Chapter 1934: Dry for a thousand years, wet for ten thousand years, neither dry nor wet for only half a year
How come these lacquered wooden wares that have lasted for thousands of years are still immortal after more than 2,000 years?
Generally, such antiquities are related to "water".
According to reports, "soaking in water" was the scene when archaeologists first discovered these lacquerware.
The reason can be traced back to a major earthquake in Xijiang in 318 AD.
According to the "Book of Jin", in the first year of Emperor Yuan's reign in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, a major earthquake occurred in Yuzhang, causing "water gushing out and landslides".
Later generations speculated that the main coffin chamber of Haihunhou's tomb also collapsed during the earthquake.
More than a hundred years later, during the Liu and Song Dynasties in the Southern Dynasty, water from Poyang Lake invaded south again, causing the groundwater level to rise and the tomb chamber to be flooded with water, forming a sealed anaerobic environment.
There is a saying: dry for a thousand years, wet for ten thousand years, and neither dry nor wet for only half a year.
It is precisely because they have been soaked in water for a long time and are in an oxygen-free environment that these precious lacquerware can be preserved.
Despite this, the lacquered woodware has been soaked in water for more than a thousand years. Although it has been preserved, it is in a saturated state, just like a pile of cotton, filled with water.
After being unearthed, the water-saturated lacquerware becomes rotten, loses strength, and loses its luster.
This kind of water-soaked lacquerware can make a nest when you pinch it with your hands.
Therefore, unearthed lacquered wooden objects cannot be exposed to the air immediately, and must be returned to water before they can be preserved.
This process is not simple. For example, it takes 1 to 2 years to dehydrate before repairing it.
Since the excavation of the Haihunhou Tomb, there have been several exhibitions of the unearthed cultural relics.
However, except for this "Gandi Treasures 2022" cultural relics exhibition, the previous exhibits were mostly gold, jade, bronze and other cultural relics, and there were no actual lacquered woodware.
There must be a reason behind the belated arrival of these lacquered woodware.
It turns out that all the lacquerware currently on display has been dehydrated, and dehydration is the first step in the restoration of lacquerware.
Dehydration means using scientific and technological means to replace the water in the water-saturated lacquerware and consolidate the wooden body.
This process is very long. Take a dehydrated fragment as an example. Although it is only the size of a palm, it took more than a year to dehydrate.
It was originally saturated with water and would break into pieces when pinched by hand. After dehydration, it became very hard and felt the same as the current wood.
Therefore, it usually takes 1 to 2 years for lacquerware to be dehydrated, which is called "dehydration protection."
After dehydration comes repair, which can be summed up as "slow work and careful work".
To dehydrate lacquerware, you first need to put the remaining pieces into a plaster mold to shape and dry, and then the pieces are bonded and completed.
This is a process that requires patience and care. Many times, conservation workers need to put the broken pieces back together piece by piece.
It is reported that a total of 960 sets of lacquerware unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Haihun were included in the first batch of restoration plans.
Mainly lacquer plates and lacquer ear cups.
At present, only more than a hundred pieces have been restored, and the Confucius screen, gilded lacquer box, and silver-lacquered box were included in the second batch of restoration lists.
And as long as what is preserved, many of them are treasures. For example, on some lacquerware, you can see thousands of years of classics in a small space.
If we say, these exquisite lacquer woodware are witnesses of the glory of lacquer art two thousand years ago.
Then, the inscriptions engraved on it unfold to us a picture of the economy, life, and customs of the ancients.
Many lacquered wood vessels unearthed from the tomb of Haihunhou have inscriptions on them.
When it was built, how many were built, how much paint was used, how many workers were used, and how it was made, the inscriptions are all recorded very clearly.
The unit for the amount of paint used is as small as "蘥".
Documents at that time recorded that one lacquer cup was worth 10 copper cups.
The labor consumption is even more so: "One cup requires the efforts of a hundred people, and one screen requires the efforts of ten thousand people." This shows the preciousness of lacquerware.
The Confucius screen unearthed from the tomb of Haihunhou was the pinnacle of lacquer art at that time."
When the Confucius screen was unearthed, images and biographies of Confucius and his disciples were painted on it.
When it was unearthed, because the lacquered wood structure of the cultural relic was similar to that of a screen, it was temporarily named the Confucius Screen.
But the Confucius screen is also inlaid with a bronze mirror, which is actually a mirror screen that integrates a screen and a clothing mirror.
More than 2,000 years ago, the mirror screen placed in front of the bed of Liu He, Marquis of Haihun, not only allowed him to draw moral nutrients from the behavior of Confucius' sages, but also allowed him to "correct his clothes."
The unearthed Confucius mirror screen mainly consists of two parts, one is a clothing mirror and the other is a lacquered wood fragment.
The dressing mirror is a large bronze mirror, 76.3 cm long and 46.5 cm wide. It is similar in size to a modern ordinary dressing mirror and has considerable practical functions;
The lacquered wood frame around the mirror is painted with pictures of the East Prince, the Queen Mother of the West, and the four gods Green Dragon, White Tiger, Suzaku and Xuanwu. The square mirror is embedded in the frame.
The back of the mirror is a lacquered wooden screen, similar in shape to a screen, with images and biographies of Confucius, Yan Hui and others painted on it.
This is also the earliest portrait of Confucius preserved in the world so far.
Interestingly, the clothing mirror in Confucius' mirror screen is not like the clothing mirrors we use in our lives today, which can directly reflect images.
Among the unearthed Confucius mirror screens, there are also two lacquered wood fragments with black cranes painted on them.
The black crane lacquered piece is the mirror cover. Its structure is similar to that of two doors. When it is opened and closed, it protects the bronze mirror inside.
Therefore, when the owner of the mirror screen used it to tidy up his appearance, he had to open its mirror cover like a wardrobe.
It is difficult to confirm who made such a fine product without an inscription.
Not only this one, but also the hand of these exquisite lacquered wood vessels can be known by future generations from the inscriptions on them.
Take the unearthed lacquer zither as an example. The zither found at the Haihunhou State site was made of a single piece of wood and was rectangular in shape.
The panel is slightly arched, with no stringers visible, and the first and last ends are painted with black paint.
Near the head end, there is a first peak with the same length as the width of the face, three tail peaks are embedded horizontally near the tail end, and four bronze poles are embedded in the middle of the tail end.
Its inscription is: "First. The twenty-five-stringed harp is forbidden to be two feet eight inches long and ten inches high. It was made in the sixth month of the seventh year of Changyi. The chief minister of rituals and music was the beginning. He ordered Shi Chenfu, the harp work was completed, and he ordered it to be built.
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Research has found that "Se Gong Chen Cheng, Chen Ding Zao" refers to the craftsmen who made Qise by themselves. One of them was named Cheng and the other was named Ding.
According to reports, this is called "Wule Gongming", that is, the maker and inspector of the utensils must engrave their names on it.
This first came from "Lu Shi Chun Qiu", which is equivalent to the ancient job responsibility system.
The qin and the harp are two kinds of stringed instruments. When played together, the sound is harmonious and pleasant to the ear.
It is a metaphor for a husband and wife who have a very good relationship and love each other.
Legend has it that Fuxi invented the harp and harp.
Both the qin and the harp are made of sycamore wood, with hollow cavities and silk ropes as strings.
The qin originally had five strings, but later became seven strings;
The harp originally had twenty-five strings, but later it was increased to fifty strings.
The ancients believed that the harp and harp can smooth the yin and yang energy and purify the human heart.
Therefore, in ancient poems, the harp and the harp have become symbols of beauty, such as "The wife is in harmony, like the drum, harp and harp"; "A fair lady, the harp and the harp are friends."