Riding the wind of rebirth

There were two consecutive pauses. The first one was that although Yao Chong said Zhou Zhi was a friend, Zhou Zhi was indeed too young and looked like a college student. No one corrected his two students before calling him classmate, so Duan Qihong followed suit. .

The second pause was that Zhou Zhi said that this method is an ancient method of painting and calligraphy restoration, which has been lost. Duan Qihong couldn't believe that Zhou Zhi knew it, so he guessed whether he had heard of it. Or seen it somewhere.

Whether you have seen it or heard about it, this is an excellent opportunity to restore the ancient method and solve the problem of calligraphy and painting restoration. Based on the clues provided by Zhou Zhi, you can find an old artist who knows this craft and continue this craft. It must be Great news for calligraphy and painting restoration.

"It's actually not difficult to light a fire to burn lead." Zhou Zhi said: "Put the paper flat on the table, wet it with water, then wrap a towel with alcohol and light it. The burning flame is actually still some distance away from the paper surface, and the paper Because the inside is full of water, it won’t be ignited by alcohol.”

"Protected by the water layer and alcohol liquid, the paper surface cannot come into contact with oxygen, so it will not burn. The alcohol flame actually burns on the surface of the water layer and alcohol liquid, and the evaporation of the water will take away the temperature of the paper surface. Keeping the water layer on the paper in a non-boiling state is similar to how we boil water to remove paste stains on the paper without damaging the picture."

"Only the lead that precipitates on the surface of the paper is truly burned by the alcohol flame and can be quickly oxidized, turning from black lead to white lead again, restoring the original appearance of the ancient painting."

"How...how is it possible?" Duan Qihong's students looked at each other in confusion. Although Zhou Zhi's words were very fancy and sounded reasonable, what was in front of them was a national first-class cultural relic, a rare paper book that had been preserved from the disasters of the Ming Dynasty. , using alcohol to ignite the fire, isn't this imagination... a bit too exaggerated?

Duan Qihong's throat was a little dry and hoarse: "This classmate, you...you know how?"

"I have never done anything to Minghua." Zhou Zhi said.

"That still hasn't been done in practice..." Duan Qihong's student said again.

"However, our Shu University has a painting called "Landscape Scroll" by Wang Meng and Huang Gongwang. I tried this method on it and the effect was very good."

"Huang Gongwang and Wang Meng..." Duan Qihong was frightened when he heard this: "Those are... the two members of Yuan Si's family..."

"Yes, Wang Meng also recorded the painting process in the inscription of the painting. He imitated Huang Gongwang's painting method at home. When Huang Gongwang came to his home, he took out the painting. , Huang Gongwang was invited to drink and comment. Huang Gongwang added some additions to the painting on the spot, and taught Wang Meng some painting techniques on the spot. After finishing the painting, Wang Meng gave the painting to Huang Gongwang to keep, and he asked him to come to the Hanlin Academy A painting historian named Zhu filled in the colors."

"The painting was also very old and heavily stained with lead, especially the use of lead white. The garcinia areas were particularly badly stained. The mountains, streams, waterfalls and riverside reed flowers were almost invisible to their original appearance. Finally, they were restored by burning the lead on fire. His true colors came out."

"This painting has been restored and perfected this year. Everyone is welcome to come to Shu University to see the paintings collaborated by two Yuan Dynasty masters. This is the treasure of our Shu University."

"Elbow, don't talk too much." Yao Chong saw that the people around him were getting anxious, and he carefully suggested: "How about you show us the process?"

"Oh, this is actually not complicated. The main thing is to control the final fire extinguishing time, otherwise the painting will be set on fire." After Zhou Zhi finished speaking, he looked at the operating table: "Everything is ready-made, so I will use white Let’s show it off.”

Now everyone in the restoration room gathered around. One of the two students just brought a piece of rice paper and spread it on the table, and the other brought something like an alcohol swab. "Wait a moment." Duan Qihong took a small reagent bottle, picked a little powder from it and spread it on the paper: "This is the lead powder we used for the experiment. Let's try it and see what the effect will be."

Now it is relatively complete. Although it is clean Bai Xuan, Zhou Zhi still went through the entire process of repairing calligraphy and paintings. He first scalded it with boiling water, then rinsed it with clean water, and finally rolled it on the paper with a towel to squeeze out the excess water. At the same time, it also makes the paper stick to the bottom plate, and at the same time, it also washes away the floating lead on the trace just now.

The whole set of movements was completed smoothly. It is said that experts can tell when they stretch out their hands. Duan Qihong can see the traces of work in the meticulous technique at a glance. He used a water brush to apply water, a kettle to drizzle the noodles, and rolled away the bubbles in the paper and other small details. It was done perfectly and flawlessly. A novice might not be able to do a good job even if he had to worry about it for half an hour, but it only took three to five minutes for Zhou Zhi to complete it.

After doing this, Zhou Zhi picked up the kettle and sprayed the paper again, then surrounded the lead mark with two water-absorbent towels, then touched the paper with his fingers to confirm the humidity, and then mixed the alcohol to a certain concentration. , poured some on the paper, dipped a cotton swab in some alcohol and ignited it on the alcohol lamp, then lightly touched the area surrounded by the towel, and a light blue, vague flame appeared. Jumping on paper.

"Ouch..." The onlookers didn't dare to breathe loudly just now, for fear of affecting Zhou Zhi's operation, but now they were all frightened and couldn't help but exclaimed softly.

Only Chen Shaochong quietly exited the repair room just now and ran to his office to make frantic calls.

The small light blue flame kept jumping on the drawing paper, and suddenly I heard a classmate exclaim: "It's faded!"

Sure enough, the lead marks that Duan Qihong had just wiped on the paper gradually became lighter and whiter from the edge under the sway of the flames, and the entire stain slowly began to become smaller.

The flames also became smaller and smaller amidst this magical change. Just when everyone was stunned and full of surprise, Zhou Zhi suddenly picked up a wet towel and covered it with the flames. After covering it for a while, he took the towel away and said, "That's about it."

Most of the lead marks on the paper have disappeared, leaving only a few shallow marks.

"To completely remove the lead color, you may need to burn it once or twice." Zhou Zhi said, "But this is the method."

"Awesome..." Duan Qihong picked up the paper base and looked at the shallow lead marks on the rice paper: "It's an eye-opener!"

"Teacher Duan," asked another restorer in the restoration room. His thoughtful and skillful memory and magical techniques had completely conquered him: "The "Dragonfly in Ru Ye" we have here has some serious lead stains. . How about letting Xiao Zhou give it a try?"

"This... this is quite precious." Duan Qihong was still a little undecided.

Zhou Zhi curled his lips secretly upon hearing this. What is so precious about this painting? I wouldn't even be willing to buy it if it were left at Gongmei.