In time with history

After almost four decades in the job, master clock restorer at the Forbidden City shows no signs of winding down

Wang Jin keeps things ticking at the ancient Palace Museum in central Beijing. The master clock restorer, 55, looks after hundreds of timepieces at the museum, also known as the Forbidden City.

During the reign of Qianlong (1735-95), it became customary for European nations to send clocks to the palace, either as gifts or on request. The tradition lasted until the final days of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Wang joined the museum as an apprentice in 1977, shortly after leaving junior high school. Today, he shares a 60-square-meter studio with two other craftsmen in a closed section of the museum.

"The layout is almost identical to when I started. Well, maybe we have some advanced lathes," he says. The studio recently featured in a three-part TV documentary, Masters in the Forbidden City, about the work behind the scenes at the museum.

"The basic work of clock repair in the palace is similar to what others do elsewhere," Wang explains. "But it's almost impossible to be confronted with so many timepieces with such complications elsewhere."

A complication is any function on a watch or timepiece other than the display of the time. These can range from commonplace to extremely rare works of high horology.

"Although most of these clocks came from the United Kingdom, I feel proud because even the British Museum does not have so many exhibits," he says.

Wang is the third generation of clock repairers at the museum since 1949. Even still, about 300 pieces still have yet to be touched.

"The repairs are not about speed. Each clock is unique because you know only that it doesn't work, but you don't know why until you open it. The remaining 300 pieces are the toughest to tackle."

Wang says he has passed on his skills, which are listed as national intangible cultural heritage, to his 24-year-old son.

"As a child growing up near the Forbidden City, he was naturally attracted to my job. Now, he's an antique clock repairman at the Summer Palace," he adds.

wangkaihao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 04/15/2016 page4)