China's eastern port city of Ningbo is not just a rising economic powerhouse. It is also an ancient town with rich cultural heritage. In the west of the city stands Tianyige Museum, China's oldest private library dating back to the mid-16th century. It houses nearly 300,000 ancient volumes of books and 80,000 of them are rare volumes in prime condition. 

After hundreds of years of vicissitudes, it has witnessed the glories and the turbulence of past dynasties. 450 years have gone by, many ancient books here are showing varying degrees of corrosion and decay and are in dire need for restoration. 

Repairing ancient books does not require sophisticated tools. It depends on the repairers' year-long experience and craftsmanship. Starting from the initial formulation of the restoration plan and the selection of spare paper, every step requires meticulosity. 

Wang Jinyu, the director of Cultural Relics Restoration Center at Tianyige Museum, has been working as an ancient book repairer for more than 40 years. "When at work, I will set aside random thoughts to stay focused and repair a page or two. It brings me a sense of peace and of being in the moment. And it's like a lifelong practice of art of mindful living," said Wang.

The entire repairing process includes about 14 steps. For book repairers, the most time-consuming step is to patch the holes and broken areas. Spending hours on fixing a few holes is nothing for the repairers to write home about. 

In today's Tianyige Museum, there are 13 book repairers. In December 2020, Tianyige ancient book restoration technique was selected to enter the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Recommendation List. This is a major milestone for Tianyige and for Wang Jinyu. However, she admits that there is still a long way to go. 

"China has a long history and abundant ancient book volumes. We as book repairers have this responsibility to rescue and protect them, and pass them down, as they serve as a record of the history and a repository of our culture," Wang noted.