Riding the wind of rebirth

"The paper used for the title page is mostly Song Dynasty Scripture Paper, White Song Dynasty Paper, etc. The paper quality is similar to the Song Dynasty trailing paper. Silk is used to inlay the upper and lower edges to form the top, water barrier, title page, water barrier, painting center, water barrier, inscription, and trailing hand scroll mounting style. This style has been used since the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China and has been used until now."

"After adding the title, the mounting has a better protective effect on calligraphy and painting works, and is more suitable for the appreciation needs of connoisseurs. In addition, the scroll style of the Ming Dynasty was innovated on the basis of the 'collision scroll' of the Song Dynasty, adding two forms of turning edge mounting and overlapping edge mounting, enriching the craftsmanship of hand-scroll mounting."

"As a way of mounting paintings for scholars to enjoy on their desks, in addition to scrolls, there are also albums."

"Album leaves originated in the Tang Dynasty. Most of the mounting methods for album leaves are whirlwind mounting, Buddhist folder mounting, sutra folding mounting, butterfly mounting, etc. This is because people found that it was very inconvenient to read longer works, so a simpler mounting method came into being."

"The mounting method of album leaves was still popular in the Ming Dynasty. On the basis of the mounting method of the previous generation, the five-inlay mounting method appeared, which used five inlays of the same color for decoration. After that, as the love of folding fans by literati and scholars increased day by day, a more suitable mounting method for folding fans appeared - push-up mounting."

"But in general, most albums in the Ming Dynasty were in butterfly binding, which usually had a front page, and the main page was generally made of silk and continued to open. In addition, there was a new form of folding fans being changed into albums or hanging scrolls, which were not available in previous dynasties."

"Of course, as the most common display requirement for large paintings, the most representative mounting style is the vertical scroll."

"The vertical scroll is a vertical form of calligraphy and painting. When appreciating it, the line of sight needs to move up and down vertically to see the whole picture. The rectangular center of the vertical scroll is a typical form of calligraphy and painting, and it is also a relatively fixed frame mode in calligraphy and painting mounting."

"The Ming Dynasty followed the experience of previous calligraphy and painting mounting. The use of customary patterns and decorations for mounting was still very popular in the Ming Dynasty. However, many changes were added, and the mounting styles became more diverse, mainly including the two-color mounting of the sky and the earth with silk circles, the mounting of the Xuanhe style of the Song Dynasty, the mounting of the poem hall, the mounting of screen strips and the mounting of couplets."

"For example, the work "Luan Bird Painting" by the Ming Dynasty painter Miao Fu imitated the mounting style of the Song Dynasty Xuanhe Mount and used the element of narrow eaves. Zhu Duan's mounting of "Night Scene Along the River" broke through the constraints of traditional Song Dynasty thinking and creatively used beige wide-edged brocade circles and dark blue floral brocade fabrics as mounting materials, reflecting the distinctive characteristics of Ming Dynasty mounting."

"Compared with the styles of the Song and Yuan dynasties, the dimensions of the top, bottom and water margins of Ming dynasty vertical scrolls were significantly lengthened, with the top margin increased to about 55 centimeters and the bottom margin 30 centimeters; the size of the middle scroll was even longer, with the top margin at about 66 centimeters and the bottom margin at about 33 to 50 centimeters. These also reflect the richness and innovation of the mounting techniques at that time."

"Due to the prosperity of calligraphy and painting in the Song Dynasty, the art of mounting has achieved unprecedented development, and the mounting styles have become rich and diverse. With the stability and prosperity of society, in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, mounting styles with local characteristics gradually formed. The most representative one is 'Wu style'."

"Wu style, also known as Su style, originated from the Xuanhe Painting Academy in the Song Dynasty and flourished in Suzhou, Huaiyang and the Qing Dynasties. It occupies a very important position in the art and culture of Chinese calligraphy and painting mounting."

"The northern mounting school of the Ming Dynasty mostly used black silk with patterns of dragons, phoenixes, clouds and cranes, such as this "Portrait of Lady Shexiang", while folk mounting mostly used dark blue, green onion white and moon white silk."

"In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, with the rise of literati painting and the prevalence of the Wu School of Painting, the influence of Wu decoration began to become obvious, and soon became a school of mounting." "The mounting materials chosen for Wu decoration gradually became mainly light-colored silk among plain silks. Compared with the northern assembly, it has a more literati atmosphere, pays attention to exquisiteness and meticulousness, the mounting pieces are regular and straight, and the inlay materials are plain silk or light-colored silk as the mounting materials. It emphasizes quiet colors, is relatively tranquil and elegant, and is cut flat and decent. The finished products are often large and soft."

"Restricted by the climate conditions in the south and influenced by the craft style and habits of Suzhou, Wuzhuang is extremely rigorous in mounting details and pays great attention to the mold and moth prevention of the finished product."

"In the Wu area during the Ming Dynasty, calligraphers and painters often had close contacts with mounters. Influenced by calligraphers and painters, the social status of mounters began to improve, which played an obvious role in improving their own skills and taste. By contacting many calligraphers and painters, mounters also have a better understanding of the appreciation styles and preferences of literati and ink painters."

"After hundreds of years of inheritance and development, Wuzhuang has finally formed a unique and widely used mounting style adopted by most parts of southern my country. It eventually formed the famous 'Yanggong' in the Republic of China, and became two unique flowers in the south and north together with the 'Jinghuo' in the north."

"In addition, other things such as screens, murals, and even folding fans can actually be included in the category of mounting art. Today, many modern technical means can be introduced, such as adding insect repellent during mounting to prevent insect infestation; vacuum display cabinets can reduce the contact between calligraphy and painting and air, slow down oxidation, and better protect calligraphy and painting works; for example, the introduction of the latest identification methods such as molecular clocks can determine the age of organic matter, etc., which is convenient for helping to determine restoration plans, etc."

"And our new generation of mounters can become compound innovative talents with profound traditional cultural heritage and unique aesthetics, so that more damaged calligraphy and painting cultural relics can be scientifically protected and restored, so that they can be restored to their original appearance and better passed on."

"The restoration of the Portrait of Lady Shexiang was completed based on a scientific schedule that we pre-planned using the engineering process progress management tool, shortening the restoration time from several months to seven days."

Having explained this, Zhou Zhi gently pulled a silk rope beside the wall, and the soft silk curtain covering the work wall slowly opened. The "Portrait of Lady Shunde, Regent Shuixi Xuanwei Envoy", which had been carefully restored to its original appearance, was finally displayed in front of everyone in its best possible way.

Madam Shexiang in the painting finally revealed her true face that had been hidden for hundreds of years. She had a dignified and thin appearance, with a gentle but firm gaze. The court dress of a second-rank lady of the Ming Dynasty court she was wearing now revealed a bright red color. Over the court dress, she wore a blue brocade shawl, which fully embodied the style of Han clothing, making Madam Shexiang look more like a Han Chinese than a member of the Yi ethnic minority.

However, there are still two places that reveal that this is a person who held a high position of power in the minority ethnic groups' vassal areas during the Ming Dynasty. One is that Madam Shexiang's earrings are two large gold rings, which is unique among the portraits of noble women in the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties. The other is that the pendant of the xiapei is in the shape of a very strange golden mask.

Zhou Zhi knew that it was a legend of the Yi people about their ancestors. This ornament that looked like a golden mask should actually be called "Aru", which means dragon.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

"In Yi legends, in ancient times, a dragon eagle dripped three drops of blood from the sky onto the body of the virtuous Pu Meiliyi, who became pregnant and gave birth to a baby on the dragon day of the dragon month of the year. The baby later became a great hero, the ancestor of the Yi people, and the protagonist of the documentary "Leo Teyi" about Yi classical poems that Chi Xueli is currently producing, Zhige Alu." Zhou Zhi explained, "Zhige Alu means son of a dragon. Dragons are widely worshipped among Yi people in various places. This pendant is actually a smaller version of the mask used by the Yi people during the Dragon Festival."

"The dragon mask and earrings were revealed after the scroll was restored, and they also happened to indicate Madam Shexiang's unique identity." (End of this chapter)