Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

"When should I know?"

Zhang Weiyi looked into his eyes:

"Wait until you've finished fixing what needs fixing!"

Su Yuan was taken aback for a moment, and Zhang Weiyi continued:

"After you repaired the Yongle Palace, there are others..."

He stubbed out his cigarette, took a piece of paper from the drawer, and pushed it towards Su Yuan. Su Yuan saw that there were a few lines of writing on the paper; it was handwritten, and the handwriting was very neat:

Tang Dynasty female figurine (Su Awu)... has been restored.

The murals in the Chunyang Hall of Yongle Palace... have been restored!

Tang Dynasty bronze mirror (Su family), pending processing…

A Ming Dynasty opera stage (Xinzhou) awaits restoration and inspection!

The Song Dynasty woodblock print of the Analects is awaiting restoration.

A bronze sword from the Spring and Autumn Period awaits identification…

Su Yuan looked at the paper twice:

"There are still so many?"

Zhang Weiyi leaned back in his chair:

"You think that's all the work you have on hand? There's a lot more to come!"

Su Yuan was internally screaming for his mother:

"That gap in Yongle Palace..."

"Once you've repaired the mural, it won't be able to leave," Zhang Weiyi added. "Someone will handle the matter of the stele."

"Who?"

Director Zhang did not answer, and continued reading the document:

"Go on out. Tomorrow, go check out that opera stage in Xinzhou..."

Su Yuan took the paper and walked to the door:

"director…"

"Um?"

"My mirror..."

"You take it with you for now!" Director Zhang said without looking up.

When Su Yuan reached the stairwell, the bronze mirror moved slightly in his pocket. He took it out and saw that the little shadows in the mirror had returned, crowding together again:

"Master Su is back?"

"Can't you see? I'm back..."

"Has he finished repairing the Yongle Palace?"

"So what's the next thing to fix?"

"The old man said it was a stage..."

"A stage? What stage..."

Su Yuan was used to hearing those sounds. He calmly put the mirror back in his pocket, and then heard Old Wu's laughter coming from downstairs!

He went downstairs and sat down next to Wu Zhenshan, who then said:

"Going to Xinzhou tomorrow?"

Su Yuan was taken aback: "How did you know?"

Wu Zhenshan smiled:

"Is there anything about this workplace that I don't know?"

Su Yuan looked at him:

Uncle Wu.

"Um?"

"Do you know about that monument?"

Wu Zhenshan put down his newspaper and looked at Su Yuan:

"Know."

"Do you know who took it?"

Wu Zhenshan didn't answer; he looked at Su Yuan:

"Your dad asked that same question back then, but I didn't tell him, and then he went crazy..."

Su Yuan's heart skipped a beat!

Do you want to know now?

Su Yuan paused for a moment, then nodded.

"think!"

Wu Zhenshan stared at him for a few seconds:

"I'll tell you after you've fixed everything on that list."

After saying that, he left. Su Yuan sat on the bench, watching his figure disappear through the door, and took out the paper:

"Will we know after we fix these six things?"

He folded the paper, put it away, and walked back to his dormitory. He lay on his bed, stared at the ceiling for a while, and then closed his eyes.

In my mind was the wall of Yongle Palace, and those three hundred-plus immortals, and the Taoist priest in the green robe standing on the clouds, the line from his shoulder to his waist so thin that it was almost invisible.

Su Yuan knew that the crack was still there, but it wouldn't open!

Su Yuan got up very early the next day, before it was fully light at 5:30. After washing up, he opened his toolbox and checked it again.

He stuffed the bronze mirror into his pocket, and the piece of paper into it too!

When he arrived at the company entrance, Qian Weidong was already waiting. It was the same white van, and he was leaning against the door holding a cup of soy milk.

Have you eaten?

Qian Weidong asked Su Yuan.

"No…"

Qian Weidong took a plastic bag out of the car, which contained two steamed buns and a cup of soy milk. Su Yuan took it and got into the car to eat. The steamed buns were made with pork and scallions, with thick skins and little filling, but they were quite hot.

He finished the steamed bun in a few bites, and had only drunk half of his soy milk when the car had already left the city!

"What's the situation with that stage in Xinzhou?"

Su Yuan asked Qian Weidong, who replied while driving:

"It was built during the Ming Dynasty and repaired once during the Kangxi era. It hasn't been touched since. During a general survey two years ago, it was discovered that the beams were crooked and the pillars had sunk. The local authorities reported that it would collapse if it wasn't repaired soon."

"That's all?"

Qian Weidong glanced at him:

"And... at night, when people pass by that stage, they can hear someone singing opera!"

Su Yuan was taken aback: "Opera?"

"Yes, it's an old-fashioned opera, something like 'The Palace of Eternal Life.' The local cultural relics management office went to listen, and they said the sound was coming from under the stage, not from above!"

"under?"

"There used to be a secret passage under the stage, but it was sealed off years ago. The sound came from there."

Su Yuan didn't speak. He touched the bronze mirror in his pocket; it was warm. He called out softly:

"Old Black..."

There was no response from inside. Qian Weidong looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Who are you talking to?"

"No, nobody."

Su Yuan nervously clutched the mirror in his hand. More than three hours later, the car stopped at the entrance of a village in Xinzhou.

The village isn't big, maybe a hundred or so households, with brick and tile houses lining both sides of the dirt road. The stage is opposite an old temple in the middle of the village!

Su Yuan got out of the car and stood in front of the stage for a long time.

The stage is quite large, with a single-eave hip roof covered in gray tiles. The brackets under the eaves are layered on top of each other, which looks quite impressive, but it doesn't look so impressive when you get closer!

It turns out the pillar was crooked, leaning eastward, just like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The beams had several cracks, the largest of which was wide enough to fit two fingers. The planks on the countertop were also half rotten, and in some places they were completely hollow, revealing the soil underneath!

Su Yuan squatted down, took out a flashlight, and shone it under the table. It was pitch black underneath, so he took out a piece of Xuan paper, tore off a small strip, lit it, and threw it down.

The note floated for two seconds before landing. Qian Weidong asked from the side:

"How is it?"

Su Yuan stood up: "There's a hollow space underneath, with a crack more than three meters deep, but thankfully the area isn't large."

At this moment, a man surnamed Liu from the local cultural relics management office arrived. He was in his fifties, wearing a straw hat, and quite dark-skinned. He led Su Yuan around the stage, saying as they walked:

"Master Su, if this stage isn't repaired soon, it will collapse during the rainy season this year. The pillar from last year was already two centimeters crooked."

Su Yuan used a measuring tape to measure the angle of the pillar's tilt, and then looked at the stone base supporting the pillar. It was an original Ming Dynasty artifact, but it had been split in two and was held together by wire.

Su Yuan asked, "Who put the clamp on?"

Old Liu said a little embarrassedly:

"We reinforced it ourselves. When we discovered the crack, we tied it with wire to prevent it from collapsing."

Su Yuan didn't speak, but walked to the front of the stage and looked up at the plaque under the eaves.

The plaque is made of wood, with black lacquer and gold lettering. The three characters "Mingfengtai" are written in Yan style, and the inscription indicates that it was rebuilt in the 36th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign!

"The 36th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign was 1697..."

Su Yuan put down the toolbox, took out a magnifying glass and began to examine it. The beam frame was a raised beam type, with five beams, three beams supporting the top beams, and then the ridge post on top of that.

After watching for seven or eight minutes, I found the problem: the connection between the five beams and the columns!