Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 1984: It’s Not Easy to Be an Official’s Wife

After dinner, everyone went to Zhou Zhi's large study. This painting was a standard Ming Dynasty palace painting. This type of portrait had strict formats and regulations.

For a full-body seated statue, the length must be 96 cm and the width must be 60 cm. If the subject is a male emperor or court official, the sitting posture must be upright, with both hands on the knees, and the tips of the boots exposed under the robe.

If they were concubines or ladies-in-waiting, they had to sit upright. Their robes should cover their feet so that no part of their body was exposed. Their hands should also be hidden in their sleeves so that no part of their body was exposed. The armchair they sat on should have the "ruyi head" of the chair exposed, and the rest of their body should be covered with silk and brocade that contrasted sharply with their court dress.

The clothing of officials in the early Ming Dynasty was not expensive or fancy. The second-rank official wore a white cross-collared inner shirt over a red brocade robe with dark patterns. Their elegance was mainly reflected in the blue-based shawl with gold embroidered cloud and phoenix patterns, the phoenix crown on their heads, or the pearl and jade hairpins.

However, due to a common problem with ancient paintings, this painting may have been worshipped with incense for a long time, exposed to the smoke of oil, and then rolled up and hastily preserved. Even if we count from the time when Wu Sangui started the rebellion, it has been exposed to the smoke for three hundred years and kept away and unattended for three hundred years. Its condition would not be good.

What's more, Wu Renzhong, Lu Hui and Hao Chunwang are all laymen. Looking at this old and tattered painting, whose colors are so dark that the traces of the painting are almost unrecognizable when it is opened, they think to themselves, Elbow let us see this national treasure so solemnly, but this is the result?

"Look at this part..." Zhou Zhi pointed to the upper half of the scroll. It was probably covered by a curtain in the past, so the damage from oil smoke was not serious. The original appearance of Lady Shexiang's 翟冠 could be seen, and it was painted in an extremely detailed manner.

"Shouldn't this be called a phoenix crown?" Wu Renzhong asked, "It's inside the costume, right?"

"The Ming Dynasty was the peak of feudal centralization, and the regulations on court dress were very strict." Zhou Zhi laughed and said, "If you can't tell the difference between Luan, Feng, and Di, it's better to be a commoner. Officials like Renzhong can be dragged out and beheaded."

"You are talking nonsense!" Wu Renzhong said, "Besides, you said that people like me can only be considered as clerks, not even officials. I don't count at all."

Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "Luan, Feng and Di are three common shapes used in ancient clothing. In the Ming Dynasty, phoenix patterns were mostly two phoenixes facing each other, or chasing each other. Whether it is Luan or Feng, their necks are basically the same, slender and with flying feathers. In addition, they have crowns on their heads, with feathers flying upwards, and their beaks are like parrots."

"The only difference between a luan and a phoenix is ​​the tail. A luan is one with a curled grass tail, and a phoenix is ​​one with a flame-shaped tail."

"Only concubines can use the Luanfeng pattern."

"The royal women and ladies below the level of the empresses and concubines used the 翟 in their clothing and crown decorations. The so-called 翟 is actually a long-tailed pheasant. Of course, its shape has been abstracted and often appears in an image similar to a phoenix. The only difference is the head, which still retains the image of a chicken's head, which is very different from the head of a phoenix."

"The Illustrated Records of the Clothing and Hats of the Ming Dynasty" describes that the first-rank officials wore a gold crown with five pearls and two gold phoenixes inserted on the crown, with pearls in their mouths. The second to fourth-rank officials wore four phoenixes, with a pair of gold phoenixes holding pearls in their mouths. The fifth and sixth-rank officials wore three phoenixes, with a pair of gold and silver phoenixes holding pearls in their mouths. The seventh to ninth-rank officials wore two phoenixes, with a pair of gold and silver phoenixes holding pearls in their mouths."

"Madam Shexiang is a second-rank official. The number of pearls and pheasants on her head corresponds to her rank, so she should wear a four-pheasant crown, plus a pair of golden pheasants to fix the crown."

"In addition, the crown should also have pearl peony openings, green clouds, green peony leaves, etc. The thing held in the mouth of the golden pheasant is called a pearl pick. The circle at the bottom of the crown is also the leftmost part of gold, called the gold mouth ring, which should also be decorated with gold jeweled flowers and green cloud and pearl flowers. A pair of gold hairpins should be inserted on both sides, and inserted together with the golden pheasant crown to fix the pheasant crown."

"In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the number of 翟冠 and 珠翟 (Pearl Di) often exceeded the regulations for the rank, and even the 珠翟 (Pearl Di) and 金翟 (Golden Di) were often replaced with 凤 (Phoenix) ones. Since then, 翟冠 has often been called 凤凰冠." "However, in the early Ming Dynasty when Lady Shexiang lived, no one dared to do so. These characteristics are actually one of the important signs used to determine the age of the portrait."

"Such a complicated thing..." Wu Renzhong recalled his painful experience of taking wedding photos: "How long does it take these ladies to arrange this dress properly?"

"It will take an hour or two." Zhou Zhi said, "Get up at 2:30 and pack until 4:00. Then you can line up at the palace gate and prepare to go into the palace to ask about your daily life."

"It's not easy to be an official, and it's not easy to be an official's wife either..." Wu Renzhong didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "No wonder Tao Yuanming wanted to escape!"

"Tao Yuanming's era and his official position were not suitable for such fun," Zhou Zhi said.

"It's such a pity for this painting." Chi Xueli looked at the clean spot on the top of the scroll and compared it with the dark part below. "When I saw the part you opened yesterday, I thought it was all like that. Why is the bottom part so bad?"

Zhou Zhi shook his head: "No, no, no, except for some peeling and falling off, this painting is actually in very good condition. Although it looks polluted by oil smoke, the oil smoke actually protects the painting to a certain extent. Compared with those ancient paintings with water stains, insect bites, mildew spots, and biological acid corrosion, this painting looks scary, but it is actually easier to repair."

"Can the part below be repaired like this?" Chi Xueli asked, pointing at Madam Shexiang's 翟冠.

"It should be better." Zhou Zhi had carefully checked the scroll and breathed a sigh of relief. At least the problems with the painting were within the scope of his skills and there was no new problem. "The upper part of the scroll looks clean, but it's actually because the contrast with the lower part is too obvious. In fact, this part also needs to be processed. After cleaning, the picture will become brighter and clearer."

"What a pity." Chi Xueli said with some regret: "You have to take this painting to the capital to have it repaired. It would be great if I could go with you to shoot an episode."

"Isn't this a simple matter?" Zhou Zhi suggested, "There are countless cultural relics in the Forbidden City and the National Museum, and the restoration plan has been scheduled for fifty years. When you have time and want to shoot a series of "I Repair Cultural Relics in the Forbidden City", I will go to Mr. Qi and Mr. Wang to persuade them for you."

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"No!" Chi Xueli: "No! I want sponsorship! One million at a time!"

"As long as your proposal can convince the Yu Tang Foundation Board of Directors, I will definitely vote in favor." Zhou Zhi said with a smile: "But I only care about getting my own vote. The rest depends on your ability."

"Don't think I don't know that they listen to you, too. At least Li Laosan, right? What does he know about humanities? He still votes with you, doesn't he?"

"After all, pure money sponsors like Li Laosan are a minority. Most of the board members are bigwigs like Qi Lao, Wang Lao, and Gu Lao..." Seeing that Chi Xueli was about to make a scene again, Zhou Zhi had to wave his hand and said, "Let's put everything else aside. If you really propose a documentary about the restoration of the Forbidden City's cultural relics, I can guarantee that you will get it approved, okay?"

"That's more like it!" (End of this chapter)

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