Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 1794: The Victory of Methodology

Now with this "protein molecular clock identification method", we have a very suitable identification method for silk works, which is also an identification method that Zhou Zhi is very eager for.

Before this, the methods used in traditional calligraphy and painting authentication sounded a bit like metaphysics, and were mainly divided into three schools.

One school is represented by Mr. Xu who is present here. Xu Bangda has a set of theories on identification. In addition to "visual inspection", he also comprehensively considers the inscriptions, postscripts, seals, paper, silk, mounting format and other aspects for identification, which can be regarded as a "technical school".

Representatives of the second school were also present, represented by Mr. Qi. They conducted research on classical literature, philology, bibliography, textual research, history, phonology, exegesis, calligraphy evolution and mutual influence, etc. Multiple disciplines permeated each other, and the identification directions such as brushwork and style became auxiliary. They first examined the literary materials reflected in the steles and calligraphy, and then used them in the identification of the steles and calligraphy to make a judgment on their authenticity.

Zhou Zhi defined this school as the "academic school".

The third row is amazing. Represented by Xie Zhiliu, they advocate appraisal based on the artistic temperament and appearance of the calligraphy and painting itself. They use the "artistic temperament" directly conveyed from the calligraphy and painting itself, such as brushwork, personality, and school, as the object of appraisal, and never "play side roles".

It sounds very mysterious, but this school is actually the most traditional school of Chinese calligraphy and painting appraisal, and it is also the "authentic" one. Xie Zhiliu himself believed that calligraphy and painting studios have "character", so he called his own theory "character theory".

However, in ancient times, this theory had a lofty name - "Wangqi", so this school is also called the Wangqi School.

The magic of this school lies not only in its name, but also in its practical results. Xie Zhiliu once helped the Chinese collecting community to identify many authentic works of famous artists. However, for some of them, he himself could not clearly explain how he identified them. If he had to explain, it would be "the spirit and temperament expressed in this painting are indeed those of Wang Mian."

What he said seemed to be very natural, but others were confused.

With Zhou Zhi’s current level, he has learned more from these two schools, so both Grandpa Qi and Grandpa Xu feel close to him.

Especially Mr. Xu, because there are so few people in his faction, when he meets someone like Zhou Zhi, he finds him particularly pleasing to the eye.

Since all the masters were here, Zhou Zhi hurried to ask for advice: "I have never fully understood Master Xie's school. It seems a bit unfathomable."

"It is indeed profound, but not unfathomable." Old Master Wang said with a smile: "Why? Elbow would think that Mr. Xie is not worthy of his reputation and is deliberately mysterious?"

"How dare I?" Zhou Zhi said with a grin, "Mr. Xie was the chief expert of the National Painting and Calligraphy Appraisal Group. If he doesn't live up to his reputation, how can you, Mr. Qi, and Mr. Xu be convinced?"

"You are a good talker!" Old Master Wang laughed, "You deserve a lesson!"

"Actually, I'll explain this skill of Mr. Xie in another way so you can understand it." Mr. Qi said, "This is not a trick, but a manifestation of the extremely profound understanding of calligraphy and painting. Elbow, you also know how to write poetry, which is actually very similar to the poetry of masters."

"When ancient people wrote poems, there was usually a line in the poem that was the 'key point', such as the line 'There are bosom friends all over the world, and the world is as close as a neighbor' in Wang Bo's "Sending Du Shaofu to Shuzhou"."

Mr. Wang continued, "Poetry eyes are usually not the product of painstaking deliberation, but come from a flash of inspiration. Such sentences are very precious, so Li Shangyin carried a 'poetry bag' with him to store such sentences at any time." "Masters usually have this sentence first, and then they work around it to create beautiful poems." Mr. Qi said, "Poems with 'poetry eyes' are more eye-catching than ordinary poems. For ordinary readers, this is actually a kind of 'looking at the spirit', and they can feel the difference of that sentence at a glance. It gives people a feeling of 'eye-catching'."

“However, if you really ask you to explain in detail from the many angles of grammar and literature what is so good about this sentence, readers who are not majoring in literature will be at a loss.” Old Man Wang spread his hands.

"So that's how it is..." Zhou Zhi nodded: "In fact, this still has certain requirements for the reader. For example, he must first be very familiar with the common expressions in Chinese and be able to intuitively understand the quality of the poem..."

"In terms of the appraisal method of the Qi-Observing School, Mr. Xie should at least be able to appreciate and appreciate the various ways and methods of expression in the painting, just like we are familiar with and natural in our daily conversations. Only then can we appreciate the exquisiteness of the painting, just as we can appreciate the quality of poetry."

“That’s pretty much what I mean.” Grandpa Qi smiled and said, “Of course, this is just a crude analogy. The purpose is to let you directly experience the excellence and effectiveness of this school of appraisal.”

"But the threshold for this subject is too high..." Zhou Zhi couldn't help but sigh: "Now the Central Academy of Fine Arts has lowered the requirements for students' college entrance examination scores. Art and academics have almost become natural enemies. It is estimated that it will become increasingly difficult to find successors to the freehand painting school. I am afraid that this subject of Qi-reading is even more difficult..."

"Elbow has indeed hit upon a key point," said Chen Shih-chung. "The fact that Chinese painting has been elevated to the level of art is essentially inseparable from the creators' profound cultural heritage. Or, conversely, it is the creators' profound cultural heritage that has elevated the paintings that once decorated buildings to the level of 'spiritual heritage.'"

“If later creators do not have such a foundation, then their works are more likely to become works of showmanship, with superb skills but lacking spiritual richness.”

Xu Bangda sighed, "There are too many things to deal with, let's just do our part first. In the past, silk paper of different generations was identified based on their different characteristics. For example, Tang silk is thick and coarse, with a single shuttle and a width of four feet. The Five Dynasties are coarser. The Song and Yuan dynasties are slightly less uniform, such as Zhao Ziang, Wang Ruoshui and other famous artists, who often use 'Mi Family Silk', which is rare and fine and clean."

"In addition, after years of preservation, the silk properties of ancient silk have basically disappeared. In addition, after being mounted, it is no longer tough. If you gently drag your fingers across the silk, you can see that the silk is wrinkled like a pile of ash, has an ancient scent, and often has broken lines."

"These cracks are called 'fish mouth cracks'. The cracks are horizontal and vertical and follow the axis to form a fish mouth shape, but the silk is not hairy."

"But the opposite is true for fakes. They are often pale and evenly colored, have signs of aging, and thinner pieces don't crack, but thicker pieces are easily broken."

The northern and southern crafts each have their own exquisite features. Xu Bangda took this opportunity to teach Elbow Zi the secrets of silk appreciation and collection among the northern crafts.

By the time they reached their level, they had already discarded their sectarian prejudices, or to put it the other way around, if they had held on to their sectarian prejudices, I'm afraid none of us would have been able to reach our current level.

Finally, Xu Bangda said with a sigh: "Now that we have this protein molecular clock, it is a great blessing for the calligraphy and painting collection community, but it is a misfortune for my field..."

"I have some different opinions on what you said, Mr. Xu." Zhou Zhi said seriously: "The emergence of this method just proves that your previous technical identification route was completely correct. This method is actually just the extreme application of science and technology in the field of silk identification."

“This is a triumph of methodology.”