龙鳞源起，千页化境：装帧在空间里流淌成诗
From Scales to Space: Where Binding Unfolds Infinite Imagination

龙鳞装，一种几乎只存在于史书记载中的书籍装帧工艺，从唐到清历来为皇室专享，鲜有实物存世。作为曾经皇室专属“奢侈品”，张晓栋独掌的龙鳞装，是全球独一份的非遗传奇。据传其书卷展开，子页层层叠叠，依次舒展，似龙鳞一般。张晓栋——这项国家级非物质文化遗产龙鳞装的官方认证唯一传承人，是当代书籍装帧艺术家，中华印制大奖金奖获得者，拥有20多项国家发明专利。

Once documented only in imperial archives, Dragon Scale Binding is a thousand-year-old bookbinding technique that graced the courts from the Tang to the Qing Dynasty; very few original works have survived to the present day. Once as a royal “luxury”,  the Dragon Scale Binding now revived and mastered solely by Zhang Xiaodong now stands as a unique heritage treasure unmatched in the world. Legend has it that when the scroll is unfurled, its layers of pages unfold one after another, resembling the scales of a dragon. Zhang Xiaodong, the officially recognized sole inheritor of this national intangible cultural heritage, is a contemporary bookmaking artist, Gold Award winner of the China Printing Awards, and holds over 20 national invention patents.

张晓栋，当代书籍装帧艺术家，非物质文化遗产龙鳞装唯一传承人

Zhang Xiaodong, contemporary bookmaking artist, the officially recognized sole inheritor of Dragon Scale Binding

北京第二外国语学院塞尔维亚籍教师优万娜慕名来到通州张老师的工作室，亲身体验龙鳞装这项非遗文化。张晓栋向她介绍，自己是在沈阳航空航天大学读书时与书结下了不解之缘。2008年，当他第一次在书中看到对龙鳞装的描述时，脑中便浮现出一幅灵动飘逸、甚至未来科技感的书卷影像，复现这项技艺就在那时成为他的理想。为复现龙鳞装，他师从书籍设计大师吕敬人，遍查古籍，登门求教故宫博物院及印刷界的泰斗专家，在他们的帮助下积累了扎实的制书知识。这一做，便是十七年。

Drawn by its reputation, Jovana, a Serbian faculty member from Beijing International Studies University, visited Zhang Xiaodong’s studio in Tongzhou District to explore this intangible cultural heritage. Mr. Zhang shared with her that his deep connection with books began during his studies at Shenyang Aerospace University. In 2008, when he first read the description of Dragon Scale Binding in a book, a vivid and even futuristic image of a flowing scroll took shape in his mind. From that moment on, reviving the craft became his ambition. To do so, he apprenticed under the master book designer Lü Jingren, researched ancient books and records, and consulted industry experts such as those at the Palace Museum and leading figures in the printing field. With their help, he has built a solid foundation in the craft of bookmaking and embarked on a journey in bookmaking that has lasted 17 years.

张晓栋向外籍教师优万娜讲述龙鳞装的历史文化与自身经历感悟

Zhang Xiaodong shares the history of Dragon Scale Binding and his personal reflections with Serbian teacher Jovana

因其工艺复杂、用纸考究，龙鳞装这项技艺长期为皇室专享。张老师面临的第一个难题便是纸张的选择。龙鳞装以长纸为底，龙鳞页片鳞次栉比黏贴在底纸上，展开后页片有规律地翘起，随手拨动便灵动翻飞。为体现龙鳞装的飘逸灵动，纸张必须既韧且薄。像爱迪生试验灯丝材料那样，张晓栋测试了无数种纸张，失败的废纸能堆满一间屋子，最终选定了国内顶级的安徽泾县绢纹宣纸为载体。其次，龙鳞书页的黏贴也困难重重。页片互叠形变，在页口上还创造性地绘有插画片段，稍有不慎，页与页之间即使是0.1毫米误差，放大到210页上就会失之毫厘，差之千里。经过不断的自我挑战和自我否定后，第一部龙鳞装书卷历时两年半后成功问世，这项失传千年的非遗技艺重现于世。

Due to the intricate crafting process and meticulous paper selection, the Dragon Scale Binding technique remained an art exclusively reserved for imperial use for centuries. Thus, the first challenge in reviving Mr. Zhang facing was the selection of paper. The Dragon Scale Binding employs a long strip of paper as its base, with individual scale-like pages arranged in rows and adhered to the base paper. When unfurled, the pages rise in a rhythmic pattern, fluttering gracefully with the slightest touch. To capture its essence, the paper had to be both resilient and exceptionally thin. Just like Thomas Edison testing filament materials, Mr. Zhang experimented with countless types of paper, and the failed attempts alone piled up enough to fill an entire room. Ultimately, his final choice was the top-grade, silk-textured Xuan paper, whose strength and thinness is suitable enough. Secondly, the process of pasting the dragon-scale pages proved to be an immensely challenging task. The overlapping sheets tend to warp as they are stacked, causing the marginal illustrations to become misaligned. Even a microscopic error between pages could ruin the entire work. After relentless self-challenge and self-reflection, the first Dragon Scale Binding scroll was successfully completed after two and a half years, bringing this millennium-lost intangible cultural heritage back to life.

张晓东栋龙鳞装代表作《千里江山图》

Zhang Xiaodong’s artwork of Dragon Scale Binding “A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains”

工作室中，他的得意之作皆置于此。在他展示的《千里江山图》中，青山碧水跃然纸上，龙鳞页片舒卷其中，如“龙游于书中，书居于龙骧”; 灯光撒过，阵阵漫洒，泛起层层金光泛起，又如“日照金山，金光万道”。每张页片背后还留有各省大家各地名家的题字，待到题字集齐时，中华万里风光，尽汇于此一卷。

In the studio, all of his most celebrated works are kept here. In A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains, the green mountains and clear waters leap off the paper, as dragon-scale pages gently curl and unfurl within, evoking the image of “a dragon roaming through the book, while the book resides in the dragon’s majesty”. Under the graceful light, the pages shimmer with a golden glow, reminiscent of “sunlight bathing a golden mountain, casting forth countless rays of light”. On the back of each page, inscriptions by leading figures from every Chinese province are recorded. When all the inscriptions are gathered, the landscapes of China and diverse cultures converge within a single scroll.

张晓栋东经龙装代表作《红楼梦》

Zhang Xiaodong’s artwork of Jinglong Binding “Dream of the Red Chamber”

还有曾入选“最美图书展”排行榜的《红楼梦》，其在龙鳞装的基础上发扬创新，结合唐代经折装，创造了创新出“经龙装”，将《红楼梦》原著“程甲本”和孙温绘本创造性地融汇在一起。所谓“经龙”，即折与折首尾相连，折面龙鳞页子林次排列，程甲本书于页面，孙温绘于页口，一折一回两幅图，改变了人们对书的认知，给予了读者全新的阅读体验。当我们翻开《红楼梦》，曹雪芹、程伟元、孙温、与张晓栋，共同构建的红楼梦“元宇宙”呈现在眼前。通过这种形式，张老师坚信，即使这是一个在纸媒衰落的时代，书籍书还是会不断丰富对阅读的诠释，不断以更加具有创造力的方式存在下去存续。

There is also The Dream of the Red Chamber, which was once included in the “Most Beautiful Books Exhibition” ranking. Building upon the Dragon Scale Binding technique, it innovatively integrates the Jingzhe Binding (Accordion Binding) style of the Tang Dynasty, creating a “Jinglong Binding”. This method creatively merges the first printed edition of The Dream of the Red Chamber with Sun Wen’s illustrated edition. The so-called Jinglong Binding connects the folds end to end, with dragon-scale pages arranged in orderly rows along the folded surfaces. The text of the Cheng Jia edition is printed on the pages, while Sun Wen’s illustrations are placed at the page edges, creating two images for each fold and chapter, which has transformed people’s perception of books and offered readers a completely new reading experience. When the book is opened, the “metaverse” of the classic—jointly constructed by Zhang Xiaodong and the earlier literary and artistic masters Cao Xueqin, Chen Weiyuan and Sun Wen, unfolds before the reader’s eyes. Through this form, Mr. Zhang firmly believes that even in an era of declining print media, books will continue to enrich the interpretation of reading and persist in ever more creative ways.

张晓栋老师指导优万娜体验千页画创作

Jovana is making Thousand-Pages Art with Mr. Zhang’s instruction

在张老师的讲述下，优万娜也迫不及待地想要体验这项非遗的制作。她先从较为简单的“千页画”开始体验。张老师亲自示范讲解，千页画由龙鳞装演化而来，页片翘起45°，构成一个2.5维的空间，是对龙鳞装全新的诠释，制作重在用眼去寻找自己想要的空间。随着张老师的指导，优万娜手握小刀轻柔划过页片，在一次次的滑动与剪切中，找到了自己想要的那一方空间。轻抚千页，光影轮转，指尖传来沙沙簌簌，似在弹奏纸钢琴。

Inspired by Mr. Zhang’s explanation, Jovana was eager to experience the making of this intangible heritage herself. She began with the relatively simple “Qianye Painting” or “Thousand-Pages Painting”. Mr. Zhang personally demonstrated and explained the Thousand-Page Painting evolved from Dragon Scale Binding. The pages are tulted at a 45-degree angle, forming a 2.5-dimensional space—a novel reinterpretation of Dragon Scale Binding. The craft emphasizes training the eye to discover the space one envisions. With Mr. Zhang’s instruction, Jovana held a small blade and gently guided it along the edge of the paper. With each careful slide and precise cut, she gradually gained the control of this technique. As her fingers lightly brushed over the pages, light and shadow softly shifted, accompanied by a rustling whisper at her fingertips, like playing a piano of paper.

“见字如面”——是张老师在交谈中数次提到的词语。他认为人与人最好的交往是面对面交谈。古时与远方的亲朋至爱，只能凭借书信，你看到我的书信，就相当于我站在你面前，故有“见字如面”之说。张老师希望通过制书的方式，把他所看到的世界带到读者面前，营造一种身临其境、如见其人的阅读体验。书是文字，是诗意的建筑，是穿越时空的飞船，也是跨越东西方交流的桥梁。他愿以龙鳞装为媒，将更多的文化和思想传递给世界，以龙鳞之书，会四海之友。

“Seeing the words is like meeting the person”—this is a phrase Mr. Zhang mentioned several times during the conversation. He believes that the best form of people-to-people interaction is face-to-face conversation. In ancient times, people relied on letters to connect with those faraway loved ones, where reading a letter felt like meeting the writer in person. Through bookbinding, Mr. Zhang hopes to bring the world as he sees it directly to readers, creating an immersive reading experience where the words feel vividly present, as if the author were right there. To him, books are not just words, but dwelling places for poetry, and spaceships that traverse time and space, and bridges between East and West. Through these Dragon Scale Binding volumes, he aims to convey more culture and ideas to the world. Using Dragon Scale Binding as a medium to connect with friends across the world.

张老师对龙鳞装进行全新诠释并首创千页画

Mr. Zhang reimagines Dragon Scale Binding and creates Thousand-Page Art

潜心钻研十七载，千年非遗焕新生。十七年来，张晓栋受邀参加过威尼斯艺术双年展、香港艺术周、世界手制书展等国际盛会; 与海蓝之谜合作“龙卷”作品，与纪梵希合作推出“二〇二四年黄历・龙鳞卷”，其作品在多个国家展出，惊艳了无数中外友人。他以文化为根，技艺为魂，使龙鳞装焕发出前所未有的生机，以新的形式诠释中华文化，以新的面貌走向世界。

After seventeen years of dedicated refinement, a millennium-old intangible cultural heritage has been reborn with new vitality. Over these 17 years, Zhang Xiaodong has been invited to participate in international events such as the Venice Art Biennale, Hong Kong Art Week, and the World Bookbinding Exhibition. He has collaborated with La Mer on the “Dragon Scroll” project and Givenchy on the “2024 Almanac · Dragon Scale Scroll”. His works have been exhibited in several countries, captivating countless audiences from China and abroad. Rooted in culture and driven by craftsmanship, Mr. Zhang has revitalized Dragon Scale Binding, reimagining Chinese cultural heritage in contemporary expressions and introducing it to the world with renewed elegance.