golden ear

Chapter 249 Dunhuang Relics
"This is a Buddhist mural from Mogao Grottoes, are you interested?"

Dunhuang frescoes include Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, Xiqian Buddha Caves, and Anxi Yulin Grottoes. There are 552 grottoes in total, with more than 5 square meters of murals from past dynasties.

The first foreign explorer who came to Dunhuang to steal documents from the Tibetan scripture cave was Stein. He was an archaeologist, but he did not understand Chinese. Many ancient sites in China and other places have been excavated, and a large number of cultural relics and ancient manuscripts have been stolen, and there are quite a lot of conspiracy tricks.

Stein heard from a WLMQ businessman that Taoist Wang in Mogao Grottoes accidentally discovered a stone room containing a large number of ancient manuscripts a few years ago, so he immediately set off to find Taoist Wang in Mogao Grottoes.At this time, Taoist Wang went to other places for alms in order to raise funds for repairing the cave.

A young monk showed him a beautifully written volume of scriptures. Although Stein did not understand Chinese, he already felt from the appearance that this scripture must be very old.He knew that he would have to wait until Taoist Wang returned to see a large number of manuscripts, so he hurried back to Dunhuang County, hired a group of workers, and first went to excavate the Fengsui site of the Northwest Great Wall in Dunhuang, and obtained a large number of bamboo slips of the Han Dynasty.

Stein was interested in the cave that Taoist Wang was trying to build, which made Taoist Wang very excited. He promised to take Stein and others to visit the whole cave. After several negotiations, Taoist Wang finally took out a volume of scriptures one night , loaned to Stein Research for research.

This volume of scriptures written in Chinese happens to be a Buddhist classic translated by Xuanzang.So Stein claimed to be a Buddhist believer from far away India and a follower of Master Xuanzang. The reason why he saw the Buddhist scriptures brought back and translated by Xuanzang on this day was entirely because of Xuanzang's arrangement. Let him send these scriptures that no longer exist in India back to their original place.

Stein's nonsense was more effective than money for this pious and ignorant Taoist priest, and it soon took effect. At night, Taoist priest Wang demolished the brick wall blocking the scripture cave. With the light of Taoist priest Wang's oil lamp, Stein walked into the This cave full of manuscripts.

An unusual deal was reached. Stein exchanged a few silver dollars and a guarantee of absolute secrecy for 24 boxes full of manuscripts and 5 boxes of carefully wrapped silk paintings or embroidery. After one year and six months of long-distance transportation, it arrived in London in 1 and was collected in the British Museum.

After that, the United States, Japan, Russia, Germany, etc. all frantically plundered Dunhuang cultural relics. According to incomplete statistics, a total of more than 6 pieces were lost overseas!

There are 6000 pieces in the British Museum, more than [-] pieces in Japan, [-] pieces in the United States, and many other countries.

"This time, I only want the beast-faced Kuilong Fang Zun, and a thousand Dunhuang cultural relics!"

David nodded and said, "To be honest, we suffered a loss in this transaction, but in order to win your friendship, we agree!"

Wu Tianyuan nodded, not to mention friendship, but in the future, if there are treasures, I will definitely exchange them with you. There are many national treasures here, and it is a difficult project.

The two parties quickly completed the transaction, and Wu Tianyuan returned to the museum satisfied, and asked Lao Ren to decorate the Dunhuang exhibition hall.There are many authentic Tang Dynasty murals in the murals, which can absorb energy in the next step, which is why he chose a large number of murals.

The most expensive items in the market now are cultural relics after the Song Dynasty, such as Song and Yuan calligraphy and paintings, Ming and Qing porcelains, etc.But what really has research value is the stuff before Tang.

Such as inscriptions, Thangkas, and Dunhuang murals.They represent comprehensive factors such as craftsmanship, culture, religion, and history at that time, and they have great historical value.

Wu Tianyuan looked at the largest exhibition hall for a while, and always felt that the display was not shocking enough, and suddenly said: "Old Ren, the next step is to arrange the statues of Buddha in and make the environment look like the Mogao Grottoes. Then arrange the murals, so that It feels more."

The two discussed for a while, and this exhibition hall cannot be displayed according to ordinary logic, because most of the murals are incomplete and scattered without aesthetic feeling.Once the environment at that time can be restored, it will definitely be shocking.

This is the second Buddhist-themed exhibition hall of Tianyuan Museum. Tathagata is a Buddha statue of Ming and Qing Dynasties, and there is also a relic town hall.Now with the addition of the Dunhuang exhibition hall, the whole atmosphere is solemn again.

"It's no wonder that those top museums have a majestic temperament. Once the cultural relics with a real sense of vicissitudes are arranged, the whole connotation is greatly improved!"

Hu Jianmin said with deep emotion: "If there are only Ming and Qing porcelains and calligraphy and paintings, no matter how precious they are, they are just an exhibition hall. Now that Dunhuang murals are on display, it is history and culture!"

Wang Jiansen and Liu Dongqiang are even more pious. They spend one day every week to bathe and change clothes, and come to the museum to worship Buddha.There are not only relics here, but also statues of Song and Yuan Buddhas and Dunhuang murals. It is the best place to cultivate merit.

When Lao Ren saw the broken murals, he joked: "At the beginning of 1941, Zhang Daqian led his wife, children and disciples to the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang for investigation. , so far there are still many words of defense circulated. If someone publishes an article as a "person who has witnessed it", he has worked in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang for more than ten years and saw it with his own eyes. Not only did Mr. Zhang Daqian not destroy the Dunhuang murals, but on the contrary It has made an undeniable contribution to the restoration and arrangement of Dunhuang mural art."

"Xie Zhiliu also argued that if you were in Dunhuang at the time, you would have agreed to destroy it! Since the outer layer has peeled off and there is no discernible appearance, and there must be murals inside, why not remove the outer layer to reveal the inner essence? "

Wu Tianyuan nodded. He had also heard rumors that Cave 130 of Mogao Grottoes is one of the most representative grottoes in Dunhuang, and the 26-meter-high Buddha statue in the cave is the second largest Buddha in Dunhuang.The murals stripped by Zhang Daqian are located in the entrance corridor.He first peeled off the first layer of Xixia murals, and then peeled off the second layer of late Tang murals, and now people can only see the bottom murals of the Tang Dynasty, and the murals of the prosperous Tang Dynasty were covered by the predecessors to increase soil adhesion. Power, has been drawn beyond recognition.

Zhang Daqian's destruction of murals has attracted the attention and accusations of academic circles since he led a team to Mogao Grottoes in 1941, and many complaint letters were handed over to Fu Sinian and Li Ji very early.However, due to Zhang Daqian's deep relationship in the political and academic circles, and because he and Yu Youren were close friends, Fu and Li did not take any action without direct evidence.

Knowing that in 1946, the national government began to investigate Zhang Daqian for other purposes, searched his house, and even issued sky-high fines!
In 1947, Zhang Daqian had no choice but to settle in Hong Kong in order to avoid the accusations of public opinion, and later went to Brazil, the United States and other places, and did not return to China until his death.

"There are different opinions on this kind of thing. The government's final trial of Zhang Daqian was also innocent, so it was nothing. Daqian's contribution to Dunhuang still outweighed the disadvantages. Without his several exhibitions, the Dunhuang relics were at least 20 years later. It will be protected, there is no doubt about it!"

As Wu Tianyuan can understand Zhang Daqian's approach, there must be trade-offs when doing big things. In order to accomplish big goals, many small goals must be given up in the process.For him, returning the national treasure is only the first step, and the next step is to build a national cultural brand is the ultimate goal!Others are means and channels to realize the plan, and those who achieve big things don't care about small details.

(End of this chapter)