Riding the wind of rebirth

"You should know that when we were in the [-]s, we formed a traveling appraisal team and traveled across the country, right?"

"Well, that is a big event in the cultural world." Zhou Zhi said: "You and several old gentlemen, at the request of the country, formed a touring appraisal team of ancient Chinese calligraphy and painting to conduct an appraisal and survey of the existing ancient calligraphy and painting in the country. Almost all the paintings and calligraphy in various museums have been appraised. It is a great merit."

"When we were at the Dian Expo, we discovered hundreds of scrolls donated by Mr. Gao." Qi Lao said with a smile: "In addition to dozens of paintings and calligraphy by the painting monk of the Ming Dynasty, we also found Guo Xi's "Journey to the Streams and Mountains" "Picture" by Huang Gongwang; "Picture of Visiting Dai in Yanxi" by Huang Gongwang; "Picture of Yellow Crane Tower" and "Picture of Yueyang Tower" by Xia Yong; "Picture of Bamboo Birds" by Ren Renfa; "Picture of Xizhi's Book Fan" by Qiu Ying; "Picture of Xia Scenery" by Lu Ji "Flowers and Birds Picture", "Two Geese Pictures in Willow Pond"."

"Ah?" Zhou Zhi was so shocked that he was almost speechless.

Guo Xi is a painter of the Northern Song Dynasty and the master of green landscapes; Huang Gongwang is a great painter of the Yuan Dynasty, and his "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" is considered a household name; "Excellent at ghost work"; Ren Renfa was not only a painter, but also an expert on water conservancy. He was best at painting horses and "had enough workmanship to rival Zhao Mengfu"; Qiu Ying was one of the "Four Wu Clan Masters" after Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming and Tang Yin. Lu Ji is known as the "No. 1 flower and bird of Ming Dynasty".

Every painting by these people can be called a national treasure. Not to mention others, even the least famous Ren Renfa, his "Five Kings Returning Drunk", later sold more than [-] million yuan.

There are less than ten paintings like Guo Xi's in the world, and they are even more precious.

"When we discovered this batch of paintings, they had been gathering dust in the Dian Museum for several years." Qi Lao said with a smile: "The funniest thing is Guo Xi's "Travel to Streams and Mountains", which was originally collected by the Qing Palace. But there are three characters on this painting, 'Chen Guo Xi', which is crude and makes people doubt its authenticity."

"After Qianlong's own appraisal, he believed that this painting should be authentic, but these three words may have been written by later generations. However, for the sake of rigor, he did not select this painting to be included in the Shiqu Pavilion. He also personally authenticated it. I passed it forward and backward and wrote it on the upper left side of the painting."

"Later, we brought this painting to the capital and compared it with many paintings of Guo Xi. In the end, everyone determined that this painting was the original work of Guo Xi, and the words 'Chen Guo Xi' were indeed added later. Qianlong The level of appraising calligraphy and painting is quite good.”

"Huh?" Zhou Zhi was completely amused by this incident: "It's like saying that the counterfeiter first regarded the genuine painting as a fake, and then thought that the fakeness was not enough, so he added a fake signature to the real painting?"

"And Qianlong, the appraiser wrote the appraisal opinion directly on the ancient painting. What he did..."

It was obviously a precious authentic work of the Song Dynasty, but it was almost turned into a fake due to the superfluous additions made by later generations, leaving the emperor and his calligraphy and painting appraisal team uncertain.

If not for this, this painting probably wouldn't have leaked out of the palace and been obtained by General Gao.

Finally, it was re-researched by later generations, and the famous painting was restored to its original appearance.

Pearls are covered in dust, but there will eventually be people who know the truth. Zhou Zhi truly admired this General Gao to the extreme.

"What's wrong? You received a piece from Gao Baidan's collection?"

"Yes, I received a piece of "Mo Mei Tu" by Li Fangying here, with his collection stamp stamped on it."

"I heard from Wanqiu that you guys went hunting for a house together and gained a lot. Is this one of them?"

"Yes."

"I heard that you also collected a rhino-picked acupuncture box. Is there anything weird about it?"

"Yes, the workmanship is of the imperial standard, but the bottom was redone by Qianlong, and then the 'Qianlong Year System' double-line regular script and gold-filled base were re-engraved."

"Wanqiu said there are any traces on the side of that box?"

"Yes, but most of the traces have been filled in by the post-paint layer. You can vaguely see that there are three characters, but you can't see clearly."

"Then you may have to find your cheap master to break it off." Qi Lao joked.

Master Cheap is the nickname that Mr. Qi gave to Mr. Wang in Zhou Zhi's place. It means that Zhou Zhi himself didn't even ask for it, but Mr. Wang was particularly attentive to him, which felt like a warm face but a cold butt. Transferring all the furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties for US$100 million is really cheap for the master. It’s not like the two of them can’t do this.

However, Zhou Zhi and Mr. Wang both understood it as jealousy of their close relationship. Yes, it was jealousy.

"Then I'll call him later." Zhou Zhi said, "I also want to give the old man a good news."

"What a good thing?" Qi Lao became interested, and Zhou Zhi said it was good news, so it was definitely not a small surprise.

"I want to say that I currently have three large albums by Chen Baiyang and three by Xu Qingteng. In addition, there are postscripts by Wen Zhengming, Wang Shizhen, and Yuan Mei at the end of the volume. They are currently being restored. Do you believe it?"

"If I say you don't believe it, are you going to bring the scroll to the capital and slap me in the face?" Qi Lao laughed and said, "If that's the case, then I don't believe it."

"Hahahaha..." Zhou Zhi couldn't help laughing, and the fatigue of restoring ancient paintings disappeared: "Mr. Qi, you are so funny too."

"Let's be honest, Wanqiu is going to launch a 'Three Gorges Cultural Conservation Charity Auction'. We old men are going to participate. Will you come?" Qi Lao said, "If you want to come, bring your friends with you." The scroll and the rhino-picking box, let’s see how it goes.”

"When is it?"

"Probably during your winter vacation, either a few days before the holiday or a few days after the holiday."

"Ah? But I'm also planning to go to XJ to buy gifts for cousin An An."

"Then I'll tell Wanqiu that you won't come?"

"No, no, no, no..." Zhou Zhi quickly expressed his position: "Come, you must come!"

After chatting with Mr. Qi, Zhou Zhi called Mr. Wang again and got another piece of information. The collection stamp on "Mo Mei Tu", "Collection of Green Sky Caotang", belonged to an unknown painter in the late Qing Dynasty - Tian Qi. .

This painter is extremely unpopular, and his activities can only be traced from the 25th year of Guangxu to the second year of Xuantong. Very few paintings and calligraphy have been handed down from generation to generation. Even Mr. Wang cannot tell whether he is an official or a wealthy gentleman.

This painter is also a standard literati painter with very high attainments, but it seems that he painted only out of hobby and very little has been handed down from generation to generation.

Similar to Gao Yinhuai, Gao Yinhuai can actually be called a very powerful calligrapher, but because he is low-key, or is overshadowed by his legendary life, not many people know about his calligraphy attainments.

People are more fond of talking about his contribution in the Anti-Japanese War, and he is like the celebrities who retreated bravely after the end of the foreign war and dispersed back to their countryside.

After figuring out the inheritance sequence of "Mo Mei Tu", Zhou Zhi was satisfied.

As for the origin of "Six Albums of Baiyang Ivy", Mr. Qi and Mr. Wang were separated by a layer after all. Zhou Zhi did not tell them, and no one would have thought that it was the harvest of this search for the old house.

Although the calligraphy and painting shop emphasizes the principle of "leaving it after buying it, and not recognizing it when you go out", after all, this is a new society, and there are still two concepts of "major misunderstanding" and "unjust enrichment" in law.

Of course, Zhou Zhi is not so pedantic that he would turn around and pay the difference to the Yang family and his son, just treat it as an unexpected gain.

In order to avoid trouble, Zhou Zhi decided not to tell anyone except his fourth cousin and fourth aunt, who were very close relatives and respected the old rules.

Just then, the phone rang again. As soon as Zhou Zhi picked up the phone, Zhao Xing's anxious voice rang: "Oh my God, where have you been these past few days?! No one can be found on the phone, and there is no pager." Have you gone crazy?!"