Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 1756: Biographies of Women of Benevolence and Wisdom

The scroll "Biographies of Women of Kindness and Wisdom" adopts a parallel composition layout method, that is, omitting the background and arranging the characters in parallel. This painting method originated in the Han Dynasty and is often used for similar subjects.

Although the characters in the scroll are floating flat, the painter's superb painting skills and careful design of the characters' postures and expressions create an intrinsic connection between the characters in the scroll.

Each character in the scroll forms an independent story, with the character's name, the title of the painting, and the outline of the story written next to the character. This method is called "Songjie". It is also a common format. Such text is often seen next to the donors in Dunhuang paintings and next to the pictures of meritorious officials of various dynasties.

"It really looks like Song Dynasty silk." Fourth aunt handed the magnifying glass to fourth cousin and said, "Elbow is now a great expert in studying the silk used in ancient calligraphy and painting. Can you tell me about it?"

"It is indeed Song Dynasty silk." Zhou Zhi has good eyesight and does not need a magnifying glass. He only needs to look closely at the silk surface to come to a clear answer: "Gu Wenbin of the late Qing Dynasty believed that silk is easy to deteriorate, so most of the silk paintings of famous Tang and Song Dynasty works are forged by later generations. There are only a few authentic ones, so he never collects them, which has also influenced quite a number of later generations."

"However, through modern scientific dating, Gu Wenbin's statement has long been overturned, at least it is a prejudice." Zhou Zhi said: "According to the current research of the National Museum, many Song Dynasty calligraphy and painting works are in good condition. The silk is not brittle and can even be very clean. For example, Song Huizong Zhao Ji's "Listening to the Zither", Ma Lin's "Layered Ice Silk", and Jing Hao's "Shu Mountain Picture" in my collection are all well preserved."

"On the contrary, the silk colors of paintings from the Ming Dynasty, which were much later than those from the Tang, Five Dynasties, and the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, such as those by Lan Ying and Chen Hongshou, are much darker." Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "The "Listening to the Zither" and "Layered Ice Silk" paintings in the Palace Museum were previously considered fakes because the silk was too new. Now, after scientific testing, they are found to be authentic."

"In fact, in my opinion, by analyzing the silk, weaving method, dyeing method and other details of the silk weaving, we can analyze the age of the silk and provide evidence for the authenticity of the scroll."

"In ancient times, most people who appraised calligraphy and paintings were high-level intellectuals. They would never study whether the silk used in the scrolls they used was mulberry silk or tussah silk, whether the silkworms that spun the silk were three-sleeping or four-sleeping silkworms, how many warps and wefts were matched in the weaving method, and how the initial bleaching and dyeing processes were."

"They pay more attention to the material's color absorption, smudges and other characteristics directly related to calligraphy and painting. At the same time, they also do deep processing by themselves, such as calendering and glue alum."

"Later researchers mostly studied the authenticity of paintings from the perspectives of brushwork, calligraphy, ink techniques, seals, etc., and at most studied the painter's glue and dyeing techniques, but there was almost no research on silk weaving and silk."

"The one dressed in silk and satin must be a silkworm breeder." My fourth cousin nodded to show his understanding.

"In fact, the invention of paper was much later than silk. For paper to be able to meet the needs of art and be accepted in elegant halls, it naturally needed a set of matching mounting and hanging systems. This system did not become mature until the Jin Dynasty."

"Before that, using silk was the norm for calligraphy and painting. And there were subtle differences in silk from one generation to the next."

"In the weaving method of Song Dynasty silk, both the warp and weft are single threads, but the density of the weft is slightly less than that of the warp, and the color is similar to the famous 'Buddhist scripture paper'."

"The painted silk of the Yuan Dynasty is similar to the silk of the Song Dynasty, but the density of the warp and weft is sparse, and the silk thread is also finer than that of the Song Dynasty."

"Double-thread weaving was adopted in the Ming Dynasty, with one warp and two wefts. The silk threads were of uniform thickness and the gaps between the warp and weft were also uniform, which shows the great progress of the silk weaving industry."

"In the Qing Dynasty, double warp and double weft weaving methods were used, making the silk stronger and more dense. However, a large number of counterfeiters appeared in the Ming and Qing dynasties. They used dyeing and other techniques to forcibly "age" silk, making new silk look old. Some people also remounted old paintings and calligraphy, washed old silk, and made old silk look new, which greatly increased the difficulty for later generations to identify it."

Fourth Aunt smiled and said, "You have found a new way and have made a name for yourself. Not bad. So judging by the silk, this painting is undoubtedly from the Song Dynasty?"

"It can only be said to be Song silk." Zhou Zhi said: "At least judging from the characteristics of the silk, it is undoubtedly Song silk, but whether the paintings made of Song silk are Song paintings is worth discussing." There is another

"I think that judging from the brushwork and ink method, it is undoubtedly a Song Dynasty painting. The key is that the style is no different from the "Biographies of Women of Benevolence and Wisdom" in the Palace Museum, and the theme only supplements it without any conflict. Add to that the inscriptions and seals from famous artists of previous and subsequent dynasties, and it's too difficult to forge it, and the possibility is too small." "Fourth cousin has already figured out the inscriptions and seals?" Zhou Zhi was very surprised. This requires extensive knowledge and a strong memory. One must be quite familiar with the characters, pseudonyms, calligraphy and seals used by collectors of different periods in past dynasties.

He can actually do it now, but there is a prerequisite, that is, he cannot do it empty-handed, and he needs to have a thick stack of reference books with him as an aid.

This is hard to deny.

"How many can you tell?" The fourth cousin's curiosity started to rise again.

"Uh, let me see..." Zhou Zhi's eyes wandered on the painting silk for a long time, and finally found two familiar seals: "This 'Fengzhou', isn't it Wang Shizhen? Hey, there's another 'Linzhou' here, the two seals are a pair, this one is also Wang Shizhen?"

"Half right." Fourth aunt laughed and said, "Fengzhou is right, but Linzhou is not right. Although you are talking about Yin Yi and Yin Yi, they are not the same person."

"Linzhou's name is Wang Shimao, the younger brother of Wang Shizhen. They were both obsessed with calligraphy and painting, so they often wrote inscriptions for each other's collections. People at that time called them the 'Two Beauties of the Wang Family'." The fourth aunt said: "Although Wang Shimao was not very famous, he was often mentioned together with his brother at the time, and he could often be seen in calligraphy and painting. Elbow is still not a very detailed reader..."

The shame has already been exposed, and now there is only one thing to do but admit defeat.

Recognizing Wang Shizhen is not a skill, because Wang Shizhen is so famous that everyone in the industry knows him.

"If that's the case, then the possibility that this painting is authentic is even greater." The fourth cousin said, "If I remember correctly, the scrolls in the Forbidden City have in addition to the studio names and the seals used by several emperors, there are also postscripts by several people. Looking at the postscript of that painting may help to identify this one."

"Look, Elbow goes to get the book!" said Fourth Aunt.

This is an important clue. If these two seals are authentic, then the painting dates back to the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. If it matches the collection of the Palace Museum, then the possibility that this scroll is an authentic work will undoubtedly increase greatly.

There were also seals of several people Zhou Zhi did not know. His fourth cousin told him that one of them was named Cao Changxian, Wang Shizhen's nephew and also a close friend. Another one was named Lu Bi, a talented man who could write poems at the age of nine and had a wide circle of friends.

When Zhou Zhi was looking for the picture album, his fourth cousin also found one with a high-definition printed picture called "Game in the Autumn Window".

This picture was specially customized by Wang Shizhen for Li Fu, a national Go player in the Ming Dynasty, and the artist is You Qiu.

Li Fu was an important retainer of Wang Shizhen, and You Qiu was the son-in-law of Qiu Ying, a famous painter of the Wumen School.

After the painting was completed, Wang Shizhen brought his relatives and friends to support Li Fu, and wrote a lot of poems and postscripts at the end. The seals of the above-mentioned people all matched.

In other words, there is no possibility that this painting is a fake from the Qing Dynasty. Moreover, judging from the collection sequence, it is known that the first volume had been properly collected in the mid-Ming Dynasty. Once such a masterpiece falls into the hands of someone who knows the value of it, other collectors will rarely see it.

To forge something, you first have to know how to do it, and then you have to have seen it.