You are here:

Profile: Guardian of treasures in locked museum

0 Comment(s)

E-mail Xinhua, April 25, 2020

Adjust font size:

by Xinhua Writers Lyu Qiuping, Yu Pei and Pi Shuchu

WUHAN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Sitting at the square center of a museum, Fang Qin wore a pair of red socks, which many Chinese believe help ward off evil spirits. Beside him was a bottle of ethanol for disinfection.

Fang, 51, is the curator of the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, the city hardest hit by the novel coronavirus epidemic in China. Following the outbreak of the epidemic, Fang and his 75 colleagues locked themselves in the museum to guard the treasures.

Covering an area of 8.2 hectares, the museum is home to 240,000 items, including nearly 1,000 top-level national treasures. Among them is the Sword of Goujian, which was named after its master king of the State of Yue from the Spring and Autumn Period (770 B.C.-476 B.C.).

Fang did not realize the virus was so imminent until several people who attended the same meeting with him on Jan. 20 were later confirmed to be infected. As a precaution, he quarantined himself for 20 days at home.

The museum closed to visitors on Jan. 23, the first day when Wuhan was put on lockdown. Four days later, to prevent the guarding personnel from being infected, Fang requested all the workers who had rotated their shifts be isolated in the museum. A designated guard was in charge of delivering them food and essentials to the doorstep.

On Feb. 13, when Fang ended his self-isolation, he packed two blankets, two mats, a bed sheet and a pillow before driving to the museum to join the workers.

Wearing masks, the workers were responsible for patrolling the vast space, maintaining the facilities, monitoring the cameras and feeding the watchdogs. They took their temperature three times a day and regularly disinfected and ventilated the offices and dormitories.

"Every detail has to be watched around the clock. We cannot afford any negligence," he said, noting that the workers, without any complaints, had sacrificed a lot to ensure the security of the museum.

Following the coronavirus outbreak, the museum received masks, disinfectants, vegetables, fruits and medicine donated from museums and institutions across China and even from the Republic of Korea, which to a large extent eased their shortages.

Fang and his colleagues also offered donations to Italian museums in mid-March, when the epidemic was basically contained in Wuhan but had started plaguing Italy.

On March 22, a program called "Spring in Wuhan" livestreamed the exhibition hall of the museum, which attracted nearly 8 million viewers.

"I didn't expect so many people were concerned about the relics and looked forward to seeing them," he said.

Inspired by the program, Fang has organized online lectures, elaborating on the history of epidemic control in combination with the collections.

In one session, the museum introduced a 2,500-year-old basin and a hand-washing ritual back then to emphasize the importance of washing one's hands amid the epidemic.

On the morning of April 8, when Wuhan finally ended its 76-day lockdown, Fang got up very early and took a selfie with the museum as the sun rose.

"The trees that were bare of leaves when I came here are now flourishing. It's the power of life," he said.

His family, who went to visit his mother-in-law in late January, had expected him to join them for the Lunar New Year holiday, but he did not show up.

"I feel sorry for my family. But as a curator, I have to be with the museum," he said.

After the museum was unlocked, Fang had a haircut and took his first shower in 70 days, but the curator did not go home.

He is still busy because construction on the museum's expansion project has resumed and preparation has also started for an online exhibition for the International Museum Day on May 18.

As indoor tourist sites remain closed in China to prevent cross-infection, the reopening date of the museum is yet to be announced. Enditem