gifted collector

Chapter 35 Pure Gold Buddha Statue
The broken tiles were quickly cleaned up and put aside, revealing a brilliant golden light.

"This... a golden Buddha statue?"

Zhou Yafang stretched out her hands tremblingly, and held up the fist-sized Buddha statue on the ground. The faint golden light didn't look particularly bright, but it immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Zhou Yafang and Qian Fang glanced at each other. They were both people who had spent many years in the collection of antiques. Once they saw this kind of Buddha statue hidden in the Buddha statue, they knew that the Buddha statue inside must be a good thing. The only problem is this Just how good the Buddha statue is.

In fact, even if the Buddha statue has no history, it is already quite valuable just because it is gold—Fang Ming only spent 5000 yuan on it, and the value of the fist-sized gold far exceeds that. Finding the origin, finding the source, that is an incredible thing.

Looking at the Buddha statue in Zhou Yafang's hand, Fang Ming now understood why Pixiu only appeared when his right hand was placed on the base of the Buddha statue. It turned out that this small Buddha statue was hidden at the base, and his right hand was placed elsewhere Because the distance is too far, there is no response at all.

"Mr. Qian, can you tell when this Buddha statue was built? Is there any history?"

After Zhou Yafang looked at it for a while, she handed the Buddha statue to Qian Fang. Although she has some research on Buddha statues, there is still a certain gap compared with Qian Fang. She is self-aware of this.

Seeing that Qian Fang took the Buddha statue, Fang Ming could only retract his outstretched hand, and touched his nose. This Buddha statue was obviously picked up by himself, shouldn't he let me have a look first, and get used to it?
But obviously Zhou Yafang and Qian Fang didn't "take themselves seriously"—what else could they do?Could it be possible to snatch the Buddha statue from Qian Fang's hands?Obviously this is impossible.

Therefore, Fang Ming could only watch Qian Fang holding the Buddha statue over and over, looking at it non-stop, while he could only sit dryly.

Qian Fang looked at it very carefully, and he looked at it for more than an hour before stopping.

"This one should be a Buddha statue made by Gong Yan of the Ming Dynasty. Nowadays, such things are getting rarer and rarer. Fang Ming, your luck is really against the sky. You can pick up such a leak? ! I am convinced!"

Qian Fang sighed. The half-meter-high Buddha statue before was obviously an imitation. Fang Ming spent money to buy it, which is enough to show that he has no ability and experience in appraising this Buddha statue. But it revealed such a Buddha statue made of pure gold, and it came from the imperial palace. Such a thing is really rare now.How could he not be amazed?

"This... good luck, really good luck."

Hearing what Fang Ming said again, Zhou Yafang rolled her eyes in "angry", but what could she say?

"Mr. Qian, why do you say this is a Buddha statue from the court of the Ming Dynasty?"

Zhou Yafang was stunned for a moment. She also judged that this should be a Buddha statue from the Ming Dynasty, but she didn't know whether it belonged to the court - and this is crucial to the value of a Buddha statue.

There are two main reasons why palace items are more expensive than ordinary ones. The first is that palace items are often of the highest level, whether in materials or workmanship; the other is cultural. People think that all the things of the palace are upright, which symbolizes nobility, and the price will naturally go up.

"First, the bottom of the Buddha statue is engraved with 'Daming Yongle Nianshi', which is consistent with historical records. At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it attached great importance to the relationship with ethnic minorities, especially religions in Tibetan areas, but At the beginning of the founding of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, the monks who came to the capital were mostly given various practical items, but there were no Buddha statues. According to the records of "Ming Shilu", the first time the Ming court bestowed Buddha statues to XZ monks occurred in the sixth year of Yongle. It was 1408. In this year, "the Tathagata Dharma King Harima resigned, gave platinum, colored silk, Buddha statues and other things, and still sent officials to escort him." This is the earliest clear record; second, the court of the Ming Dynasty There are only two kinds of Buddha statues with year marks, one is the "Daming Yongle Nianshi" we see now, and the other is "Daming Xuande Nianshi". From the perspective of carving methods, they are both The engraved method is adopted, and the containing position is located on the front of the pedestal. The font is beautiful. At this time, the size of the Buddha statues produced at this time is usually about [-] to [-] centimeters. The shape is smooth and graceful, and the texture of the gold used is also quite pure. , which is not found in Buddha statues of other periods; thirdly, judging from the selected Buddha statues, most of the Buddha statues in this period use Avalokitesvara Manjushri or Sakyamuni Buddha, and the one in front of you is exactly Sakyamuni Buddha. Therefore, I conclude that the statue of Manjushri Bodhisattva in front of me is a Buddha statue published in the court during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty."

"Old Qian, I have a question I want to ask."

After listening to Qian Fang's analysis, Fang Ming suddenly remembered a question.

"Oh? What's your question? Tell me. See if I can answer it."

Qian Fang's face was full of smiles, he came here today just to see Fang Ming, to sit here for a while, but he didn't expect to encounter such a thing as Fang Ming picking up leaks, this really gave himself an unexpected surprise, For an antique collector, this is definitely the best "gift".

"That's right, can it be concluded that the Buddha statue in front of me is Ming Yongle just by the engraving of 'Daming Yongle Nianshi' on the bottom of the Buddha statue?"

Regarding this question, Fang Ming really couldn't figure it out. If it was just that simple, wouldn't it mean that he found something and engraved a few words on it, and it would become an antique from the Ming Dynasty or other dynasties?

Zhou Yafang laughed when she heard this, and said: "Of course it can't be so simple. The engraved or inscribed characters are indeed an important information used to determine the age in antiques, but this does not mean that it is enough to have or It can be determined if it has, and it must be combined with other factors. Of course, the most important thing is to look at its style. You must know that every dynasty has its fixed style and even craftsmanship. This is the only way to determine a certain item. Antiques are the most important evidence of which age."

"Oh? And what about the style of the Buddha statues in the palace of the Ming Dynasty?"

Fang Ming immediately asked questions like a curious baby.

Zhou Yafang showed a perplexed look on her face. Although she had some knowledge about the Buddha statues of the Ming Dynasty, she was far from proficient. After hesitating for a while, she said: "I only know that the Buddha statues in the court of the Ming Dynasty were greatly influenced by XZ style. Heavy, but as for the specifics, I can’t say.”

After Zhou Yafang finished speaking, she looked at Qian Fang, and she could only ask him for such a question.

Qian Fang didn't have any treasures, but said directly: "Miss Zhou is right. The Buddha statues in the court of the Ming Dynasty were indeed deeply influenced by XZ Buddhism. Many royal people more or less believed in XZ Buddhism. Of course, While being affected, it also has its own characteristics. Generally speaking, whether it is a Buddha or a Bodhisattva, the face shape is wide, the forehead is well-proportioned, the facial features are well-proportioned, plump and fleshy, with a smile on the corner of the mouth, etc., and the most important Judging from the clothes they wear, they are generally more majestic and grand, and this is an important criterion for judging whether it is a royal Buddha statue."

"Of course, other than that, there are obvious features in the Buddha crown, lotus seat, etc. If you are interested, you can find relevant books to study. The collection of Buddha statues is a very important part of the collection. It is broad and profound, and it is definitely not that easy to study it thoroughly.”

When Zhou Yafang heard what Qian Fang said, she nodded immediately and said, "Yes, I know an old man who has been studying Buddha statues for more than 60 years, but every time I see him, I find that he is The spirit of tirelessly looking up various materials is indeed worth learning for our young people."

"Hey, what I'm most concerned about is how much is this Buddha statue worth?!"

When Qian Fang heard it, he laughed out of anger and said, "You boy, this Buddha statue is beautiful in shape and is a rare masterpiece. Telling you like this, it has no taste at all."

"Ha! Am I a vulgar person? Mr. Qian, why don't I sell this Buddha statue to you? But, do you want me to touch it and enjoy it?"

Fang Ming directly "ignored" Qian Fang's words, and made a joke instead.

"Hey, yes, I haven't tried this Buddha statue yet."

Qian Fang pretended to be surprised, as if he had just discovered this, but he handed the Buddha statue to Fang Ming.

Zhou Yafang who was on the side saw Fang Ming and Qian Fang being so "not big or small", she was also envious for a while. In fact, a master of collecting like Qian Fang is equivalent to a "god" in the world of collecting, like Fang Ming The younger generation will be respectful and respectful when they see it, how can it be as easy as Fang Ming?The problem is that Qian Fang doesn't seem to mind it at all, instead he feels like a friend who has forgotten the years, which can only be attributed to their "fate".

The moment Fang Ming took over the Buddha statue, Fang Ming felt a golden light flash in his eyes, and he felt a strange feeling in his heart. He had never seen such a big piece of gold before!It would be worth a lot of money if sold.

However, Fang Ming didn't care about how much the Buddha statue was worth any more!Because as soon as he held the Buddha statue in his hand, he immediately "saw" Pixiu appearing on the back of his right hand. At the same time, he clearly felt something like an electric current gushing out of the Buddha statue, and quickly "drilled" into himself. In his hand, a silk-like golden thread was formed, and Pai Yao seemed to open his mouth, swallowing the golden thread, and then "suspended" on the back of his hand, motionless.

"Huh? What's going on here?"

Fang Ming was stunned for a moment. Apart from the electric current, he found that there was an extra blurry image in his mind: a piece of brocade cloth in a small square box. Ordinary things, and the innermost one is a thing that emits a bright yellow luster - giving people a feeling of being upright and shining for all living beings.

Shaking his head, he blinked again, and realized that this was not his illusion, but he actually "saw" it.

"what happened?"

Zhou Yafang noticed that Fang Ming's movements and expressions were very strange, she felt very strange, and thought, did she go crazy because she picked up a big leak?

(End of this chapter)