Li Yongge:Forbidden City Renovator

by+Qiu+Lian

The Third-Generation Craftsman

Li works for the restoration center at the Palace Museum， also known as the Forbidden City， where Chinese emperors of the Ming （1368-1644） and Qing （1644-1911） dynasties worked and resided. In the Palace Museum， the restoration center is located on the site of the Royal Workshop during the Qing Dynasty. In the heydays of the Royal Workshop， it administered 24 offices of arts and crafts and was home to master artisans from all over China.

Lis office is in a bungalow， where a map of the Palace Museum during the Republic of China （1911-1949） hangs on the wall and models of the palace complex and a gilded Chinese bracket known as dougong sit on the table. Grey-haired Li wears a simple shirt and cloth shoes. “I was promoted to this position in 1985 when I was only 29 years old， and have been working at it ever since，” Li recalls. In 1975， after he retired from military service， Li began to work in the Palace Museum as a carpenter. Ten years later， he was promoted to vice director of the restoration center due to his outstanding work performance. Actually， he had already reached retirement age two years earlier. But instead of retiring， Li became even busier. As the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of “Chinese ancient palace architecture construction techniques，” he is in charge of passing on the skills.

Li is part of the third generation of craftsmen to renovate the Palace Museum since 1949. After the Peoples Republic of China was founded in 1949， three major renovations were conducted on the Palace Museum， which gave birth to three generations of artisans. The first major renovation occurred just after 1949. The Palace Museum produced a five-year renovation and maintenance proposal and invited 10 skilled craftsmen to the Palace Museum– the first generation. During the five-year project， many young apprentices， including Lis master Zhao Chongmao， learned a wealth of skills from these artisans. During the first major renovation， the second generation artisans were establishing a solid foundation for their future work， enabling them to serve as the main force of the second renovation.

The second major renovation kicked off in 1973， inspired by the Palace Museums first five-year protection and conservation project. To complete this project， the renovation center， known as the Palace Museum Construction Team then， recruited 300 young people. And Li was one of them. The third renovation began in 2006 and is the largest renovation and protection project the time-honored royal structure has seen in the last 100 years. This time， the third generation of craftsmen took the stage and Li grew into the foreman overseeing all the work.

Looking back at his career in the Palace Museum， Li believes that his growth in the work doesnt differ much from the first and second generations. “Masters taught us everything they knew，” he explains. “And we practiced and honed our skills during every day of work， gradually mastering various techniques in construction and maintenance of time-honored structures.”

Secrets of Wooden Structures

When he first arrived at the Palace Museum， Li was assigned menial tasks as an apprentice carpenter. “We repaired a partition door today， and a pillar tomorrow，” he recalls. “We learned various techniques from various assignments the masters gave us. After some time， I was able to form a complete picture of the entire repair project.”

Understandably， renovating the Palace Museum differs considerably from repairing ordinary structures. First， renovation of grand palaces like the Palace Museum requires massive pieces of wood. However， using massive logs is a great challenge for carpenters. Craftsmen find themselves under major pressure when marking such large pieces of timber. “Marking” refers to the process in which carpenters make marks before cutting wood into smaller pieces. Chinese carpentry tradition attaches great importance to marking， which is considered at least a third of the success of woodwork. “A single wrong line can result in discarding the entire piece of wood，”opines Li. “It is a great responsibility.” He reveals that many experienced masters never cut the timber immediately after marking it. They usually spend at least a half day reviewing the marking in their heads and re-examining the measurements.

Compared to work at ordinary construction sites， renovation of the Palace Museum features another big distinction： Not a single crane is used， and all building materials are transported by handcarts to the work site. For materials which are not able to be transported by human power， workers use block and tackle， a combination of pulleys that has been used in the palace for at least a hundred years. Using original materials and techniques and staying true to the original structure and form is the major principle for the Palace Museums renovation. And for most occasions， workers still use traditional tools.

In 1981， the Palace Museums southeast turret was due for renovation. Li applied for the assignment， a move which ended up benefiting him considerably in the future. Turrets in the Palace Museum have been renovated in a clockwise direction. In 1951， the northwest tower was renovated， the northeast in 1959， the southeast in 1981， and the southwest in 1984. “Carpenters take great pride in participating in any turret renovation projects. Because the turret structures are very complicated and renovation work lacks a rulebook， the four turrets are all different，” remarks Li. During renovation work on the southeast turret， Li accumulated abundant experience. When the southwest turret was renovated in 1984， he was already a foreman and presided over work in perfect order.

Renovating the Hall of Supreme Harmony

Li was not satisfied with only becoming an outstanding carpenter. During his work， he continued to research many other related fields， and gradually became an expert on Chinese ancient palace architecture construction techniques.

The most important renovation work Li has been involved in is the two-year facelift for the Hall of Supreme Harmony from 2006 to 2008. The largest hall within the Palace Museum and one of the larg- est wooden structures in China， the hall is located at the central axis of the Palace Museum. It was also the most important building in Chinese politics from the 14th to the early 20th Century. Inside， 24 emperors ascended the throne. The nations highest-ranking events， such as royal marriages， birthday celebrations and declarations of war， all took place in the hall. The two-year project was the first renovation on the Hall of Supreme Harmony in three centuries.

At the time， the halls arched roof， which was covered with heavy golden glazed tiles， was sinking. To look for causes of the sinking， Li and his team climbed onto the roof to check. They were met with a big surprise. Previously， many conservationists and experts believed that the highest-ranking hall must have adopted an extremely complicated process to construct the roof. Thus， they decided on a complicated method of maintenance. Traditionally， Chinese people pave mud， straw， or other materials in structures roofs when theyre built， which makes the same effect as painting a waterproof layer on wood. But Li and his colleagues discovered that the simplest materials and methods were used when the Hall of Supreme Harmony was first built. “We decided to respect the history and renovate the roof using its original simple techniques，” says Li.

Another complicated renovation is to restore the colorful paintings under the eaves. Paintings were done directly on the wooden walls and on both the outsides and insides of the eaves. Before the renovation， Li conducted field research many times and compared the current paintings to images on historical photos. He found that while those on the inside retain their original appearance， the exterior paintings were covered with some coarse paintings during a maintenance project in 1959. So， Li and other conservationists decided to remove the paintings of 1959 and replace them with new drawings from documents and old paintings on the interior.

In 2008， when the facelift project for the hall was finally completed and it welcomed visitors from home and abroad again， Li was still deeply consumed by work related to the hall. He was completing the construction records for the maintenance and renovation project. “The Palace Museum lacks such records，” Li reveals. The hall was first built in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty， and was destroyed in fires and rebuilt many times after. The present hall was built based on the structure rebuilt in 1697 in the Qing Dynasty. Since 1949， the hall has witnessed six renovations. However， before Lis work， the only detailed record of the halls renovation was written during the reign of Emperor Kangxi （1654-1722） of the Qing Dynasty.

Concerns about Passing on the Legacy

Today， the task of passing on the legacy is urgent. At present， Li places great hope in the 15 apprentices the restoration center recruited in 2013. They were divided into two study groups， one for tile and wood， and the other for stone and paint. “Work on tile and wood share things in common， as does work on stone and paint，” he explains. “Young people today are well educated and learn things very fast.”

In Lis eyes， the Palace Museum is a living textbook for architecture of Ming and Qing dynasties. “For example， sometimes， when a wooden component in a hall breaks， everyone wants to replace it with a new one，” Li remarks. “However， it is possible that it is so specific that it cannot be changed. It may be the only thing in the hall which provides specific information on the architectural legacy. If it is replaced， considerable information is lost.” Having witnessed extremely unprofessional operations by some “outside” construction teams， Li worries that without skilled and experienced builders， the Palace Museum will transform into a“modern palace” and its distinctive features will be lost.

However， these 15 young people， who are carefully selected from many applicants， still face two problems. First， they dont find many opportunities to participate in large renovation projects. Second， they are not even regular employees of the Palace Museum. “These kids are all in their thirties. They have families to support and they need money，” says Li. Now， only nine out of the 15 are still working in the Palace Museum. Will they grow into men like Li， and commit to renovating the palace for their lifetimes？