Ancient murals restored with labors of love

Ancient Murals Restored with Labors of Love

古代壁画修复难，工匠精神是关键

Clouds and mist shroud the magnificent ancient buildings of an imperial palace, with incense permeating the corridors before wafting beyond the city walls. This magnificently detailed scene forms part of a mural discovered at the Tomb of Prince Yide, the grandson of Emperor Li Zhi and Empress Wu Zetian during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

宏伟的古代皇宫四周云雾笼罩，香火弥漫于宫殿长廊，消散于城墙之外，这壮观精致的画面是唐代(618-907年)一处墓室壁画的组成部分，其主人为懿德太子，即唐高宗李治和皇太后武则天的孙子。

Located in Xianyang, Shaanxi province, the tomb is more than 85 kilometers from downtown Xi'an, the provincial capital. The mural is in a collection that has been housed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an for more than two decades.

该陵墓位于陕西咸阳，距离省会西安市区85公里外。这幅壁画是西安陕西历史博物馆收藏了二十多年的藏品。

In September, replicas of this mural and more than 40 others from the museum were featured in an exhibition that formed a tour at universities in Taipei, Taichung and Taoyuan in Taiwan.

2020年9月，在中国台湾的台北、台中、桃园等地大学的巡回展览中，展出了这幅壁画复制品及其他40多幅来自陕博的壁画复制品。

Liu Jia, a project manager for the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Exchange Association and a curator for the exhibition, describes the murals as " time capsules" . " They reveal the prosperity during the Tang Dynasty, enabling us to explore, research and verify how politics, society, art and culture developed at that time, " Liu said.

陕西省文物交流协会项目主管、此次展览的策展人刘佳(音译)将这些壁画形容为“时间胶囊”。他说:“它们展示了唐代的繁荣，使得我们能够探索、研究和验证当时的政治、社会、艺术和文化是如何发展的。”

Murals discovered in underground graves were often badly affected by moisture, mold and bacteria. They needed to be restored and cared for before going on display. Yang Wenzong, 57, deputy director of the museum's mural collection base and a graduate from the School of Culture and Museology at Northwest University in Xi'an, started work on restoring cultural relics immediately after joining Shaanxi History Museum in 1986.

地下墓葬中发现的壁画往往会受到潮湿、霉菌和细菌的严重损坏，在展出前需要进行修复和保养。毕业于位于西安的西北大学文博学院的杨文宗，今年57岁，是陕博馆藏壁画科研基地副主任，他在1986年入职陕博后，就立即投身到了文物修复工作中。