Live appraising treasures, I became a national treasure expert?

Chapter 392 Statue of Queen Mother Xiao

Many unofficial histories of the Qing Dynasty claim that during the reign of Tianxi (Zhu Youxiao), Nurhachi founded the country, and the sorcerers predicted that Jinling (located in Fangshan, the capital) would be used for sacrifices all the year round, so the Jurchen king's energy was too strong.

Then, Zhu Youxiao dug into the Golden Tomb, and Zhu Youjian killed the golden dragon...

This is pure nonsense: It had been almost 400 years since the Jin Dynasty was destroyed, so where could the dragon veins come from?
Besides, if Xizong and Chongzhen had really done this, when the Manchus compiled the history of the Ming Dynasty, could they not have recorded hundreds of pages for the two brothers?
Of course it wasn't them. I don't know who did it. Anyway, when Zhu Di moved the capital, Jinling was emptied.

Not to mention the bones, not even the coffin boards were left, and Zhu Di even sent people to repair them again.

Okay, now the case is solved.

Li Ding'an stared at the skull, and a bald figure appeared in his mind: Yang Lian Zhenjia.

Among the leaders in the world of tomb robbers in ancient and modern times, who can compare with this thief monk?
A group of experts were also speechless for a long time: The two brothers Xizong and Chongzhen have been responsible for the two huge scapegoats for more than five hundred years?
Injustice or not?
In silence, there was another "stab" sound in my ears: "Teacher Li, after the stone pillars in the North Hall were removed, a wooden box was found underneath... It's not iron, it's wood. The key is that it's very big: the bottom diameter is 1 It’s about five meters tall and more than two meters high!”

Good guy, three more cubes?
How big should the contents be?
The "coaxing" sound is like poking a hornet's nest, buzzing, buzzing, and making people's heads hurt.

Li Ding'an waved his hand, meaning to ask them to be quiet, and pressed the intercom: "What's inside?"

"It's filled with sand, so I don't know yet."

"How's the sealing going?"

"I just used geomagnetic detection, but I didn't dare to dig!"

"Extract the whole thing!" Li Ding'an said without any hesitation, "Don't be afraid of damaging the hall, protect the cultural relics first."

After explaining, he put down the walkie-talkie and turned his head again, "Lv Yuan, go to the cabin!"

"it is good!"

Who wouldn’t be curious about such a big thing?
In the blink of an eye, a group of people returned to the cabin.

Not long after, a big hole was opened on the roof of the cabin, and a big hole was also opened on the roof of the north hall.

The stone bricks were uncovered, and a large pit was dug out on the ground of the hall, covering more than twenty square meters. In the center of the large pit stood a three-meter-square mound nearly five meters high, which was tightly wrapped with wooden boards from top to bottom, left and right. Reality.

Immediately, the crane's big arm stretched out, and the mound was lifted out of the hall and into the cabin.

This is the overall extraction. If necessary, the entire tomb can be moved into the museum using this method...

Technicians rushed forward, wearing protective suits and oxygen masks, just like biochemical warriors.

Don't be surprised: there is no oxygen in the operating room.

After clearing the soil and unpacking, there was a "squish" and sand flowed all over the floor.

Looking further inside, a group of people were all stunned: Oh my god...such a big...Buddha statue?
It was definitely carved in imitation of life-size. The most important thing is that it was preserved so well that the color of the clothes has not faded at all?
So three-dimensional and beautiful?

Li Ding'an stood up slowly: after the sand was finished pouring, there was a bottle of wood carvings and painted Buddha statues standing in the center of the operating table. It was life-size and lifelike... It was really lifelike, just like modern sculptures, and the image was extremely lifelike:

Oval face, willow leaf eyebrows, red phoenix eyes, cherry lips... she has a slim figure, exquisite and graceful, plump and graceful, and round and round.

Li Ding'an couldn't help but squint his eyes: Judging from the shape, it looks like Shuiyue Guanyin... But Guanyin looks like this?
Isn't this a little... too pretty?
Look further down: At the bottom is a lotus base with six layers of flowers. The petals are white and pink, with red in the pink. Avalokitesvara is in a sitting posture, with a golden crown on her head and her eyes looking down, as if looking at the moon in the water, to illustrate the meaning of Buddha's color and emptiness, so it is called Water Moon Avalokitesvara.

Look at the shape again: the arms are stretched out, the fingers are long and supple, the face is beautiful, plump and round, the figure is exquisite, and the proportions are perfect... From this we can see the exquisite carving.

The key is the appearance: gold crown, red mantle, green gauze, purple belt, yellow skirt, and rosette... gold is gold, red is red, yellow is yellow, green is green... At first glance, it looks like it was just carved. Same?
The following suddenly became lively:

"Avalokitesvara statue, made of wood?"

"should be."

"How come it's like new?"

"The sand is dry, has little moisture, and is oxygen-free, so it can be preserved well..."

During the heated discussion, the leader glanced back and suddenly fell silent.

"Teacher Li, Dean Lu, what dynasty is this Guanyin statue from?"

Lu Benzhi looked at it carefully: "The female Guanyin...should be from the Yuan Dynasty!"

Before the Tang Dynasty, Guanyin had always been a man with a male body. It was not until the Song Dynasty that the image changed from male to female, but only in appearance, not physical characteristics, which is the so-called "female with male body".

It was not until the Yuan Dynasty that it was completely transformed into a female-like body, just like this bottle: beautiful face, slim body...the characteristics of the female body are very obvious.

Li Ding'an also agreed. Just as he was about to nod, he suddenly froze: No...this thing is wrong.

It's not that the gender is wrong, but that the five elements are in the wrong position.

He saw with his own eyes that the box was lifted out of the north hall.

The north is water, and water is yin. There is nothing wrong with using the female body Guanyin as a magical instrument, but it is impossible to use a statue from the Yuan Dynasty.

The reason is very complicated, let me just say one thing: the origin is fire, but the north is water... water overcomes fire!

Why, the Yuan people thought their country was too long?
He stood up suddenly: "This thing is weird... I have to go in and take a look!"

With that said, Shu Jinghao brought the protective clothing.

Putting on the mask, Li Dingan quickly entered the anaerobic chamber.

The technician was cleaning up, and he waved his hand, meaning there was no need to stop. Then he slowly walked around the statue and looked at it carefully.

That's right, she looks like a woman and has a female body...and the carving is so good: dignified yet gentle, and solemn yet compassionate.

But the truth is wrong: to be able to set up such a large formation, it’s impossible that they don’t even understand the principle of “water and fire are incompatible”?
After turning it around for seven or eight times, and just as I was wondering if there was something fishy somewhere and whether I should unplug it and take a look again, the technician cleaned out the base.

"Teacher Li, are there words on the base?"

"What word?"

"I don't know you!" Li Ding'an quickly walked around to the front.

At the bottom, that is, on the lotus plate under the lowest lotus leaf, there is a line of small lacquered gold characters engraved on it.

Li Ding'an defended the square Khitan text and read: "Benevolence is only provided by God, and longevity is as good as prayer..."

Birthday wish list?

He continued to read, and gradually his expression became weirder and weirder.

So that's what happened?
For a long time, he straightened up and stared blankly at Guanyin's face: Why is it so well carved, so lifelike, and so beautiful?

Does it look like this?
He looked at it for a long time, and it wasn't until Lu Benzhi knocked on the glass that he turned around.

"What's wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong, it's just that the time is a little different!" Li Ding'an took off his mask and scratched his head again, "This is a wood carving painting from the Liao Dynasty, Water Moon Guanyin!"

Lu Benzhi's eyes widened: What are you talking about?

There are as many as 800 Guanyin statues unearthed during the Song, Liao and Jin dynasties. Regardless of the size or material, let me ask you: Which bottle is the female body?

The two of them stared at each other, but it seemed like they had stung a hornet's nest:
"Did I not hear clearly... Teacher Li said: This is the Water Moon Guanyin painted on wood from the Liao Dynasty?"

"I heard it too, that's what it said!"

"It's amazing... I remember the same thing. Are there only five bottles that are well preserved in the world?"

"World?"

"Yes, because there are only five bottles in total, two bottles are abroad, and three bottles are at home... Oh no, to be precise: there are only four and a half bottles... One bottle from the National Museum, one bottle from the Forbidden City, one bottle from Shanxi, and one bottle from the Metropolitan Museum of America. bottle, and the other half is in England!”

"Why so little?"

"First, the craftsmanship is complex: this is wood carving, which needs to be carved one by one, unlike clay sculpture, which can be shaped as you like, so the larger the body, the more difficult the operation. The second is the material: wood. Think about it again, from the Liao Dynasty to How many years now: a whole thousand years... Let alone wood, iron will rust away!"

“What’s up with the half-bottles in England?”

"Because it was damaged, the base was re-carved in the Ming Dynasty, and the face was also repaired and repainted later, so it can only be considered half a bottle...

Don’t think that a half-bottle is worthless. On the contrary: even a half-bottle is a national treasure-level cultural relic: the British Museum has specially built a giant Chinese palace-style exhibition hall to display this bottle of Guanyin..."

"It's also very popular online: travel bloggers often go to shoot, just shoot a video and add some music, put it on Douyin, and easily get more than 100,000 likes..."

A group of laymen were very happy, and the leaders looked at each other.

Because there is much more than what the subordinates discussed: the Shuiyue Guanyin of the Liao Dynasty is known as the pinnacle of ancient wood carvings. In terms of artistic value and rarity, this one is also a definite national treasure.

Look at the bottle in front of you. It’s not very well preserved: if you say it’s newly carved, some people may believe it.

In terms of quality, the five bottles discussed previously are not even one-tenth of the size of this bottle...

A layman looks at the excitement, and an expert looks at the door. In the opinion of Wang Yongqian, Deputy Director Yan, Deputy Mayor Wei, and Zuo Peng, in addition to the appearance, the carving of this bottle is not even the slightest bit higher than the other four bottles:
Flowers are flowers, leaves are leaves, wrinkles are wrinkles, pleats are pleats... The face is round, the limbs are delicate, and there is no trace of sculpture at all...

Even Lu Benzhi also thinks so: it is indeed better than the two bottles in the Forbidden City and the National Museum.

But this is the time...Liao Dynasty?
How can it be?

He frowned and lowered his voice: "What's going on?"

Li Ding'an felt as if he had a toothache: "There are words on the base, let me read it to you: Benevolence is only helped by God, longevity is worthy of prayer; benefit is in the hearts of the people, words are self-sufficient in elegance. In the birthday month, I look up and bless you. Period... Erlongxu Gongwei's mother..."

"This is a birthday wish list..."

After chanting for half a sentence, Lu Benzhi suddenly paused, "Holy period... Longxu... Queen Mother... This is the birthday wish list of Liao Shengzong Yelu Longxu, the Empress Dowager Chengtian (Xiao Chuo)? No... not only the wish list, but also the birthday wish list. There is a congratulatory gift... is this bottle of Guanyin?"

Lu Benzhi's eyes widened and he was stunned for a long time. He turned around and looked carefully through the glass: "Whether it is sculpture or painting, ancient times only paid attention to artistic conception and charm, but this bottle is so three-dimensional and lifelike?"

After a pause, he turned back: "It couldn't be that the craftsman carved the original image of Empress Dowager Xiao herself...?"

What's impossible?
Li Ding'an nodded: "A statue can last as little as seven or eight months, or as long as one or two years, but how can you dare to look directly at the power of the emperor? Xiao Chuo is not an emperor, but he is better than an emperor. How can a craftsman dare to stare at it for so long? I guess he painted the portrait first and then carved it... …”

Not the same?

She didn’t run away, this is most likely the original image of Queen Mother Xiao!

Lu Benzhi was speechless for a long time, and the leaders were stunned and said nothing: Empress Dowager Xiao looks like this?
No...it doesn't matter what Empress Dowager Xiao looks like, the point is...this is most likely the true image of Empress Dowager Xiao?
There are many portraits of emperors and empresses that have been handed down: in the Nanxun Hall of the Forbidden City, all the paintings after Kangxi can basically be regarded as the original portraits of the emperors and empresses. There are even photos of Guangxu and Cixi.

The problem is, that was already the Qing Dynasty, and there was no one before that, whether it was the Ming Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Song Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, or Liao Dynasty.

Not to mention a more three-dimensional statue?

But this is only secondary.

Let’s take a look at Xiao Chuo’s historical encyclopedia: He governed the country wisely, knew people well, was determined to reform, rewarded reclamation, reduced taxes, developed production, and reorganized the army, so that the Khitan gradually rose from its decline to its peak...

Also: conquer the Jurchens in the east, attack Dangxiang and Uighurs in the west, attack Tieli in the north, attack Song Dynasty in the south...

Here’s the key point again: In nearly half of these wars, she led her troops to fight in person... in person.

Therefore, in Xiao Chuo's historical evaluation, in addition to politicians and reformers, there are also military strategists.

Throughout history, there are only two women who can be called "militarists": Mrs. Xian of Nanliang (the prototype of She Saihua and Mu Guiying), and Empress Dowager Xiao of the Liao Dynasty.

Even if we exclude the military strategists and reformers at the back, we can count on our fingers: from Qin to Qing, how many women can be called politicians?

No more than two slaps...

(End of this chapter)