Copyists of Palace Museum make antique paintings immortal
Guo Wenlin is a professor of library science at the Palace Museum and a representative inheritor of the art of copying and reproducing ancient painting and calligraphy. Photo: Xie Zongrui/CSST
Over the past seven decades since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, generations of the “Masters in the Forbidden City” have devoted themselves to the restoration of cultural relics and antiques, hoping to give a second life to these objects and pass on such craftsmanship to future generations.
Recently, CSST interviewed Guo Wenlin, a professor of library science at the Palace Museum on efforts made to preserve and pass on these treasures. Guo Wenlin is a representative inheritor of the art of copying and reproducing ancient painting and calligraphy, which has been inscribed on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
CSST: Masters in the Forbidden City, a Chinese documentary released in 2016 unveiling the Forbidden City’s cultural relics and their restorers’ lives, became a surprise hit. The public now has a chance to get a peek into this painstaking and sometimes secluded profession. Can you tell us how you entered this profession?
Guo Wenlin: Sure! When I was a kid I learned painting from Gao Zongshui (a famous artist of traditional Chinese painting). In 1979, I was recruited into the Palace Museum and became a student of lady Feng Zhonglian (1918–2001), the second-generation inheritor of the art of copying and reproducing ancient painting and calligraphy in the Palace Museum. Over the past four decades of working as a copyist of ancient artworks, it was the obsession with the ancient Chinese arts and my teacher’s instruction and great expectations of me that continuously inspired and drove me to devote myself to my work.
CSST: What is the difference between copying ancient artworks in the Palace Museum and the copying practice in general?
Guo Wenlin: There are two types of artwork copying which are common in daily life. The first one includes the endeavors of professional or amateur artists to learn about the artistic merits inherent in ancient artworks. This kind of copying is a way of self-training and its purpose is to create a better, more unique artwork. In my opinion, this practice is closer to “reproducing” rather than “copying,” because people who do this focus on imitating and learning the painting techniques and styles of the ancient artists. They do not need to make exact copies of the original. Artwork copying in the Palace Museum, on the contrary, aims at preserving antique paintings and calligraphy works, meaning that the copyists make a “duplicate” of the original. In other words, the copy and the original should be the same in every detail. Even the imperfections of the creative should remain in the copy. Any attempt to be creative is not allowed during this process. “Choosing this career means to give up individual artistic creation,” as Lady Feng Zhonglian told me when I became her student.
The second type of artwork copying is commercial copying. In order to sell the copies for a higher profit, the copyists try to make the copy as close to the original as possible, which is similar to our job. The difference between us, however, is that the copyists in the Palace Museum produce the copy according to the original art work, a treasure that may date back hundreds of years, while the commercial copyists can only copy a photo or duplicate of the original. The access to the originals that the copyists of the Palace Museum is what makes their work to be of incomparable quality.
Moreover, efficiency is also a major consideration for commercial copying, which means that the copyists won’t spend much time on copying. Conversely, copyists in the Palace Museum believe that “soft fire makes sweet malt.” Making a perfect copy of the antiques and cultivating a qualified inheritor of this craftsmanship are time-consuming endeavors. It may take years or even decades, with the efforts of several generations involved.
CSST: Can you tell us about the difficulties in making a copy?
Guo Wenlin: The most difficult process involves the learning of the properties of every original piece from their beginnings, because they were created by different artists with diverse genres, techniques and themes. We have to be familiar with every genre of painting, proficient at every painting technique and theme. The first step of making a copy is to “read” the original, including figuring out the painting tools, style and techniques employed, as well as the background, intention and the mood of the author. We have to put ourselves in the authors’ shoes to understand what they tried to achieve on the paper. Before painting, we have to prepare our wrists by drawing strokes for hours. Things get difficult when copying a painting with many cun brushstrokes (in Chinese painting, brushstrokes or dabs that give texture, or surface, to the pictorial elements).
To make the copy seem as old as the original is another principle of our job. The weathered, eroded or faded parts of the original should be reproduced on the copy.
In order to get as close to the original as possible, the copyists tend to use the same painting tools used on the original. Changes on the use of materials and techniques of producing painting tools have posed a challenge to us. In the past, copyists used the remaining silk and paper left from the Qing Dynasty for copying. However, all such things have been identified as cultural relics in recent years, and we have to use modern substitutes. In the past, three-year-old tree bark was used as the main material for xuan paper (the main writing material in ancient China) and mixed in proportion with traditional rice straw. In modern times, however, most of the xuan paper is made of hybrid rice straw and one-year-old bark, which may have been negatively affected by the acid rain. These issues make a big difference in the components of modern xuan paper, which in turn reduces the similarities between the original and the copy.
As for the pigments, the pigments used in the past were generally extracted from plants and minerals, such as the color huaqing (Indigo) made of woad leaves. Most modern pigments used now are chemical products. Finding pigments used in the past that were made from plants or minerals is becoming more and more difficult.
CSST: Usually, people prefer appreciating the original to the copy. How do you feel about this issue?
Guo Wenlin: In China, the protection and preservation of the cultural relics and antiques have improved greatly. However, ancient painting and calligraphy works are quite special due to their material components, the silk in particular, which is mainly composed of proteins. Therefore, even preservation in an environment of unchanging temperature and humidity cannot prevent these artworks from perishing. National treasures, such as the “A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains” by the Song artist Wang Ximeng and the “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” by the Song artist Zhang Zeduan, become more vulnerable each time they are exhibited. In order to extend the lifespan of these artworks, the frequency and duration of their exhibition are strictly limited. This means that copies of these artworks have to be used for long-term exhibition.
In China’s history, copying has long been used as a method to preserve and inherit artwork. When an original was lost, its copies became valuable cultural relics. Without the efforts of generations on copying artworks, we would have had little chance to see a lot of ancient art.
CSST: What role does modern scientific technology play in this craftsmanship?
Guo Wenlin: Modern scientific technology has a positive effect on our jobs. With help from electron microscopes and chemical analyzing, we are able to know about the texture of paper and silk, the thickness of different layers of colors, so as to choose the suitable painting tools and imitate the original artists’ painting methods. Meanwhile, I don’t think that handcrafted copying will be replaced by printed products, because photographs and printing cannot fully display the details of the original, such as the dimensional effect caused by layers of pigments. Furthermore, every piece of art embodies the creativity of humankind. It has been difficult for our copyists to reflect the artist’s personality and expressive intent into their copies, let alone a machine trying to do this!
New original artworks are printed every day, but the copies by our copyists are quite rare. It took Lady Feng Zhonglian ten years to finish the copy of “Along the River During the Qingming Festival.” Now this copy has been listed as a treasure and preserved in the Palace Museum. This reflects the unique value of copies of ancient artworks.
edited by REN GUANHONG
PRINT
CLOSE