As a famous cultural relic protection unit in China, Jingzhou Cultural Relics Preservation Center is a national leader in the protection technology of unearthed bamboo slips, wood lacquer and silk fabrics. It continuously receives cultural relics from all over the country all the year round, and many "national-treasure-class" cultural relics have their life “prolonged”, and some even have been "revived".
Jingzhou Museum exhibited for the first time the Tiger-based Phoenix Hanging Drum of the Warring States Period unearthed from the Chu State Tomb No. 2 at Tianxingguan of Jingzhou not long ago. The precious cultural relics, which is as famous as the Tiger-based Bird Drum, was favored by tourists.
Different from the Tiger-based Bird Drum, this Phoenix Hanging Drum has no physical support and is completely suspended by the two copper ring hooks on the phoenix, making it extremely difficult to be restored. Since its excavation in the late 1990s, experts from Jingzhou Cultural Relics Preservation Center have been working on the restoration. After dehydration, correction, and decorative finishing, it has been completely restored till 2018 and can reappear in the world.
Jingzhou Cultural Relics Preservation Center, as the national cultural relics protection base of wood lacquers, has undertaken 70% of the protection and restoration workload of the unearthed wood lacquer relics in China. Every year, hundreds of wood lacquers are sent here for restoration. After years of exploration, experts have developed a set of mature technology for the restoration of wood lacquer relics by using traditional materials and techniques, maintaining a leading position in the restoration of wood lacquerware relics at home and abroad.
As the largest cultural relic preservation center in China, Jingzhou Cultural Relics Preservation Center has restored more than 70% of the water-saturated bamboo and wood slips and 60% of the protected water-saturated wood lacquers. At the same time, to solve the contradiction between the rapid development of cultural relics protection and the lack of scientific research strength, in 2009, Jingzhou Cultural Relics Preservation Center took the lead in setting up seven cultural relic protection workstations in Chengdu, Changsha, Yangzhou, Hefei, Ji’nan, Lanzhou, and Marquis of Haihun Tomb to promote technology and cultivate talents.
The world's leading biological protection technology for unearthed silk fabrics, and the national leading protection technology for unearthed bamboo and wood slides, and for wood lacquer ware have become the “three magic weapons” of Jingzhou Cultural Relics Preservation Center. According to statistics, Jingzhou Cultural Relics Preservation Center has provided technical support for the preservation of cultural relics for more than 120 cultural relics related institutions in 24 provinces and cities in China, implemented 200 cultural relics protection projects, and completed the rescue projects of cultural relics such as the Wu State Bamboo and Wood Slips of Three Kingdoms in Zoumalou, Qin Dynasty Bamboo and Wood Slips in Liye, Han Dynasty Tomb in Laoshan, Beijing, and Chu State Tomb in Changtaiguan, Henan. More than 6,000 pieces of wood lacquers, 130,000 bamboo and wood slips and more than 500 pieces of textiles have been "brought to light again".