Really getting the whole rub

To demonstrate the charm of traditional whole-shape rubbings, Jia Wenzhong, a 57-year-old expert on ancient-bronzeware identification and relic repair, has brought his latest rubbings and calligraphy works to be displayed at the Dehe Garden in the Summer Palace, a heritage site in Beijing.

The exhibition, co-sponsored by the Summer Palace Administration Office and the China Agricultural Museum, opened on Dec 18 and will run for three months through the end of the Spring Festival holiday.

Unlike regular rubbings that only represent the surface of relics from one side, Jia's works are whole-shape rubbings. The technique developed nearly 200 years ago creates a three-dimensional effect to show an item's shape as well as the details on its surface.

The technique was widely used in epigraphy, the study of inscriptions, before photography was introduced in China.