By linking my account to the check-in system, I became a leisurely traveler.

Chapter 225 Where can I sign up to restore national treasures?

The staff checked again and received an affirmative answer. Chen Nuonuo pointed to Li Younan: "It was him who drew it."

The staff member was somewhat surprised. They looked Li Younan up and down again and said seriously, "I didn't expect that, Teacher Li, you have this skill."

Previously, his supervisor had instructed him to take Li Younan to shoot video footage. This was a common task here, and it wasn't his first time doing it, so he was quite familiar with the process.

As for the photographer, Li Younan, he simply regarded him as an ordinary video blogger.

Although Li Younan is a top streamer with tens of millions of followers, relatively few people actually know him in real life.

Due to survivorship bias, many people always feel that their idol or a certain famous streamer should be known by everyone in the world. How is that possible in reality?
At least none of the people here knew Li Younan, so their previous address of him as "Teacher Li" was more of a polite gesture.

At this point, addressing him as "Teacher Li" carries genuine respect.

This staff member's job at the Palace Museum is not cultural relic restoration, but rather the daily operation and maintenance of the Forbidden City, which includes office chores and so on.

He genuinely admired these experts who had been working on the front lines of restoration for so long.

On the one hand, I admire their superb skills; on the other hand, I admire the spirit of these experts and craftsmen who have persisted in doing one thing for a long time and have pursued their passion.

Through his extensive contact with these workers, he came to understand that while talent played a part in achieving such exquisite skills in these fields, the most important factor was their willpower to endure loneliness.

To be honest, he had some prejudice against those online bloggers and video bloggers.

After all, many people in this group always do things that are deliberately designed to attract attention.

Spending a lot of time with people who can calm down and focus makes these other groups seem... superficial and restless.

Before I got to know Li Younan, I probably had this kind of image of him in my mind.

At this moment, after Li Younan demonstrated this skill, he couldn't help but feel ashamed of the stereotype he had previously formed in Li Younan's mind.

Li Younan chatted with Chen Nuonuo for a while longer, and of course, he didn't forget to shoot video footage.

However, he couldn't concentrate his video footage in one place, so the staff planned to take Li Younan to other places to collect some more footage.

However, at this moment, Li Younan began to think about something else.

Before entering this place, he filmed videos that focused on experiencing the work of cultural relic restoration up close. In general, the videos were driven by curiosity, as this is a job and skill that is extremely difficult for ordinary people to access.

However, after shooting a lot of footage, Li Younan realized a problem: although the theme had some potential, the entry point was too weak.

As a video creator, Li Younan is well aware that although he currently has a huge number of fans and his videos will initially go very well in terms of reach, if the videos themselves don't have much to offer, it will actually diminish his influence.

Therefore, we still need to find a better entry point.

Li Younan asked the staff curiously, "Is there any kind of restoration work that outsiders like us can experience?"

"Well..."

"Here's the thing, I'd like to find a better angle to approach this video footage."

The staff member thought about it carefully and said, "I can't decide that. We need to find some experienced technicians. Since this is a promotional event, you should be able to experience it, but it must be done through a strict plan."

Li Younan understood. Handling these cultural relics was not like going to a DIY workshop. These were evidence of their existence in history, and each piece was extremely valuable. Therefore, suitable artifacts and relatively controllable restoration methods were required before an outsider could even touch them.

The staff member said, "However, since you have such high painting skills, I can take you to the lacquerware restoration team. They are responsible for the restoration of lacquerware cultural relics and have a lot of painting and gilding work. Perhaps you can experience it."

Just as we were chatting, Master Chen returned.

Master Chen wore a helpless smile.

Chen Nuonuo asked curiously, "Grandpa, what's wrong? Why do you look like that..."

Master Chen, however, remained calm and said with a smile, "It's nothing, it was expected."

Chen Nuonuo said, "Grandpa, is that Qianlong famille rose openwork revolving vase really that difficult to make? So many of your groups discussed it together, and you still couldn't come up with a solution?"

Li Younan looked over curiously.

Master Chen nodded and said, "You could say that the difficulty of restoring this famille rose openwork revolving vase is probably one of the most difficult pieces among all the porcelain in the Palace Museum."

"So, what's the difficulty, Grandpa?"

"Let me put it this way, this bottle consists of three parts: an outer bottle, an inner bottle, and a base." "The outer bottle is entirely carved with openwork designs of landscapes and pavilions, while the inner bottle depicts figures from a story. But most importantly, the inner bottle can rotate and also features dynamic figures depicting corresponding scenes. The base is carved with a lotus scroll pattern and inlaid with gemstones."

"This thing is a national treasure that combines ceramics, painting, and carving techniques. It is extremely valuable and cannot be damaged in the slightest."

"Oh, so you mean this thing is too valuable, so no one dares to handle it?"

Master Chen shook his head and said, "In terms of value, this famille rose openwork revolving vase cannot be considered the most valuable national treasure."

Li Younan was a little curious.

"The most expensive items are the few intact revolving vases."

Li Younan: "..."

"The real difficulty in its restoration is that the restoration of this national treasure cannot be broken down into steps and completed by different technicians separately."

“The curvature deviation of ceramic repair will affect the subsequent carving and will not match the original pattern. If the composition of the painting repair does not match the rotation trajectory of the inner bottle, it will destroy the overall story; improper control of the depth and strength of the carving will affect the flatness of the glaze painting.”

After a pause, Master Chen said, "The key is that the three skills of ceramics, painting, and carving must all be top-notch!"

Hearing this, Chen Nuonuo was stunned for a moment, and then she roughly understood why her grandfather was in such a dilemma.

In short, to repair this cultural relic, one needs to be a master of painting, sculpture, and porcelain making.

A staff member nearby asked curiously, "Why can't we break down the process? Can't we have each person take charge of one part? Is it really impossible?"

Master Chen sighed, glancing casually at Li Younan's camera as he spoke: "We've had several meetings to discuss this, and today we've reached a conclusion: there's really no way to break down the process. The root cause is the interconnected structure of the outer bottle, inner bottle, and base, as well as the nesting and interdependence of the three major processes: ceramic body, famille rose painting, and openwork carving. The precision of each process directly determines the feasibility of the next process."

Li Younan listened for a while and roughly got a sense of what was going on.

He had also heard of the famille rose openwork revolving vase from the Qianlong period. The restoration of this revolving vase was a typical systemic project where a change in one part would affect the whole – ceramic repair required predicting the space for carving, while carving required reserving the boundaries for painting, and painting also had to match the physical limitations of ceramics and carving.

Therefore, their final conclusion was that a restorer must possess all three skills to simultaneously address subsequent needs at each stage of the process.

Of course, the most important reason why their standards are so high is that they are restoring national treasures.

A few years ago, a perfectly preserved revolving vase was auctioned overseas, fetching a price of 2.2 million, making it the most expensive piece of porcelain in the world.

At this time, the value of the revolving vase in the Palace Museum was greatly reduced because it was in a damaged state. However, once it could be repaired, even if it was repaired, its value would increase many times over.

This type of openwork revolving vase represents the pinnacle of porcelain-making craftsmanship in China's feudal dynasties. It was extremely costly, and only a few dozen pieces have survived intact worldwide, many of which have ended up overseas. Therefore, each complete piece is a museum's prized possession.

The significance of repairing it is self-evident.

Therefore, cultural relics of this level cannot tolerate even the slightest mistake. This is why the institute has held so many meetings and consulted countless experts and scholars, yet they are still helpless in the face of this difficult problem.

After listening to Master Chen's account, Li Younan's heart began to pound.

If there is anyone in the world who can restore this national treasure, then without a doubt, that person is myself.

He is a master in all three major crafts: ceramic technology, famille rose painting, and openwork carving!
He took out his phone and looked through the information on the famille rose openwork revolving vase. After a while, he had a general idea of ​​what was going on. Suddenly, he looked at Master Chen and asked, "Master Chen, is there really no restorer in China who can master all three of these techniques?"

Master Chen hesitated for a moment and said, "It's not that there aren't any, but there are almost none who have reached the master level in all three of these crafts."

“Master Yang once participated in the restoration project of the famille rose porcelain pieces of ‘Juanqinzhai’. He is proficient in Chinese painting and has a great understanding of the characteristics of ceramic bodies. However, his carving and repair skills are relatively inferior.”

"Another one, relatively speaking, is Master Xu Kai."

"He is skilled in ceramic restoration and also has some knowledge of carving, but he is old and has been retired for several years."

"The dean contacted him a while ago. His eyesight and hands aren't as good as they used to be, so he still can't carve such delicate things."

"So, the biggest problem in repairing this porcelain vase is that we can't find the right person, right?"

"You can say that."

Li Younan took a deep breath and then slowly said, "Master Chen, um... where can I sign up to restore this national treasure?"

When Li Younan said this, he was very serious and looked extremely solemn, so serious that Chen Nuonuo and the staff member stared at him in disbelief.

Master Chen was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but burst out laughing.

(End of this chapter)