Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

Su Yuan hurriedly called out "Uncle Zhao," and Zhao Changhe smiled and nodded, gesturing for the two to sit down.

"Xiao Su, I've seen your bronze tripod."

Zhao Changhe took off his glasses and wiped the lenses, saying, "This thing has been sitting in our warehouse for almost five years, and nobody has dared to touch it."

"Xiao Su's welding is good, and the fracture correction is also in place," Zhou Peiyuan added from the side.

Zhao Changhe put on his glasses: "I told Lao Zhou before to transfer you to the provincial capital, but he just wouldn't agree!"

Su Yuan glanced at Zhou Peiyuan, but Zhou Peiyuan remained unfazed.

"I'd like to, but it's fine for Xiao Su to stay down there. Coming here would only hurt him."

Zhao Changhe was taken aback for a moment, then understood and didn't say anything more!

After chatting for a few minutes, Zhao Changhe glanced at his watch and said, "Alright, the exhibition starts at 9:30. You guys go down and look around first, I'll be there in a bit."

After leaving the office, Zhou Peiyuan led Su Yuan downstairs to the entrance of the exhibition hall.

The exhibition hall is fully set up, with various Han Dynasty artifacts displayed in glass showcases!

There are pottery, bronzes, jades, and quite a few other items.

The bronze tripod he restored is placed in the center of the exhibition hall, in a separate display case. The spotlight shines on the tripod, and the emerald green color of the bronze appears particularly alluring under the light.

Su Yuan stood in front of the display case, carefully looking at the cauldron he had restored. Under the light, there were no obvious flaws!

"Your craftsmanship is really good." A voice came from behind.

Su Yuan turned around and saw a man in his thirties standing behind him, wearing a dark blue windbreaker.

He was also holding a notebook in his hand.

"You are Liu..." Su Yuan was speechless for a moment when he saw that it was the person who sent the tripod. He couldn't say the word "Dong".

"Liu Dong, from the Technical Department of the Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau." Liu Dong smiled: "I delivered the Qin bamboo slips and bronze tripod to you."

Su Yuan felt a little embarrassed and quickly replied, "Hello..."

"Just call me Liu Dong."

Liu Dong walked to the display case and pointed at the bronze cauldron with his chin: "You finished this cauldron in less than two days, that's really impressive!"

Su Yuan smiled and said, "No, I was just lucky."

"You can't say that, it's just that your cooking is really good."

Liu Dong opened his notebook and wrote a few words on it:

"We have a restoration seminar next week. If you have time, please come and talk to us about the soldering techniques for bronze artifacts."

Su Yuan glanced at Zhou Peiyuan beside him, and Zhou Peiyuan nodded: "It would be good to exchange ideas if you have time."

"Okay, I'll contact you then. Thank you, Director Zhou."

Liu Dong closed his notebook, said goodbye to Zhou Peiyuan, waved to Su Yuan, and turned to leave.

Zhou Peiyuan looked at the crowd coming and going, and whispered to Su Yuan:

"That Liu Dong is a talented person, but... in short, we should keep a close eye on him."

After saying that, he gave her a look, and Su Yuan nodded in agreement.

The exhibition hall was getting more and more crowded, and Su Yuan and Zhou Peiyuan walked slowly along the display cases. Every now and then, Zhou Peiyuan would stop and point to a certain artifact, explaining a few words to Su Yuan.

"Look at the decoration on the base of this Han Dynasty bronze lamp; it's typical of the mid-Western Han Dynasty."

"The lines are smooth and the spirit is vivid, much more exquisite than those of the Eastern Han Dynasty."

Su Yuan took a closer look and saw that the base of the bronze lamp was engraved with a circle of cloud patterns, and the lines were indeed very smooth!

He asked, "Professor Zhou, was this pattern cast directly during the casting process, or was it engraved later?"

"It was cast directly," Zhou Peiyuan said.

"Bronze casting technology in the Han Dynasty was already quite advanced. Many intricate patterns could be cast in one go without the need for further processing."

Su Yuan thought about it and realized that was indeed the case!

When the two walked to a display case of jade artifacts, Su Yuan stopped and looked at it.

Inside the display case was a Han Dynasty celadon jade disc, its texture warm and lustrous, its decoration exquisite. Su Yuan immediately noticed a crack along its edge.

Su Yuan frowned and said, "This jade disc is cracked and hasn't been repaired?"

Zhou Peiyuan glanced at it:

"Yes, it was cracked when it was unearthed, and no one dared to repair it. When it was taken out for exhibition this time, it was only fixed in a simple way and no restoration was done."

"Why not fix it?" Su Yuan didn't understand; displaying it like this was too visually unappealing.

"Hehe, no one dares to repair it," Zhou Peiyuan said. "Repairing jade is more troublesome than repairing bronze, especially this kind of jade."

"What materials to use, how to repair and age the piece—every step has to be done with utmost care. One wrong step and the piece is ruined!"

After listening to Zhou Peiyuan's explanation, Su Yuan stared at the crack for a long time.

I've already started thinking about what materials and techniques would be most suitable for the repair.

Zhou Peiyuan looked at him and asked, "What's wrong? Are you itching to touch something you don't like?"

Su Yuan scratched his head and chuckled, "Hehe, a little bit."

"We'll talk about this jade disc after the exhibition," Zhou Peiyuan patted him on the shoulder. "You're here to visit, not to find work."

Su Yuan smiled and nodded, and the two continued walking forward.

When Su Yuan reached the end of the exhibition hall, he saw a display case in the corner containing a stone tablet!

The characters on the stele are very blurry; only one character can be barely recognized from a distance.

"Gap."

Su Yuan stared at the stone tablet for several seconds, a vague sense of unease creeping in. He asked, "Teacher Zhou, what is this...?"

Upon seeing this, Zhou Peiyuan's expression turned serious: "This was excavated from an ancient tomb, dating back to the Eastern Han Dynasty."

"After analysis, the content recorded in the inscription is related to the interlayer."

Su Yuan looked again, but still couldn't see clearly. Only the character "隙" (xi) was legible. He guessed that the characters were deliberately deepened when they were carved!

"What does it say here?"

Zhou Peiyuan looked around and whispered to Su Yuan:

"The record above is about a Taoist priest from the late Eastern Han Dynasty who accidentally entered the interlayer and found something there that he said existed during the time of Yao and Shun."

Su Yuan's heart skipped a beat: "Is it that big guy?"

"Very likely," Zhou Peiyuan nodded and said.

"The sorcerer referred to it as an ancient god in the inscription, saying it existed since the beginning of time and was later sealed away deep within a hidden layer by someone!"

Zhou Peiyuan thought about it again:

"It also records his attempts to communicate with that thing, but he failed. The last sentence of the inscription reads, 'Gods must not be approached, for approaching them will lead to death.'"

Su Yuan listened without speaking, staring at the character "隙" (xi) and thinking:

"What exactly is that big thing?"

Zhou Peiyuan patted him on the shoulder: "Let's go, Director Zhao is waiting for us."

The two then left the exhibition hall and went up to the third floor, where Zhao Changhe's office door was open.

He was sitting behind his desk drinking tea when he saw the two of them come in. He pointed to the sofa next to the coffee table:

"Please sit down and try my newly bought Longjing tea."

Zhou Peiyuan sat down, picked up his teacup, and took a sip: "Hmm, not bad."

Zhao Changhe smiled and looked at Su Yuan, asking, "Little Su, you've looked around just now, is there anything you want to say?"

Su Yuan thought for a moment:

"There are a lot of good things here, but I saw a few that needed repair, so I put them on display without fixing them..."

Zhao Changhe sighed, put down his teacup, and said:

"There are only a handful of people in the province who are in charge of cultural relic restoration. They are all shrewd and afraid of taking responsibility and losing their reputation."

Zhou Peiyuan, standing to the side, said with a smile:

"That's why I put Xiao Su downstairs, so he can work on things quietly without being disturbed."

Zhao Changhe glanced at him, smiled, and didn't reply. Zhou Peiyuan's phone received a message; after reading it, he glanced at Su Yuan but remained silent.

The three chatted for a while longer when Su Yuan's phone vibrated. It was a message from Zhang Weiyi:

"Xiao Su, there's movement in the eastern suburbs of the province. Han Zhengming's men have started making arrangements. Come directly to the office after you return from the provincial capital, don't delay!"