family.

To solve this problem, the ancients came up with an "abridged version," which simplified the major historical events recorded in the Zizhi Tongjian and then linked them together to form the Tongjian Jishi Benmo.

Then Zhou Zhi thought of another question: "So we didn't revise this book at all? Then why did Sichuan Normal University send it here?"

“This is a rare opportunity to showcase ancient books,” Yuan Dongjue said. “Besides, we went through so much trouble to restore these books for them; how can we not give them something in return?!”

“That makes sense!” Zhou Zhi agreed. “We should also issue some access passes so that our ancient book restoration institute staff can access their library to read ancient books.”

"Your abacus beads are practically hitting my face," Jiang Tianxi said playfully, a rare occurrence for him. Continuing their tour, Zhou Zhi understood why Yuan Dongjue dared to make demands of Sichuan Normal University: it was because the university's restoration institute had overseen the restoration of several of the university's other prized artifacts.

One of them is the "Taihe Zhengyin Score".

The Taihe Zhengyin Score was written by Zhu Quan, the seventeenth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, during the Ming Dynasty, and was completed in the thirty-first year of the Hongwu reign. This prince was a man of many talents. When he encountered setbacks in his official career, he enjoyed associating with literati and scholars. He was quite knowledgeable about opera. This book is not only an important theoretical work on early Yuan Dynasty drama, but also the oldest extant score of Northern Yuan Dynasty drama, encompassing most of the essence of Yuan Dynasty drama from the early Yuan to the early Ming Dynasty.

The Taihe Zhengyin Pu (太和正音谱) held by Sichuan Normal University is a handwritten copy by Qian Gu, which is the only surviving copy in the country. It is divided into two parts, with the upper part kept in the National Library of China. It mainly records the theory of drama and the authors of dramas.

The lower part of the Sichuan Normal University edition consists entirely of opera tunes, containing more than 300 tunes.

“The scribe, Qian Gu, was a painter and calligrapher in the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the handwriting in this copy is elegant, the structure is neat, and the text is clearly marked. This shows that he was a master, and his level is not on the same level as that of ordinary copyists. Therefore, the cultural level and artistic value reflected in this copy far exceed those of ordinary copies,” Yuan Dongjue explained.

Zhou Zhi was an expert in calligraphy, so these things were obvious at a glance. If this copy were remounted as a book or handscroll, it could certainly be preserved as a work of calligraphy.

Yuan Dongjue, of course, had no idea that Zhou Zhi was having such "treasonous" thoughts, and continued to introduce: "This copy was lost to the public during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period. In the 60s, a librarian from Sichuan Normal University Library purchased it from a bookstore in Shanghai. When we were showing it, we turned to the page of 'Autumn Thoughts' by Ma Zhiyuan, a Yuan Dynasty playwright, which is quite popular among everyone."

Simply helping to restore the "Taihe Zhengyin Pu" was not enough to convince Sichuan Normal University to lend the "Tongjian Jishi Benmo" for exhibition. However, the restoration of another large book required Sichuan Normal University to "repay the favor" in this way.

Besides the fragmentary copy of the Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries) handwritten by the Southern Three Pavilions of the Qing Dynasty's Qianlong Imperial Palace, the library also includes eighteen ancient books such as the Ancient History, the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, the Book of Tang Dynasty, and the General History of Jiangnan, all of which are treasures of Sichuan Normal University.

In fact, the establishment of this joint restoration team to carry out joint restoration activities of ancient books from three universities at Shuda University was itself inspired by this Nan San Ge Siku Quanshu.

Because this book is also available at Sichuan University and was restored by Zhou Zhi, it is the Qing Dynasty Qianlong Southern Pavilion Siku Quanshu copy in the collection of Sichuan University Library—"Strategies for Pacifying the Two Jinchuan Regions".

The restoration of this copy of the Shuda Collection by Zhouzhi is closely related to the restoration of the early Qianlong-era colored map of Sichuan. The purpose of the Qianlong Emperor's commissioning of the map of Sichuan was to manage the Greater and Lesser Jinchuan regions.

When Zhou Zhi was restoring the complete map, he used his position for personal gain, claiming that the "Complete Map of Sichuan" was closely related to the "Strategy for Pacifying the Two Jinchuan Regions," and asked to borrow it for a look. His real intention was to obtain firsthand, original historical materials from that period. (End of Chapter)