Tibetan play style

Chapter 125 'Negative Salary Reading' Copper Ink Cartridge
There is a picture engraved on the surface of the ink cartridge, a woodcutter is carrying two bundles of firewood and walking down in the forest, whether it is the forest flowers and plants or the facial features, hair, beard, hands and clothes folds of the characters, the cuffs are all vividly depicted ,exquisite.

On the top of the ink cartridge are engraved from right to left four traditional small seal characters of "Negative Salary Reading", and the base is "Yin Sheng Ke".

'Negative salary study' she knows.

This is an allusion describing diligence, in which the protagonist is named Zhu Maichen.

Zhu Maichen was from Kuaiji (now Wu County, Suzhou) during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. He was still very poor in his 40s, and his husband and wife lived by selling firewood.He has a problem that makes his wife very angry, that is, he likes to read, and he reads aloud on the street with firewood on his back.Reading is something for those who have time to spare, and reading for a busy person is laziness.Reading is for the rich, and for the poor, reading is not a right position for them.The wife didn't understand Zhu Maichen's deep meaning and wanted to divorce him.

At that time, divorce was very simple, as long as the husband wrote a divorce letter.Of course Zhu Maichen disagreed. He said: "I won't make a fortune until I'm 50 years old. At that time, I will repay you well. Let you enjoy the glory and wealth."

His wife said: "50 years old? You died of cold and starvation, and you threw it into a ditch to feed the dogs. What are you talking about?" After some ineffective persuasion, Zhu Maichen was forced to write a letter of divorce. .Without his wife, he chops and sells firewood by himself.

Later, I met Yan Zhu from my hometown and recommended him to the imperial court. During Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he was recommended by Zhuang Zhu. Gongzheng was the master and captain, listed in Jiuqing, and later served as the prime minister and long history.

This code generally appears in the form of "negative salary" or "negative woodcutter". "Reading at a negative salary", together with the stories of Li Mi's "Hanging Books on Bull Horns", Kuang Heng's "Chiseling the Wall to Steal Light", and Che Yin's "Nangying Night Reading", are regarded as the most representative examples of diligent reading by famous sages in ancient my country.

Under Xu Yunhan's understanding, she thinks that studying at a negative salary is an ancient inspirational story.The depiction of such an allusion image on the ink cartridge complements each other.

Open the lid of the copper ink box, and the inside is the place to hold the ink. This kind of copper ink box is a small object for holding ink. It was produced in the Daoguang and Tongzhi periods of the Qing Dynasty, and prevailed in the Guangxu and Republic of China years.Copper ink cartridges are lighter and more flexible than stone inkstones, and can keep the ink smooth and black, so they were very popular among literati at that time.

Today, those old copper ink cartridges left among the people are favored by collectors.

Xu Yunhan carefully looked at the copper ink cartridge in his hand from left to right, up and down, and found that the copper ink cartridge only had some scratches on the surface, but there was no major missing or deformed place overall, and the appearance was not bad.

The inscription "Yinsheng engraved" on the bottom of it refers to Chen Yinsheng, a well-known bronze engraver in the Qing Dynasty, whose ink cartridges are extremely refined.

During the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period, outstanding representatives of copper engraving artists such as Chen Yinsheng and Zhang Yuecheng made the copper ink box one of the main carriers of the art of copper engraving, making the copper ink box an exquisite handicraft with characters, patterns, patterns and inscriptions. and artwork.

Due to the great fame of Chen Yinsheng, Yao Mangfu and others, the prices of their works were relatively high. During the period of the Republic of China, there were a large number of imitations under their names, and the number of imitations even exceeded the genuine ones.

In the early years of Guangxu, there were copper ink box workshops in the capital, and the number of workshops increased day by day. The more famous ones are Wanlizhai, Yihecheng, Jingmingzhai, Gusongzhai, Mingyuan Pavilion, Laixun Pavilion, Tonggutang, and Wengunan paper shop etc.

In the late Qing Dynasty, Zhenjun's "Tian Zhi Ou Wen" said: "Ink cartridges are popular, Duan inkstones are cheap every day, the old pits of the Song Dynasty are no more than ten gold, and Jia people don't know them at all. Apart from the ink cartridges, there are very few inkstones on the desks of scholars." Copper ink cartridges can be seen. In the late Qing Dynasty, it has become a fashionable thing that literati and scholars love to use.

At that time, copper ink cartridges had been widely used in business accounting offices, private schools, and literati.Copper ink cartridges not only made special contributions to the popularization of education and calligraphy, but also became one of the symbols of improving work efficiency and promoting the modernization of social, economic and cultural life.

At that time, many famous calligraphers and painters, such as Yao Hua, Qi Baishi, Chen Shizeng, etc., designed artworks for copper ink cartridges.

Many historical figures, including politicians, military strategists, diplomats, writers, artists, scientists, educators and industrialists, have formed an indissoluble bond with copper ink cartridges.

The famous collection of cultural relics since modern times, such as Deng Zhicheng's "Antique Notes", Zhao Ruzhen's "Guide to Antiques", Sun Dianqi's "Liulichang Xiaozhi", etc., have recorded copper ink boxes and their authors and operators.All these factors make the copper ink cartridge have high cultural content and collection value.

Xu Yunhan couldn't tell whether this was Chen Yinsheng's work. After all, from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China period and even now, there are many imitations of Yinsheng models, and many of them are of the same exquisite craftsmanship.

But at least she can be sure that the copper ink box in her hand is from the late Qing Dynasty, not a current imitation, but whether it is Chen Yinsheng's work, at least it is considered an antique, and it is even more worth buying in terms of value.

Xu Yunhan stood up and held the copper ink cartridge of "Negative Salary Reading", and waved to Zhong Biyu,

"How do you sell this?"

Zhong Biyu, who was busy negotiating the price with another customer who was interested in buying, glanced sideways at the copper ink cartridge in her hand, was stunned, and said,

"Huh? Why did you pick up the copper ink cartridge I used to press the stall? Sister, quickly help me find something on the stall that is a bit heavy and not afraid of falling, and use it to press the base cloth. It is the place where the copper ink cartridge was originally pressed. Otherwise, a gust of wind will blow the cloth on top of my booth into the air."

After instructing Zhong Biyu, she turned her head and continued to deal with the customer who had been haggling with her.

It turns out that the copper ink cartridge was used for this purpose. If a literati came here, she would probably be so angry that she would be so angry, Xu Yunhan slandered in her heart, wanting to think about it, but she still moved quickly among the piles of things on the booth. Find a rusty bronze handle and press it on.

Finally, the deal with the sharp and articulate customer was made, Zhong Biyu accepted the money with a satisfied smile and sent the customer away, then turned around and sighed.

In today's society, small business is becoming more and more difficult to do. Under the increasing economic pressure of survival, there are more and more people who are stingy, and they can drag her to bargain for half a day for a ten yuan.

"You help me press the cloth for the stall, thank you, big sister."

Zhong Biyu glanced at the bronze knife handle that was firmly placed on one corner, and compared in her heart, this is still not as easy to use as the boxy copper ink cartridge, which is pressed very flat, "Sister, I want to buy that copper ink cartridge ?”

"Well, I really like the picture engraved on this box, so I want to buy it for my cousin who is still studying. I just use the story on the box to inspire him to study hard and improve every day." Xu Yunhan smiled. She said that she has been a reporter for several years and has written countless articles.

(End of this chapter)