Act III Metrology of the Ancient Tea-Horse Road

 The revelation of the bronze gilt watch clock


At 11:05 midnight, I touched the lotus pattern of the bronze gilt watch clock on the west side of the Baohe Hall. This was the closing time specially approved by CET. Mr. Li, an expert on ancient clocks and watches at the Palace Museum, gently pushed the knob, and the gears of the Swiss clock machine made in 1799 suddenly engaged, emitting the same time-telling sound as two centuries ago - history was embodied as a tangible sound wave at this moment.



Act I: Book Revitalization Experiment


In front of the simulated photocopy of the Yongle Encyclopedia in Wenyuan Pavilion, we wore special microscopic gloves and used the "butterfly binding" technique of the Northern Song Dynasty to repair the remaining pages. A professor from the History Department of Peking University demonstrated how to judge the fire disaster memory of this great book during the Jiajing period from the binding traces of the "leap" character. The sudden rain outside the window had just stopped, and the gold brick floor laid during the Qianlong period reflected our figures, as if overlapping with the shadows of the officials of the Siku Library at that time.


Act II Breathing of the Mural


The special visit to Cave 465 of the Dunhuang Academy is a miracle. With the help of archaeological cold light sources, the Green Tara murals of the Western Xia period show details that are difficult to discern with the naked eye: the pupil highlights drawn by the painter with a camel eyelash pencil still show compassionate eyes after eight hundred years. When the protection experts signaled us to turn off all the equipment and listen to the sound of sand sliding down the cave ceiling in absolute darkness, the breathing of the painters in the 10th century seemed to penetrate time.





Under the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple in Dali, the metrology history experts arranged by CET are leading us to decipher the mystery of the Nanzhao bronze ruler. This bronze ruler engraved with the twelve zodiac animals is not only the physical evidence of the "same system" in the Tang Dynasty, but also the key to the conversion of "big liang" and "small liang" during the tea-horse trade. When we extended the replica ruler to the morning light of the Eighteen Creeks of Cangshan Mountain, we private tour guide suddenly understood how the "using silk to measure the border" recorded in the "Manshu" actually worked.


Epilogue: Civilization coordinates under the starry sky



On the observatory of the Liangzhu ancient city ruins, the archaeological team leader spread out a 5,000-year-old jade cong: "Look at these lines of divine human and animal face patterns, 5 per millimeter - bronze tools and diamond abrasives were already available at that time." When we confirmed this data through an electron microscope, the Big Dipper was hanging above the foundation of the Mojiaoshan Palace, perfectly overlapping with the peephole formed by the hole in the jade cong.

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