Old craftsmen repair relics with aneye for authenticity
By Liu Jingxian and Qian Tong |
May 28, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SHANGHAI Changshuo Construction & Decoration Engineering Co is the only company in Shanghai's suburbs with a qualification certificate for relic protection projects in the city.
The company has a group of experienced masons and carpenters. When repairing Zhouqiao Old Street, Huilongtan Garden and Confucius Temple, they restored the glamor of the old buildings with their exquisite craftsmanship.
Zhouqiao Old Street
"In my career as a carpenter, I had the most arguments with others during the renovation of the Zhouqiao Old Street," craftsman Xu Jinming said. The project to restore Zhouqiao Old Street was relatively easy if craftsmen stuck to the renovation blueprint. However, Xu, with over 40 years of experience, wanted everything to be authentic. After checking the designer's blueprint, Xu realized a lot of details were simply not local. For example, the curved patterns of the roofs were more often used in gardens while the residential houses in Zhouqiao Old Street always had flat roofs.
"If you don't change the design, I won't do it," Xu told the designers. After rounds of heated discussions, the designer compromised due to Xu's insistence. Xu said he was not afraid of trouble, he was simply afraid that the original look of Zhouqiao Old Street would be lost.
Confucius Temple
In Dacheng Hall of the Confucius Temple, a 3.35-meter-tall sculpture of Confucius is seated in a big shrine. Craftsman Chen Hongye, now 57 years old, restored the shrine and still remembers how difficult it was.
The shrine in the temple was an antique. The shrine was badly damaged when the temple was repaired in the 1980s. Since there were no design papers, Chen could only imagine how it looked based on an old blurred photo. When the person in charge of the repair work talked to Chen, Chen wasn't confident about restoring the shrine. However he accepted the challenge for the sake of "face," or respect in the circle. Chen then tried to find people who once saw the shrine and talked to them one by one. He asked about the structure, as well as the patterns and decorations on it. Then he found the right material for the shrine and made the parts one by one, then combined these parts together. Finally he restored the shrine.
Ancient buildings
When repairing Huilongtan Park for the first time, workers found it difficult to design eaves tile on ancient buildings. Without the original mould, Craftsman Pan Yunxing designed a wooden one. However, he found the mud would stick to the wooden mould. Pan added a steel sheet outside the mould. After several tests, his method worked.
"I'm already 65 years old and want to find an apprentice to learn the craftsmanship, however it's very difficult as nobody wants to learn," Pan said. There are less than 20 craftsmen in the company now - their average age is 60 - and it is very likely their skills will be lost in the future.
The company has a group of experienced masons and carpenters. When repairing Zhouqiao Old Street, Huilongtan Garden and Confucius Temple, they restored the glamor of the old buildings with their exquisite craftsmanship.
Zhouqiao Old Street
"In my career as a carpenter, I had the most arguments with others during the renovation of the Zhouqiao Old Street," craftsman Xu Jinming said. The project to restore Zhouqiao Old Street was relatively easy if craftsmen stuck to the renovation blueprint. However, Xu, with over 40 years of experience, wanted everything to be authentic. After checking the designer's blueprint, Xu realized a lot of details were simply not local. For example, the curved patterns of the roofs were more often used in gardens while the residential houses in Zhouqiao Old Street always had flat roofs.
"If you don't change the design, I won't do it," Xu told the designers. After rounds of heated discussions, the designer compromised due to Xu's insistence. Xu said he was not afraid of trouble, he was simply afraid that the original look of Zhouqiao Old Street would be lost.
Confucius Temple
In Dacheng Hall of the Confucius Temple, a 3.35-meter-tall sculpture of Confucius is seated in a big shrine. Craftsman Chen Hongye, now 57 years old, restored the shrine and still remembers how difficult it was.
The shrine in the temple was an antique. The shrine was badly damaged when the temple was repaired in the 1980s. Since there were no design papers, Chen could only imagine how it looked based on an old blurred photo. When the person in charge of the repair work talked to Chen, Chen wasn't confident about restoring the shrine. However he accepted the challenge for the sake of "face," or respect in the circle. Chen then tried to find people who once saw the shrine and talked to them one by one. He asked about the structure, as well as the patterns and decorations on it. Then he found the right material for the shrine and made the parts one by one, then combined these parts together. Finally he restored the shrine.
Ancient buildings
When repairing Huilongtan Park for the first time, workers found it difficult to design eaves tile on ancient buildings. Without the original mould, Craftsman Pan Yunxing designed a wooden one. However, he found the mud would stick to the wooden mould. Pan added a steel sheet outside the mould. After several tests, his method worked.
"I'm already 65 years old and want to find an apprentice to learn the craftsmanship, however it's very difficult as nobody wants to learn," Pan said. There are less than 20 craftsmen in the company now - their average age is 60 - and it is very likely their skills will be lost in the future.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
