Memories of Crafts: Craftsmen in Yangzhou

This book falls into 23 chapters. In each chapter， pictures and texts are combined to tell stories about a traditional craft and depict one or more representatives. Through field investigation， the author introduces the evolution of the crafts and the real living conditions of craftsmen in detail， as well as the difficulties faced by these traditional crafts.

Mei Jing

Mei Jing is a member of the China Writers Association， a council member of the China Prosecutor’s Federation of Literature and Art， and a council member of the Yangzhou Writers Association. She has been engaged in literary creation for more than ten years.

Memories of Crafts：

Craftsmen in Yangzhou

Mei Jing

Jiangsu People’s Publishing House

April 2020

98.00 （CNY）

On Pishi Street， which was adjacent to a busy street， kids were hopscotching， echoing clearly on the mottled flag road. Under the locust trees at the roadside， several old men gathered together， playing chess leisurely.

A wooden door facing the street was as simple as the neighbors. On the lintel was a blue-and-white sign — Biancheng Book Store. At the corner of the walls were exquisite green potted plants， adding a bit of special charm to the door.

When I pushed the door open， the small hall was simple and elegant. On the bookshelves along the wall were eye-catching thread-bound books with plain covers and white spines.

When I opened the cover， not hard but still tough， touched the inner core of the yellowish rice paper throughout ages， and enjoyed lines of neat，" graceful ink words， time seemed to stop all of a sudden. Only a wisp of book fragrance quietly floated in the room.

In the shop， several customers were like old friends， reading books leisurely.

All this was like a different world from the noisy street a hundred meters away.

Managing ancient books is characteristic of Biancheng Book Store. Wang Jun， the shopkeeper， is not an old man as people imagine， but a young man in his early thirties.

Like most people， Wang Jun used to have a youthful dream. At university， he majored in law. When he graduated， however， he found that his interests didn’t lie in becoming a lawyer or a civil servant. He is quiet and introverted and likes reading books. The happiness accompanied by books gave him the idea of opening a bookstore.

Within only three months， he experienced the decline of a physical bookstore. A monthly turnover of only several thousand yuan couldn’t offset the expenses. The venture fund provided by his parents was soon used up. In desperation， he had to return half of the store. However， reducing the rent didn’t improve the state of his bookstore. At the beginning of 2011， he moved the bookstore to a garage in Liuhu Community， where the rent was cheaper.

Financial difficulties didn’t affect his love for books. In his spare time， he still read books. He preferred ancient books to other kinds of books.

His tie with ancient books was pure destiny. A professor who often came to his store invited him to enjoy the collection of books at their home. A Lie Zi， printed in 1920 with endnotes， caught his eye. The professor’s ancestors engraved this book， hiring skillful craftsmen at home when they were wealthy. Soon after it was printed， the Taiping Rebellion broke out， and tens of thousands of books in the mansion were burned in the war. This book survived as it was taken by his ancestors. After more than 60 years， when they settled down， the professor’s grandfather invited craftsmen to engrave this book again and added endnotes to this story.

Facing this engraved ancient book， which was several times older than himself and had experienced ups and downs of history， Wang Jun couldn’t help sighing with emotions： Such an ancient book is really valuable， as it condenses the family-country history and carries the happiness and sorrows in the world. In addition， it can reflect the society， economy， calligraphy art， and printing technology in that era. It shouldn’t be lost in the dust but should be widely spread and known by more people！

From then on， Wang Jun decided to shift his focus to ancient books. In order to spread the ancient books sleeping in civil society and warehouses to those who really loved them， he spent all his money and borrowed money from relatives and friends to buy books from other areas. In several years， he spent hundreds of thousands of yuan. As his ancient books were of many categories and good versions， of which there were precious and reliable ones， buyers came in droves and soon became his stable customers.

Of course， time also left marks on these ancient books. Among the ancient books collected by Wang Jun， there were incomplete and damaged ones， which made him very distressed. He thought ancient books were non-renewable and won’t be made up if abandoned. At that time， he had read some books about the history of book printing and binding and had some knowledge about the production of ancient books. Therefore， he determined to make up ancient books by himself.

However， he found that the restoration of ancient books was a very difficult technique. Any slight error would destroy the books immediately. Then， he bought national first-class books about the restoration of ancient books and studied them carefully. Gradually， his restoration technique was improved.

For the most common moth damage， he first used a fine-hair writing brush to clean up the powdery excrement left by worms on the book and pasted the hole with rice paper of a similar color and thickness. To minimize the repair marks， he tore off extra rice paper very carefully， leaving only a 2 mm edge around the hole. Finally， he gently tapped the repaired part with a small hammer to make it smooth.

As for the incomplete pages， he could skillfully repair them with two methods： filling the vacancy and “embedding jade with gold.” The method of “embedding jade with gold” means embedding a piece of lining paper between a folded page， folding back the part beyond the page edges and spine， and then binding the lining paper with the page.

But Wang Jun somewhat disagreed with this method. He believed that an important principle of restoring ancient books is that a repaired ancient book should look old. To some extent， the appearance of an ancient book is changed by lining pages with new paper. For this reason， he paid great attention to collecting the original paper of ancient books. When he came across ancient books that couldn’t be repaired， he would separate them and cut off the margins for the use of repair.

With such a rigorous attitude， Wang Jun’s restored books were quickly recognized. Many families with ancient books knew about his technique and brought their books for a “facelift.” He also understood their feelings and accepted all of them. Then he carefully repaired and beautified them as if treating his children.

It seems that time is always sufficient for Wang Jun， who has succeeded in restoring ancient books. There are too many ancient books waiting for restoration with his super skills， but only he masters this technique. He also wanted to train assistants. Several young people tried for some days， but gave up as they couldn’t bear the boredom and loneliness.

In fact， not only in his store but across the country， there are few practitioners of ancient books restoration. In Yangzhou， besides Wang Jun， only several professionals from Yangzhou Library and Yangzhou University Library， as well as Mr. Zhou， a folk craftsman， are really engaged in the restoration of ancient books.

The more endangered the craft is， the more united they should be. With this in his mind， Wang Jun took the initiative to visit them and asked professionals about difficulties he came across in ancient book restoration. He also made friends with Mr. Zhou and talked about the restoration technique with him.

In many people’s eyes， Wang Jun lives an austere life. But Wang Jun said： “I’ve never thought I’m doing a big thing. I just like it. Ancient books are part of my life.”

With love in his heart， he won’t find anything outside to be austere. Many of Wang Jun’s classmates and friends have luxury clothing and cars. But he doesn’t think he is less happy than others.

Wang Jun is happy. These years， he has stayed with his favorite ancient books and made many friends through ancient books. With the help of these friends， he has overcome many difficulties and finally embraced the rise of his career.

Wang Jun’s dream is to spend his life with ancient books， and people hope that his dream will come true.