Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 1767 Interview

As the "No. 1 player in Beijing", Mr. Wang is a famous cultural relic expert, folklorist, cultural relic connoisseur and collector. He knows so many things, including playing the piano, copying books, furniture, lacquerware, copper stoves, raising hawks, training dogs, entertaining crickets, raising pigeons... He is proficient in all of these "careers".

A few years ago, the old man's discussion on gourd making was questioned by foreigners, so he made a mold according to the old method and put it on the gourd, so that the gourd would eventually grow the pattern in the mold. After the harvest, he made the famous "gourd vessel" in the traditional intangible cultural heritage, which directly convinced people at home and abroad.

However, the old man's power is still limited. For example, the famous Capital Goldfish and Capital Pigeon cannot be revived now due to the constraints of the environment and the market.

Pigeons, in particular, have very high requirements for the space they need to be kept and they also have to not disturb other people, which is really difficult to deal with. As a result, many precious ornamental pigeon breeds have become extinct.

The only option is to write a book. There is also a painter in the family who can draw the image of traditional ornamental pigeons. I heard that the old man and his wife are mainly doing this recently.

"I'm not sure either." Ma Ye said, "The old man is very popular now. Many TV stations are vying to interview him and make programs about him. The old man complained that when he went to Panjiayuan now, the store owners would immediately raise the price of anything he touched or asked about, so he had no choice but to go to the Daliushu Ghost Market with his head covered."

"Take it easy, you're not young anymore." Zhou Zhi couldn't help but sigh, "It's dark, it's terrible if you stumble and fall."

"You go and persuade him." Ma Ye immediately passed the buck: "I can't persuade him anyway, so you have to persuade him."

"I'm afraid I can't persuade them." Zhou Zhi thought about it and felt a little depressed, then he came up with a crooked idea: "Why don't we report it to the relevant departments? We can't let these old experts do whatever they want."

In the interview room of Capital TV, the famous host Wang was having a "conversation" with the old man. On the small table in front of him were an incense burner and a lacquer box.

Last year, the TV series "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" was a big hit, and the host Wang, who played Heshen in the series, won many awards. Although he has not yet become a professional Heshen actor, he has gained some fame. Since he was originally a host, he now takes advantage of the popularity to occasionally guest host on Capital TV.

When Zhou Zhi looked at him, he felt that the world lines of this world were producing a convergence effect. If nothing unexpected happened, Host Wang would still become a professional Heshen and a professional host of the treasure appraisal column.

"Mr. Wang, you are a well-known collector in China and even in the world. You are famous for your collection of Ming and Qing furniture, lacquerware, Xuande furnace, etc., and you have written many books. I would like to ask you about your hobby of collecting. When did you start? I heard that this industry still needs enlightenment. Can you tell us your story?"

"I can't say I'm a scholar. I just love to play. When I was young, I rode a horse and chased eagles for 20 miles. When I was tired, I would find a haystack to spend the night. These were common things."

"I was only a teenager in the early years of the Republic of China. At that time, I lived in the Beijing courtyard house 'Fangjia Garden'. Among my neighbors was a colleague of my father in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, named Li Qingzhang. Mr. Qingzhang was a great collector of furnaces in the early years of the Republic of China. He collected hundreds of furnaces, and they were all fine products."

"Because I have liked these since I was a child, I often stayed at Mr. Qingzhang's place. There are many details in the collection of copper furnaces. Following Mr. Qingzhang, I gradually saw more." "This incense burner is not simply bought and placed in the house for worship. It is called a collection. There are many details. The best craftsmanship is of course from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is said that Mr. Qingzhang got the true teachings of the palace people in the maintenance of the furnace." Mr. Wang said: "He has a tripod-style furnace with the inscription 'Wanchu Family Collection' at home. I saw it when I first got it. It was a completely dirty piece of equipment. When I first got it, Mr. Qingzhang wanted to give it up."

"I was naughty at that time. When I saw the master threw it aside, I took it and washed it according to the master's method for fun. After washing it carefully, the master thought it was promising, so he took it and smeared it with bean paste, and put it on the iron stove to warm it. The smell... Mrs. Li next door shouted: 'What era is this? Foreign products are very useful. Who still uses manure to make saltpeter?'"

At this point, everyone in the room burst into laughter.

"We used this method to nurture the furnace for more than a year, and finally it turned into a wonderful thing in the color of orange peel red. When other collectors saw it, they were all amazed."

"This furnace is from the Wanchu family. Does it have a history?" asked the host Wang.

"This... that stove is from the Qing Dynasty..."

Zhou Zhi couldn't help but complain about the host Wang's ignorance. Even someone as knowledgeable as Grandpa Wang might not be able to figure out the inscriptions on any collection of furnaces. When they appraised and collected copper furnaces, they mostly judged based on various features such as the shape, materials, patina, and skin. Although the inscriptions were important, they were not an absolute factor, so it was normal that they didn't know.

So he quickly added: "…It was written by Ye Xiangchun, a doctor during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty. Ye Xiangchun's courtesy name was Wanchu. He was from Huating, Jiangsu Province. He was good at treating pediatric acne and wrote a medical book called "Red Stove and Snow in the Pox Book". The 'Red Stove' in the title might be the one Mr. Qingzhang found."

"Who is this?" Host Wang had actually met Zhou Zhi in Demian Hall. Zhou Zhi left a deep impression on him at that time, but now he could only pretend not to know him.

"His name is Zhou Zhi, and he is half of my disciple." Mr. Wang was relieved and moved when Zhou Zhi came to his rescue. He waved and asked him to come to his side: "The furnace is with him now. It seems that he has a deeper understanding of furnace models than I do."

"I'm a bit presumptuous." Zhou Zhi came up to the two and quickly apologized, "Chinese civilization is vast. I found this Ye Wanchu using the latest search engine of Shu University's ancient classics digital library. There are editions printed in the 13th year of Jiaqing, the 16th year of Jiaqing, movable type editions and handwritten editions. The previous manuscripts had the word "Yeben" on them, and everyone thought it was the author's name. Now through comparison, we find that the contents are similar. It turns out that the "Yeben" in this manuscript is not the author's name, but means "copied from Ye Xiangchun's version."

"This is the simplest and most direct use of our digital library, which is to compare and sort out the various versions of books in the system, and to identify the changes in classics in different eras, as well as the errors that occurred in the circulation of various versions."

"Do you have any interesting discoveries?" asked host Wang, "Those that you can share with our audience."

"For example, the Dunhuang version of "Jiang Jin Jiu"." Zhou Zhi said: "There are several versions of Li Bai's poems in the Dunhuang documents, but the title of version A is "Xi Jing Kong", and the titles of versions B and C are not written. There are many differences from the familiar "Jian Jin Jiu"."