The Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, is getting its biggest ever facelift since 1911.

The repair and maintenance work for the west road including the Wu Ying Palace in the Forbidden City will be completed in May this year while the repair work for the east road will be finished in October this year before the 80th anniversary of the Palace Museum. In addition, the Wu Ying Palace and the Fujian Palace Garden are expected to open to the public after the anniversary celebrations.

Ancient workmanship is handed down for generations

Li Yongge, director with the ancient building section of the Palace Museum, said recently he expressed opposition to the saying by some media that there is a "lack of relevant ancient technology for the heavy repair of the Forbidden City". He said "We have mastered most of the ancient workmanship".

"For example, mortise and tenon joints were used for the main wooden structures of the ancient architectural groups in the Forbidden City instead of nails," Li said. "In the repair of the Wu Ying Palace we guarantee that the original mortise and tenon joints are used instead of nails".

The mortise and tenon joint is a kind of ancient wooden feat. It is introduced that no metal nails were used for connecting two parts in traditional Chinese furniture. Instead a joint style of concave and convex treatment, which the concave part is called chase mortise while the convex part is called joint tongue.

Li said, "Some of the workers in the repair team are grand sons of those worked here with their workmanship handed down for three generations.

The middle-aged are the main force

It is reported that there are some 100 workers in the repair center of the Forbidden City. The average age of the workers is 46 or 47 and they are all from Beijing. And they are the main force for the repair project.

It is learned that the center has also employed more than 600 migrant workers for the repairing work, which requires no strong technology. Before starting the repair work, they have been trained in ancient repair work technology.

Not all the floor "gold bricks�� to be replaced

For the overhaul, there is a rumor saying that all roads in the Forbidden City will be replaced with "gold bricks". Li said the saying is not accurate.

"In this repair, we will not replace all the bricks on the road with "gold bricks," said Li. The area for laying "gold bricks" for the ancient Forbidden City was very limited, which was only centralized on three lines of east, middle and west.

"What is more, the "gold bricks" laid in the Ming and Qing dynasties were classified into five or six specifications. On the middle road where the Tai He Palace, the Zhong He Palace and the Bao He Palace sit the biggest "gold bricks" were used measuring two chi or 64 centimeters. The "gold bricks" used in the outer side are smaller ones measuring 54.4 and 44.8 centimeters.

"What we say chi is the ancient chi. One chi is equal to 32 centimeters", explained Li.

Broken bricks can sharpen knifes

"Why they called as gold bricks"? Some people think that the color of the brick is golden. That is wrong. The bricks are of the color blue when made. When hitting the brick, it sounds like the echo of metal so we call the bricks as metal bricks, not as people call `gold brick'." Li said.

"In the past people used the broken metal bricks as sharpening stones. Still some people used the broken bricks as ink-stones," Li recalled.

"Paint is also the important component for the repair." Director Li said, "The paint used in the overhaul is made according to the ancient paint-making technology.

Splash paint with waste silk fabric

It is learned that brushes were used when painting the wooden structure in the Forbidden City during the period from "Cultural Revolution" to the middle of 1980s. "Actually it was not the traditional way," Li said. "Brushes are something foreign. In ancient times, workmen did not use brushes to splash paint; instead they use waste silk fabric left over from clothes making to apply paint to pillars and something needing paint".

Besides, the paint thickness splashed by the fabric is more than that by brushes. It is favorable for paint to infiltrate into the inner part of the pillars when rubbing paint on to them. The painting will be finished when applying paint rubbing for three or four times. However, the paint is uneven. Following this, a tool named as shuan is used to shave the surface. Shuan is made from woven bristles.

Concocting color only by experience

"Paint making is also very dainty," Li added. "The ancient paint is quite different from the present one. The ancient paint is made from tung oil with added ingredients. If the color of yellow needed then add some king's yellow; if blue needed than add blue and so on. For example if red color is needed for fresco, then add vermilion".

It is learned that the light and dark color is made in line with more or less minerals added. And workmen's experience is a decisive factor. So the ancient color is different from that concocted by the present chemicals. "To keep the original appearance, the paint used in this repair work is made according to traditional technology. And the paint hue is more natural and lasting," Li continues.

The repair project to cost more than 1.9 billion yuan

The general overhaul started in October 17, 2002 and is expected to complete in 2020. The first stage of the repair project will be complete ahead of the 2008 Olympic games.

According to an introduction by Jin Hongkui, deputy directory of the Palace Museum, the biggest facelift is the first general overhaul since 1911 with an estimated investment of 1.95 billion yuan.

Zheng Lianzhang, an expert in ancient architecture, said the repair project is the most meticulous in the repair history of the Forbidden City for restoring, for example, many of its timeworn buildings due to natural erosion.

By People's Daily Online