Pick up treasure

It is no exaggeration to say that Sean James is a private collector. His collection room is like an underground vault. Wang Ding meanders into the basement. The ground is magnificent, like a palace.

And this basement is not damp at all, and is well ventilated.

In the collection in the basement, apart from some exquisite porcelain, oil paintings, and sculptures, there are also many things that Wang Ding has never seen before.

Naturally, the collections in the East are slightly different from those in the West. The development history of the West is relatively short. Most of them are sculptures and oil paintings of the Renaissance, and some are imported from all over the world. Rich.

Xiao En directly led Wang Ding to the area of ​​Chinese collections. In Xiao En's collection of Chinese cultural relics, there are blue and white porcelain, silk paintings, and bronze wares. Wang Ding has been seen everywhere in China, so he didn't think it was new.

But in addition to these popular cultural relics, Wang Ding also found a small number of Dunhuang posthumous writings and oracle bone inscriptions in Xiao En's collection room.

Wang Ding knew that at the beginning of the century, a Chinese writer in France bought many Dunhuang posthumous writings at a low price from the Qing government at that time. Now two-thirds of the 5 posthumous writings in the Dunhuang Grottoes are abroad. Naturally, there are also Chinese Dunhuang posthumous writings.

If it is said that blue-and-white porcelain and silk paintings are not attractive to Wang Ding, but this Dunhuang posthumous note is a Buddhist classic and contains everything.Its content can be divided into religious classics, official and private documents, Chinese four books, non-Chinese documents, etc. It is an important research material of history, science and technology historical geography. It can be regarded as a national treasure of China and is of great value.

Because a large number of Dunhuang posthumous writings are collected in foreign museums, they cannot be retrieved for a while, resulting in a lot of unfounded historical facts. Now that the Dunhuang posthumous writings can be seen here at Xiao En, Wang Ding is a little excited.

Xiao En seemed to see that Wang Ding's eyes stayed on the Dunhuang posthumous note, he laughed and said, "Wang Ding, are you interested in this Dunhuang posthumous note?"

"Yes, I want to ask, Uncle Xiao En, how many Dunhuang posthumous manuscripts do you have?"

Among the Dunhuang posthumous writings that Wang Ding saw, there were not only manuscripts but also printed copies. You must know that the "Diamond Sutra" engraved and printed in the ninth year of Xiantong in Tang Dynasty is the oldest.The printed copies of Dunhuang posthumous writings appearing at present definitely have certain research and textual value.

Xiao En smiled and said, "My Dunhuang suicide note has 23 volumes, including 17 manuscript volumes and 6 engraved volumes. Of course, among the 23 volumes, there are scrolls, booklets, and folded suicide notes. They are mainly Buddhist books, but their content involves all aspects, and they have great guiding significance for the study of Chinese and even Asian history."

"Can I take a look?" Wang Ding felt the vigorous aura brought to him by this Buddhist book, and wanted to figure it out even more.

"of course can."

After Xiao En agreed, Wang Ding opened a Dunhuang book. The paper was a little rough, and the paper had already turned yellow due to the age, and there was an influx of spiritual energy in his hands. Wang Ding saw that his calligraphy was written in Liyi, and the handwriting was vigorous. Vigorous, it can be seen that it is written by a brush.

At this moment, Xiao En explained from the side, "The book you are seeing was written by the Northern Dynasty, and it was written with a brush. In fact, the Dunhuang posthumous writing can be judged by its calligraphy. The Northern Dynasty is basically In the official script, in the Southern Dynasties, it was mostly regular script, and there was running script and cursive script. From the end of the eighth century to the ninth century, there were scrolls written with wooden pens, while the previous ones were written with brushes."

Wang Ding knew something about this, because from the end of the eighth century to the beginning of the ninth century, Dunhuang once severed ties with the Central Plains dynasty, so the locals used wooden brushes instead of writing brushes.

"Wang Ding, why, are you very interested in this Dunhuang posthumous writing? I know that a large number of Dunhuang posthumous writings in your country have been lost overseas. This seems to lack some documentary support and verification for the study of that period of your country's history. As far as I know, there are only [-] volumes of Dunhuang manuscripts in your Yanjing Museum in China, but there are [-] volumes of Dunhuang manuscripts in the British Museum, and there are more than [-] volumes in France. So I believe that every The Chinese are all shouldering the responsibility of redeeming Dunhuang documents from overseas. Most of your Dunhuang posthumous writings in China are also the contents of religious classics, which is equivalent to the Christianity I believe in, and the "Old Testament" in your hands I The desire for you is equivalent to your desire for the Dunhuang posthumous writings, so let's exchange it, you see?"

Sean laid the groundwork so much, it is undoubtedly the last sentence that cuts the question, Wang Ding certainly understands what Sean means.Wang Ding did not suffer a loss in the deal by exchanging a copy of the Old Testament for the 23 volumes of the Dunhuang posthumous writings, but if the exchange was just like this, Wang Ding would lose the weight to continue the conversation with Xiao En.

Yes, Wang Ding still had other ideas at the moment. Indeed, the Dunhuang posthumous writings were of great value and meant a lot to him, so he must get them.But there is another treasure that Wang Ding favors, and that is the oracle bone inscriptions in Xiao En's collection room.

Oracle bone inscriptions are inscriptions carved on tortoise shells or animal bones by the royal family in the late Shang Dynasty of China for divination and recording.It is the earliest known systematic writing form in China. It inherits the original engraved symbols on the top and bronze inscriptions on the bottom. It is the key form of the development of Chinese characters.Modern Chinese characters evolved from oracle bone inscriptions.

Oracle bone inscriptions are of great significance to Chinese people. Although China has excavated 15 pieces of oracle bone inscriptions on tortoise shells and animal bones in Yin Ruins, Henan Province, due to the countless indiscriminate excavations by local villagers in the early days, the result is that "one who gains, all A thousand losses."The excavated oracle bones were taken away by merchants and foreigners who bought them on the ground, and a large number were lost or lost overseas.

These lost oracle bone inscriptions contain China's textual research materials on the history of the Shang Dynasty and the ancient times, and are of great significance to the blanks in the history of the ancient times. Therefore, every piece of oracle bone inscriptions has the responsibility to redeem it as a Chinese. China, for Chinese people to study.

"Uncle Sean, I really want the Dunhuang posthumous note you mentioned, but because the Old Testament is the supreme national treasure for you Western countries, I think it's a bit thin to just exchange the Dunhuang posthumous note, what I mean Yes, if Uncle Xiao En can still give me these ten oracle bone inscriptions, this business will be done. Do you think?"

"Do you still want to swallow my oracle bone inscriptions?" Sean James saw Wang Ding's ambition. This kid really has a big appetite, but how could he give him this valuable oracle bone inscriptions for nothing?

"Hehe, I can give it to you, but you have to do one thing for me."

"Oh, what's the matter?" Wang Ding asked curiously. (To be continued.)