Inherit For Three Thousand Years

Although gold has a strong visual impact, Xiao Yao prefers these antique artworks in the treasure.

After the divine sense investigation, Xiao Yao already had a general understanding of the collections in these wooden boxes. Those ordinary antique cultural relics do not have much appeal to Xiao Yao, and only those rare national treasure-class antique artworks can make him interested.

Next, he no longer opens all the wooden boxes. He just wants to personally appreciate the treasures and antiques. For the more common antiques, he does not plan to organize them one by one. Space is the best place to store them. When will they be available in the future? Time is up, it’s not too late to sort things out slowly.

He then opened three wooden boxes in a row, each of which contained an item alone.

These three items are all jade Buddha statues, one is a black jade Buddha statue, one is a white jade Buddha statue, and the other is a topaz Buddha statue.

In his exploration, these three Buddha statues should be one of the most valuable single items in this batch of treasures.

The first black jade Buddha statue, about one meter high, is carved from black jade.

This is a Buddha statue with a burning lamp. The Buddha statue is tall and decorated with snails, neatly arranged, round and raised buns, topped with Mani beads, flat forehead, full cheeks, short nose and triangular cone shape from the front.

This jade sculpture of Buddha has simple and clear lines, clear facial features, hands on the chest with *** prints, legs knotted and seated, the limbs are soft and delicate, the shape is dignified, and the proportion and structure are precise.

This lamp-burning Buddha shows a strong style of Western statues. Its temperament has changed from the sense of peace and elegance in the statues of the Han Dynasty. It has injected a strong and heroic spirit into the image of Buddha. This is a typical example of the Qianlong court.

Judging from the style, this should be a jade Buddha statue in the Qianlong court.

Among the jade Buddha statues in the Qianlong court, the statues of Buddha in the past are very rare.

"Past Buddha" is the Buddha of Burning Lantern, the Buddha before Shakyamuni. There are many legends about Buddha of Burning Lantern. The Buddhist scriptures record that everything around the Buddha was as bright as a lamp when he was born, so it is called the Buddha.

In the Buddhist scriptures, a universe from birth to death is called a "great calamity", the present world where Sakyamuni is located is called "sage calamity", and the Buddha of the burning lamp is the "sacred calamity" Buddha before the virtuous calamity.

The Lantern Buddha once predicted that Sakyamuni’s predecessor would become a Buddha in the virtuous robbery and gave him a note. Therefore, the Lantern Buddha is also called the "Past Buddha."

The carving craftsmanship of this Buddha statue is extremely exquisite, and it is definitely the painstaking work of a top master. This Buddha statue has a high artistic achievement, but for this jade Buddha, such top carving skills are just icing on the cake.

The reason for saying this is because the value of the material of this Buddha statue itself is already invaluable, even if it is not carved, it is a rare treasure.

Like this top-notch Hetian black jade, even the big fist is a rare treasure. The value of the top Hetian black jade, one meter high, is simply incalculable.

Even if it is conservatively estimated, the value of this Mo Jade Buddha statue will not be less than 1 billion yuan.

The second white jade Buddha statue is similar in size to the previous one, and the whole body is carved from the finest Hetian white jade.

This statue of Venerable Vajalofodoro wears a broad-collared monk's robes, with his legs crossed on the lotus, holding the floating dust, and the neck is decorated with jewels. The face is full, the eyes are drooping, and he is quiet and graceful, compassionate and tolerant. State.

Venerable Vajalofodoro, the eighteen arhats ranked in the fifth, is the transliteration of the Sanskrit Vajraputra, and the one thousand and one hundred arhats guarding the Dharma, which proves the status of immortality and non-destructive vajra.

Venerable Vajalofodoro sat in meditation all day long, unmoving, erudite, well-versed in the scriptures, and thoroughly admired by believers for his great magical power.

The statues are just right for the performance of the cassock and 璎珞, showing the softness of the fabric and the smart beauty of the beads; the depiction of the face and hands has a realistic effect, reflecting the superb jade carving skills of the craftsman.

Analyzing his artistic style, Xiao Yao can conclude that this graceful and gorgeous jade Buddha statue comes from a typical work of the "Vatican Statue Tijusi" of the court of the Yuan Dynasty.

In the twelfth year of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ministry of Industry of Yuan Ting had set up the "Management of Various Colors and Craftsmen", under the control of the "Vatican Image Bureau" and other 18 divisions, and was under the control of the Nepalese artist Aniko, in charge of the royal statue system Do things.

Therefore, this jade sculpture combines various elements of Ni, Tibetan, and Han styles, which is unique and has a profound influence on the statues of the court in the Ming Dynasty.

Combined with this work, its facial shaping and clothing embodies the distinctive Chinese style of the Central Plains, while the shape of the rosette, especially the prominent rim of the beads, is clearly an artistic feature from the Himalayas.

To prove this point, a jade statue of Manjusri Bodhisattva from the Qing Palace can be used as evidence. The back cover is engraved with the inscription: "Buddhist Buddha Gao Quan believes in the family, gave money to make a manjusri and repays the kindness of parents for nurturing, and all sentient beings will become Buddha. On May 15th of the 9th year of the Great Virtue."

This work is widely regarded as the standard jade statue of Yuan Dynasty. Its overall style, casting process and material are in high consistency with this statue of the venerable.

Comparing with another jade statue of Sakyamuni, which is also considered to be a work of the Yuan court in the Capital Museum, you can find that the facial modeling of it and this statue of the venerable all show obvious characteristics of "sinicization", and the style of the lotus seat It comes from the art of sculpture in the Himalayas.

In addition, the Vajra Pestle placed horizontally in front of the Sakyamuni statue also proves its attributes of esoteric Buddhism. This mixed artistic style is also the greatest charm of the "Vatican Statue Tijusi" statue.

The jade quality of this white jade statue is slightly better than that of the previous black jade statue. It is also an extremely rare inheritance jade sculpture in the Yuan Dynasty. The overall value is much higher than that of the previous black jade statue.

Xiao Yao's valuation of this white jade statue is at least 1.3 billion yuan. This white jade statue is definitely a treasure.

The third green Tara jade sculpture is entirely made of Hetian topaz. The shape is slightly smaller than the previous two, but the jade quality is the best among the three Buddha statues.

Green Tara is one of the twenty-one salvation Buddhas. It is named after its body shape. It is revered as a rescuer who can miraculously save all suffering beings. It is also the most common and active Tara who manifests.

The scriptures say that the twenty-one Tara are all manifested in the tears of the Guanyin Bodhisattva to help the Bodhisattva relieve the suffering of all living beings. In "The Origins of Tara", it is said that Green Tara can save eight kinds of sufferings: lion disaster, elephant disaster, snake disaster, water disaster, fire disaster, prison disaster and non-human suffering, so it is also called the eight difficulty mothers.

This seated statue of Hetian Topaz and Green Tara in the Yongzheng Period of the Qing Dynasty is a typical statue of Dornnoll. Green Tara has precise proportions and dimensions, and its face is round and round. It is a characteristic of typical Mongolian portraits. It combines the aesthetic appeal of Tibetan and Central Plains to create this beautiful portrait of Green Tara like a young woman. .

The lotus seat is wide and heavy, with three-layered lotus petals, slender and tall, full and strong. The edge of the lotus table is also decorated with three-layer uniform beads. The carving craftsmanship is extremely exquisite. You can refer to a similar statue that is now in the Canadian province of Andalo. The 17th-century green Tara jade statue in Tibet in the museum.

Ordinary people may have never heard of the name Green Tara, but the belief in Green Tara is very popular in Tibetan Buddhism, and the statues of this subject are the most beautiful types of statues in Tibetan Buddhism.

Because of its flexible posture of sitting or standing, Green Tara is the easiest to embody the graceful and graceful appearance of the female image. This jade sculpture is shown incisively and vividly at this point, which can be described as a typical example.

Jade carvings of the same kind are rare in the world, and this is the only example of a Tara jade carving of such a large size.

Taking all factors into consideration, Xiao Yao estimated this jade sculpture at RMB 1.2 billion, slightly lower than the previous white jade sculpture.

These three jade sculptures alone are already rare treasures, because they are similar in size, and they are carved from Hetian white jade, Hetian topaz and Hetian black jade. The three jade sculptures appear in sight at the same time, which is even more shocking. .

After repeatedly appreciating for a while, Xiao Yao opened the next wooden box again.

What is placed in the next wooden box is still a statue of Buddha, but it is a statue of Sakyamuni made of pure gold.

This Buddha statue is extremely large, one meter high, and looks the same as a real person.

The Buddha Shakyamuni is the most frequently expressed theme in Buddhist art, and the Buddha Shakyamuni, who sits on the ground with the ground seal, is the most popular Buddha in East India, Nepal and central Tibet.

No matter how the history changes, no matter how many times it has been rebuilt and refurbished, this image is one of the most sacred images of the Buddha.

This is because Bodhgaya in Bihar, East India, is the place where Shakyamuni Buddha enlightened. The stone pedestal, bodhi tree and the Great Bodhi Pagoda built during the Gupta period are all Buddhists in the world. The object of worship is the same image of Sakyamuni Buddha enshrined in the pagoda.

This pure gold Buddha statue wears a robe, bare right shoulder, and the hem is piled up and down in two layers. The cassock lapel is decorated with two rows of silver welded beads along the edges, with inscribed patterns in between.

The Buddha sat in full swing, with his right hand hanging down to touch the ground, and his left hand applying a meditation seal.

The eyes were downcast, the eyebrows were inlaid with turquoise stones, the lips were slightly smiling, and the expression was solemn and kind. There is a gilt bronze orb top on the bun. The storage board has not been opened intact, and the lotus pattern is engraved on the overcast.

This is one of the most sacred images of the Buddha, and it is also the best choice for believers to invite holy objects.

As a long tradition, the pilgrimage began to take shape after Sakyamuni’s Nirvana. The content of the pilgrimage mainly includes worshipping and inviting holy objects.

As Bihar is close to Ni*r and the central part of Tibet, the Buddha of Shakyamuni has become the best choice among the subjects of Buddha statues in this area.

Gilt Buddha statues are more common in Nier statues. Pure gold Buddha statues are hard to see. It is even rarer to see this pure gold Buddha statue that is the size of a human being.

This pure gold statue of Sakyamuni Buddha is very different from the thin and bright gilt effect of the Ni*er statue.

The Buddha has a wide forehead and a circular arc, and the pekoe is represented by inlaid turquoise stones.

The eyebrows are slightly raised, the eyes drooping, in a state of meditation, the bridge of the nose is straightened, the lips are slightly pursed and smiling, the middle part of the chin is obviously raised, the earlobes are obviously elongated and drooping, and the neck has three auspicious patterns. Both are one of the characteristics of Buddha.

The Buddha's hair buns are high snail hair, densely arranged, painted blue, and mostly painted with lapis lazuli mixed with animal glue, which conforms to the characteristics of the Buddha as the cyan snail hair described in the Buddhist scriptures.

There is a gilt bun on the meat bun, which is dotted on the bun, which is very eye-catching.

The Nepalese characteristics of this statue are most prominent on the face: for example, wide forehead and narrow chin, pod-shaped eyes, light eyebrows, soft expression, natural and elegant demeanor, like the image of a young nobleman.

However, its pekoe is made of turquoise, and the protruding part in the middle of the chin is more abrupt, which shows the aesthetic characteristics of the West.

The Buddha's shoulders are wide and the back is thick, and the pectoral muscles are protruding. This is a new feature of Nepalese art after being influenced by the West.

This feature is quite similar to the five-party Buddha statues in the Basiba statue Thangka preserved in the Western Museum and the murals of the Rhino Skin Hall of Xialu Temple.

Both are dated in the first half of the 14th century, which is also the main basis for judging the age of this statue.

As we all know, the Buddha wears Futian clothing, also called Baijiyi, which is a Buddhist tradition in the Han region. *There is no Tibetan. *Tibet follows the Indian tradition and wears a single cloth. There is no such thing as Futian clothing.

The Buddha wears a full-shoulder Fukuda robes. The stitches between the front of the robes and the cloth pieces are expressed in a continuous bead pattern, which clearly highlights the surface of the Buddha. This is very unique. It should be a manifestation of the craftsman’s obvious desire for change and innovation. Both the front and the back of the body are completely made with precision. This is the characteristic of the Tibetan statues, which is obviously different from the situation where the Nier statues do not pay much attention to the back processing.

After the Han region invented this cassock, it spread to the west along with the Song and Yuan culture, affecting Tibet. Although *Tibetan monks do not wear Futian clothing, they appear from time to time in Buddhist statues in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. This image is one of the important examples.

The Buddha statue was originally cast separately for the seat, but also to reduce the difficulty of casting. It is very easy to separate during the spreading process. This is the case for this image.

In short, this is a pure gold statue with a strong Nepal-*Tibetan style, complete in appearance, mature in casting and exquisite workmanship.

Xiao Yao can conclude from this that this golden statue* is an important representative work in the early 14th century in the Middle Ages.

Compared with the three jade Buddha statues above, this huge pure gold Buddha statue is obviously more valuable.

Xiao Yao's estimate for this pure gold Buddha statue of Sakyamuni was RMB 1.5 billion.

Such a pure gold Buddha statue with deep divinity is definitely the holy artifact most believers desire to obtain. As long as the funds allow, true believers will certainly invite this Buddha statue home at no cost.

In addition to these four Buddha statues, there is one item that Xiao Yao pays most attention to.

The next wooden box opened, and a guqin was presented in front of him.

Xiao Yao's divine consciousness has seen this guqin roughly, and this guqin is one of Xiao Yao's favorite items in the entire treasure.

Now that he finally has time to appreciate it, Xiao Yao leaned in front of Guqin to play with it carefully.