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4w ago

Forbidden City Blends Science and Tradition to Restore Historic Relics

A team of 150 specialists employs cutting-edge technology and traditional methods to preserve over 1.8 million artifacts at Beijing's Palace Museum.

A restorer works on the head of a mechanical doll that manually moves a fan that once kept the imperial family cool on the sprawling compound of the Forbidden City also known as the Palace Museum in Beijing, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Visitors look at elaborate antique clocks displayed on the sprawling compound of the Forbidden City also known as the Palace Museum in Beijing, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
An elaborate antique clock is displayed on the sprawling compound of the Forbidden City also known as the Palace Museum in Beijing, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
A state-of-the-art X-ray diffraction machine analyzes a glazed roof tile from the Forbidden City in a lab on the sprawling compound of the imperial palace also known as the Palace Museum in Beijing, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Overview

  • Restorers are using advanced tools like X-ray diffraction to analyze artifacts, including a glazed roof tile with a mysterious dark patch, to better understand their condition.
  • The restoration team meticulously works on diverse relics, such as scroll paintings, ceramics, bronzes, and antique clocks gifted by European visitors.
  • Textile restoration involves techniques like 'inpainting' to seamlessly repair items, including a green silk panel believed to have been a gift for Empress Dowager Cixi.
  • Many of the Forbidden City's treasures were relocated during wartime, with some now housed in Taiwan's National Palace Museum, but Beijing's collection has since been rebuilt.
  • The restoration approach balances traditional methods with modern science, aiming to protect the cultural and historical significance of the artifacts.