Breathing new life into ancient relics

He adds that cultural relic restoration is never simply a matter of assembling and patching things back together. Every slip has decayed in its own way. No universal formula can be applied. Treatment must target the specific damage to each individual piece, adhere to the principle of minimal intervention, and preserve the authenticity and integrity of the historical information it carries. In Fang's eyes, a conservator is nothing less than a "doctor".

When cleaning slips, he usually does not wear gloves, so he can directly feel tiny changes in their softness and hardness and judge how decayed they are. For slips only a few centimeters long, he holds a fine brush, sometimes using a magnifying glass. The pressure must be exact; a little too much could wash away ink that has survived for 1,000 years.

Fang is now working with his team on Chu state slips uncovered from the Qinjiazui tomb. An experienced restorer can clean only one or two slips a day, he says. Six thousand relatively well-preserved slips will require three or four people working simultaneously for three or four years. To date, Fang and his team have restored more than 180,000 slips.

In his spare time, Fang's greatest pleasure is reading history and archaeology books. The words sleeping on the slips are the spiritual wealth he has devoted his life to protecting.

Now approaching retirement, Fang has not stopped. He believes technology will keep advancing and that decolorization and dehydration techniques can still be improved. Even after he steps back from the front line, he hopes to continue guiding younger conservators and pass on his knowledge and experience.

For him, every restored slip is a small victory in a long race against time — and a message from the past, saved before it vanishes.