Riding the wind of rebirth

The business style of Shibi's family is indeed in line with the high-end old line of "talking and laughing with great scholars, and no ordinary people coming and going". They have close relations with many social celebrities, Sichuan literati, and painters of the time, such as Zeng Huanru, Fang Hezhai, Zhao Xi, Yin Zhongxi, Lin Shanyu, and Liu Yubo. People often gather at Shibi's house to appreciate the past and the present, and sing poems and paintings. They are called "Five Elders and Seven Sages".

In 1945, Zheng Boying, son of Zheng Ciqing, took over the management of Shibijia and added other business items such as woodcut watermarks and colored name paper.

During the Anti-Japanese War, famous artists such as Zhang Daqian, Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, Huang Binhong, Huang Junbi, Feng Zikai, and Xie Wuliang came to Sichuan. The exquisite mounting and fine brushwork of Shibi's house were favored. The masters all relied on Shibi's house and became its frequent customers. The woodcut watermarked poetry paper and powder manuscripts of Shibi's house were also mostly made by famous artists at that time. Xie Wuliang said that "they were exquisitely engraved with ancient meanings, and the elegant gentlemen should learn from them."

During the war, transportation was blocked and Xuan paper was in short supply, so Zhang Daqian went to Jiajiang with Zheng Boying to study papermaking techniques. They combined the techniques of Xuan paper and bamboo paper, added hemp, mulberry, cotton and other ingredients to the bamboo paper raw materials, and developed "Daqian calligraphy and painting paper", which is of superior quality and famous both at home and abroad.

This was the most glorious moment for the Shibi family, and it also left many treasures from famous artists to the family, which became the basis for the establishment of the Shibi Family Art Museum.

However, Zhou Zhi felt that there were some problems with Shi Bi's main business. The mounting shop, which was once as famous as Rong Bao Zhai, is now not famous for mounting. Most of the woodcut watermarked poetry paper and powder copies are also inventory. Instead, the auction of study treasures and artworks is booming.

Although its profitability is much stronger than that of Gongmei, Zhou Zhi still feels that it is a pity to lose its former heritage.

"As far as mounting is concerned, Shu craftsmanship should be as famous as Yang craftsmanship and Beijing craftsmanship." Zhou Zhi still said: "What a pity."

"Every generation has its own talented people." Old Master Qi said with a smile, "Elbow, aren't you the new Shu Gong? That's a good way to understand it."

"But I haven't seen anyone from Shibi's family come to see me..." Zhou Zhi couldn't help but shook his head: "I have some experience in repairing Zhang Daqian's paintings, and my understanding of Jiajiang bamboo paper is not weak either."

"With your worth, who can afford to hire you now except for voluntary labor?" Old Master Wang rolled his eyes at Zhou Zhi.

"Am I worth anything?" Zhou Zhi was a little puzzled.

"Elbow is a little proud." Chen Shizhong said, "If you have no value, who has value? Count the things you have repaired. When others hear them, they will be discouraged."

"Yes, the first one was the "Complete Map of Bashu" by Shu Da, right? Later, I used the method of burning lead with fire to revise Yi Yuanji's "Deer and Monkey Picture" in Rongbaozhai, and later, the six albums of Baiyang Qingteng, the ten scrolls of Chen, Xu, Zhu and Shi, and the six scrolls of Prince Chun's Palace. I also revise "The Inscription on the Buried Crane" and "The Thousand Character Classic in True and Cursive Script" overseas, right?"

"Ah, this..." Zhou Zhi didn't expect that what he had done had been seen by someone, and he was stunned.

“Hehehe…” Chen Shizhong saw Zhou Zhi was shocked, so he said, “I am also engaged in the collection of ancient paintings. There is a young dark horse in the industry, so of course I have to pay attention to it.”

"For those treasures I just mentioned, for ordinary people who mount them, it would be a great opportunity to get one in their lifetime. But for you, hey, it's as easy as eating a plate of Dong Lai Shun!"

"Wait, Mr. Chen, what does this have to do with net worth?"

“The value we are talking about is the skill of mounting.” Old Qi thought Zhou Zhi was quite smart, why did he act like a fool today: “Shi Bi’s family mainly collects works of modern and contemporary painters, so they don’t need a master like you. Do you feel very valuable all of a sudden? Hahahaha…”

"Don't forget the four masters' works that Elbow brought this time." Zhou Zhanlin reminded him, "Let's not talk about whether they are authentic works of the Four Masters of the Six Dynasties, at least they are copies or pseudonyms of Song Dynasty artists. Let alone other things, is it possible for an ordinary person to copy Mi Fu's postscript?"

"Uh..." Zhou Zhi waved his hand quickly: "All the text in the things I brought this time was edited by my fourth cousin. I edited the pictures."

"Is that so..." Zhou Zhanlin nodded secretly while speaking. Zhou Zhi felt that the old man might have left out the word "no wonder".

It seems that I still haven't met the old man's requirements. I need to go further.

The next day, several old men continued to study the paintings taken out of the safe, while Zhou Zhi was taken by the old man to the National Museum's appraisal laboratory to conduct scientific appraisal of the materials removed from the back mountings of the calligraphy and paintings and some of the surface mounting silks.

There are many methods of identification, and the carbon isotope method is one of the very important scientific means for identifying organic remains.

It can be imagined that the samples handed down from generation to generation must be seriously contaminated. These scrolls may have been repaired and mounted in the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty. Therefore, the lower limit of the age is not important; the key is the upper limit.

In fact, based on his own experience, Zhou Zhi judged that the paper used for mounting several silk scrolls should be the classic "Jade Paper" from the Song Dynasty.

In the Song Dynasty, jade paper was available everywhere. Yuan Fei wrote "Shu Jian Pu": "Today, all the paper in the world is made of wood skin, but in Shu, Cai Lun's method is used. There are jade paper, tribute paper, scripture scraps, and surface paper."

The "Shaoxing Prefecture Chronicle" also states that "the jade paper is as bright and smooth as jade."

Chapter 60 of A Short History of Civilization states: "It turns out that a scroll of Tang Liuru's 'Hell Transformations'...is covered with backing paper from an old Xuanzhou jade plate." This not only shows that Xuanzhou jade plate paper was also produced, but also that it was used as backing paper for ancient calligraphy and painting.

This kind of paper, which is between raw xuan paper and cooked xuan paper, is commonly known as semi-cooked xuan paper. Its water absorption capacity exceeds that of raw xuan paper, but is not as good as that of cooked xuan paper. As a backing for calligraphy and painting, it is very suitable, whether it is paper or silk.

In the Song Dynasty, jade paper was generally tributed from Xuanzhou and Shuzhong. Some important letters and imperial edicts were made by mounting silk with jade paper into scrolls and handing them over to the Hanlin Academy for writing.

The Badada Tuanhua brocade is one of the main varieties of Song brocade. It is also called "Badayun" and "Badayun".

The basic skeleton of the pattern is made of vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines in a "米" format, with square, circular and polygonal frames placed at the intersections of the vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines; the frames are then filled with various geometric patterns.

Because the lines communicate with each other and radiate in eight directions, it implies "eight roads connected", hence the name.

Badayun originated in the Five Dynasties and began to change in the Song Dynasty. The rules are strict, complex but not chaotic, the colors are red, green, dark yellow, colorful, showing a solemn and majestic style, achieving a high artistic effect of brocade.

The Song Dynasty Bada brocade uses three warp twills as the ground and colored wefts to show the patterns. The patterns are composed of dark red, blue, light blue, green, golden yellow, dark green, ochre, light red, black, and white.

The water-separating brocade brought by Zhouzhi is composed of eight petal patterns of different sizes and vertically crossed strips, with the center decorated with linked ruyi patterns and lotus seeds and lotus flowers. The water-drag brocade is composed of eight petal patterns and spaces between vertical strips, with the "rectangular patterns" commonly seen on bronze ware all over the space.

Regardless of the pattern, the patterns are clearly layered, the colors are solemn, and they have a very high artistic level.

Zhou Zhi himself was very sure that both the paper used for the backing and the silk and brocade on the surface were from the Song Dynasty. He brought it here for experimentation, not to convince himself, but to convince others. (End of this chapter)