Two decades of trailblazing advances in science and technology have
transformed the restoration and preservation of cultural relics.
Once a traditional handicraft it has grown into a scientifically
based discipline in its own right.
On
March 29, 1974 farmers from Xiyang village at the northern foot of
Mt. Lishan set out to dig a well. What they did that day was to put
Xi'an in Shaanxi Province forever on the world map. They found the
famous Qin Dynasty terracotta warriors and their horses patiently
frozen in time for some 2,200 years. And so the 'eighth wonder of
the world' once again saw the light of day.
When large-scale excavations began in 1978 archaeologists brought
with them the taxing question of how best to preserve literally
thousands of priceless historic treasures.
So
far just over 1,000 terracotta warriors have been renovated but
some 7,000 more are still waiting in line for attention. Taking the
old rule of thumb of one expert piecing together one terracotta
warrior per month using traditional methods, the project would
still have had another century to run.
But today thanks to a computer based 3-D restoration system
developed by the Institute of Visualization at the Department of
Computer Sciences at Xi'an-based Northwest University, it takes
just hours to reassemble the jigsaw puzzle that is a terracotta
warrior. And so the long buried Qin Dynasty legion can pull itself
together and be on the march again within a couple of years.
A
technique jointly developed by Chinese and foreign experts has
brought improvements in stabilization and resistance to shrinkage.
This has helped solve the earlier difficulties that had plagued
color restoration on the terracotta warriors and horses. At last
the old warriors can look like themselves again as they stand guard
in the Museum of the Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses in
Xi'an.
Digital technology has been applied to the study of mummies to
reveal how individual people once looked in real life long ago.
Zhao Chengwen is a professor with the Chinese Police Criminal
Institute based in Shenyang city, Liaoning Province. Using his own
specialist computer software coupled with X-ray studies of the
skull he has been able to reconstruct the facial features of a
2,200 year old beauty as she would have looked at 18, 30 and 50
years of age.
Her well preserved body was excavated at Mawangdui in Changsha
city, Hunan Province. She is believed to be the famous Xin Zhui,
wife of a chief minister of the Changsha Kingdom under the Western
Han Dynasty. Legend has her involved in a love triangle with her
husband and the monarch.
Researchers at the Changchun-based Jilin University have
successfully used 3-D technology to simulate the original
appearance of two 1,000-year-old mummies that were unearthed in
Turpan in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Advanced molecular
biology techniques are being applied to research on the body of a
woman found in a Western Han tomb at the Laoshan site in the
suburbs of Beijing. The work will add to the body of knowledge on
DNA and the human physique in antiquity. In fact, Jilin University
has successfully investigated human bones brought to light in
Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai and northeast China. It has built
up a DNA bank for ancient Chinese people living on the frontiers of
empire.
The 1987 excavation of the Tang Dynasty terrestrial palace within
the Famen Temple found in Fufeng County, Shaanxi Province produced
over 700 fabric relics. Textile techniques like printing, appliqui
and gold lining went into the making of the royal dresses which
featured such varied fabrics as brocade, damask, satin, carbaso,
yarn, gauze etc.
A
15-year multidisciplinary study brought together experts in
archaeology, meteorology, spinning and weaving. It identified
effective methods for eradicating mildew and restoring lost
moisture content in ancient fabrics. Much has been learned about
the conservation of textiles under ideal conditions of constant
temperature and humidity. The work enabled delicate silk treasures
from the Tang Dynasty to be put on public display for the first
time in July 2002.
In
1995 a remarkable discovery was made in Guangrao County, Shandong
Province. An adult male skull dating back 5,000 years was uncovered
at a site of the Dawenkou Culture. Careful scientific examination
of this Neolithic skull showed that a craniotomy had been performed
during the lifetime of its owner. Used in the treatment of head
trauma this is a surgical procedure in which a flap of scalp and
bone is opened in the skull. The use of the technique in antiquity
was already known but the Dawenkou discovery pushed its earliest
date back a further 1,000 years.
Developments in technique have led to many successes in the
restoration of China's cultural relics including the:
- renovation of the Dunhuang frescoes in Gansu Province
- restoration of copper chariots from the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum
(tomb of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty) in Xi'an
- reproduction of bronze chiming bells from the tomb of Marquis
Yi of the Warring States Period in Suizhou city, Hubei
Province
- restoration of water damaged bamboo and wooden slips
- restoration of excavated rusted ironware
- preservation of ancient buried bronze ware
(China.org.cn, translated by Shao Da, June 22, 2003)