Chapter 15 Section 3 Maintenance and Protection

No matter what material the books are made of, there are always situations such as insects, dampness, mildew, and damage.If it happens, if you leave it alone, it will go from bad to worse, and finally it will be impossible to deal with it.Therefore, the Chinese knew how to repair books in time to prolong the service life of books long ago.Regarding the restoration of ancient books, it can be summed up as decontamination, leaf trimming, mouth opening, hole filling, sticking, mounting, lining, brazing, binding and other main procedures and methods. Books are often stained by ink, grease and other things in the process of circulation, and they need to be decontaminated before restoration.The usual methods used for decontamination include washing books, flushing, paddling, and rinsing.The so-called book washing is to use iron basins, iron pots, etc. to boil water with alkali, and then hold seven or eight pages of books, put one end of the book in the water and swing back and forth for scrubbing.After one end is washed, the other end is washed, and after a few leaves are washed, the other leaves are washed until the whole book is washed.The so-called flushing is to place a wooden board obliquely in the basin, spread a piece of paper on the board, and arrange the disassembled book leaves on the wooden board one by one.Put some alkali in a pot of water, boil it, and then slowly rinse the stained book leaves from top to bottom.The so-called padding is to place a bowl of clean boiled water next to the book leaves, and use a clean brush dipped in water to wipe the stains, dilute the stains, and bleed with the water.The so-called rinsing refers to rinsing the book leaves with deep and heavy stains with bleaching powder water to achieve the purpose of decontamination.Decontamination is just a procedure, and there is no need to add more to the book that is not stained.After decontamination, it is to fill leaves and so on.

Repairing book leaves is the most basic process in the restoration of ancient books. Holes, slips, sticking cracks, mountings, and even linings should all be included in the leaf repairing process.Ancient books are eaten away by moths, and the wormholes either go straight up and down or meander, and they need to be filled.Filling holes is the basic skill of writing.Open the leaf, with the back of the book facing you, then hold the tissue paper with your left hand, and the writing brush dipped in paste water with your right hand, spread a corner of the tissue paper on the hole, touch the wet brush, and immediately press the wet paper with your middle finger, and then press the wet paper with your left hand. Pull back the tissue paper, and the wet paper will be broken and patched at the hole.Each hole is filled in this way, and the hole filling process is finished.Sometimes the holes are like the bottom of a sieve and cannot be repaired one by one, so the whole paper mounting method is used to make the holes filled with leaves firmly.Ancient books are bound with hinges, and the mouth of the book is easy to break, so slipping the mouth is also a basic process.If the entire book leaf is framed, the mouth of the book will naturally slip away.If only the mouth of the book is broken, you have to slip out specially.The mouth is similar to filling the hole, sticking it with tissue paper and thin paste.If the book leaves are broken, some techniques will be required for glue repair. "Qi Min Yao Shu Miscellaneous Theory No. 30" said: "If the book is damaged and cracked, if the square paper is used to mend it, the rate will be fisted, and the scar will be hard and thick. The scar will be damaged by the book. The cracked thin paper is like

There are two methods of inlaying, one is to use the whole sheet of folded white paper that is the same width as the book leaf, but higher than the top and bottom of the book leaf to line the hinge of the book leaf; the other is to cut the white paper into wide strips, On the back of the book leaves, the top and bottom of the book are inlaid, so that the rest of the white paper is also higher than the top and bottom of the sky.These two inlay methods can produce the effect of yellow book leaves inlaid on white jade plates, so they are called "gold inlaid jade".And because it is lined with book leaves, it is like lining paper to wear a robe with a cover, so it is also called a "gown suit".This kind of repair prevents the leaves of the book from being worn out during the process of placing or flipping through them, which is a good way to repair them.

Books have been loaded and cut many times for a long time, and the margin of the book will become narrower, and then the binding line will be too sharp, which makes it difficult to read, which is not conducive to the protection of books, so there is a way to connect the brain.The so-called brain connection is to take out new paper from the right side of the book leaf, widen the brain of the book, and then bind it.This technique looks simple, but in fact it requires extremely high craftsmanship.Because if the seams are not handled properly, they will become four layers and increase the thickness.However, the book brain and the book leaves are still two layers, with different thicknesses, which is not proper.It must be bonded with skillful hands to be seamless.

There are many techniques for the maintenance of ancient Chinese books.An ancient book that is rotten or riddled with holes can be as good as new after being repaired and rectified by experts.This technology was invented and continuously improved by the Chinese nation in long-term practice.And it has lasted for a long time, and there are still successors who are still developing.