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Around 300 years ago, Chinese doctor You Yi finished his book, “Annotations to Medical Classics.” Lately, Wang Bin, a repairer of ancient books from the Liaoning Provincial Library, located in Shenyang city, northeast China’s Liaoning Province, has been repairing the same book which suffers from mildew and other forms of damage.
Photo shows the ancient book, “Annotations to Medical Classics.” (Photo courtesy of the Liaoning Provincial Library)
“Repairing ancient books is like treating patients. There are rules to follow and the repairers must be sensitive and careful during the process. For instance, this character ‘Yang’ on this page of the book has gone moldy. If the mold is not removed, it will affect the neighboring pages,” Wang explained.
Wang Bin repairs an ancient book. (People’s Daily Online/Qiu Yuzhe)
The Liaoning Provincial Library preserves 610,000 copies of ancient books, including nearly 100 belonging to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). The books suffer from different forms of damage and are in urgent need of restoration.
“Based on what we can currently devote to the restoration project, we estimate that it may take nearly 1,000 years to restore all books kept here,” the library noted at its exhibition booth of damaged ancient books.
Wang Bin repairs an ancient book. (People’s Daily Online/Qiu Yuzhe)
“It takes about a month to restore ‘Annotations to Medical Classics,’” said Wang. Over the past 14 years, Wang has repaired more than 1,000 ancient books. Wang said by restoring the book, she has come to know about the life of the ancient doctor.
Wang Bin repairs an ancient book. (People’s Daily Online/Qiu Yuzhe)
Thanks to years of efforts, Wang is now an experienced repairer and has taught her skills to other people. Every week, she gives classes to students majoring in cultural relics protection at the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts in Shenyang city, to attract more young people to the profession and join her effort to carry forward the craft.
Wang Bin teaches how to make thread-bound books to students at the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts located in Shenyang city. (People’s Daily Online/Qiu Yuzhe)
“Repairing ancient books can help extend the lifespan of the books. I’m able to find value in my life if I can do this job well,” Wang said.
(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
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