summer utensils

To say that Xiao Sima's ability to look at porcelain is quite unspeakable, but when it comes to the ancient Shu language, since it has not been recognized, how did he recognize these two words? I asked him a question, and he moved. He leaned back comfortably in the bamboo chair and slowly told the whole story.

The White Horse Temple in Chengdu was first built in the Ming Dynasty. It was presided over by Guo Dou, the Sichuan Chief Secretary at that time, and was modeled after the White Horse Temple in Luoyang. In the past, the White Horse Temple in Chengdu not only had temples, but also had some brick-burning kilns.

Beginning in 1920, locals dug out some bronzes from the ground to burn bricks. Most of these bronzes were weapons. Many of the bronzes had ancient patterns and inscriptions on them. It was a time of social unrest. During this period, coupled with the large number of ethnic minorities in the southwest and the characteristics of high mobility and chaos, this batch of cultural relics was snatched away by local people before they had time to be handed over.

What followed was a swarm of antique dealers, and the batch of bronze wares became the most prized goods in their hands, and they were called "Xia wares".

It is said that at the same time, the ones with patterns and inscriptions were distinguished. Those with inscriptions were the most expensive, those with patterns were second, and those with plain faces were the lowest. The lowest ones were sold by local people for only a few yuan.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, this anecdote was learned by a colleague of Jia Gaoping, who was also a well-known archaeologist. He went to the White Horse Temple in Chengdu several times. Many of the bronze wares from that time had been discarded due to improper preservation. In the end, only 48 "Xia wares" were recovered.

He divided the weapons he searched into three categories: straight piercing, horizontal piercing, and hooking. He also copied the various patterns on the weapon body. Through a large number of enumerations and comparisons, he finally discovered the existence of ancient Shu characters. He believed that before the Spring and Autumn Period, The ancient Shu people had their own writing, but for unknown reasons, it was discontinued from the late Shang Dynasty to the Warring States Period.

Unfortunately, before the old man could publish these hard work, he made a mistake due to the turmoil after the founding of the People's Republic of China and was sent to Jiuquan, Gansu Province to do a labor camp. He eventually died there due to physical reasons.

When the old man was still alive, Xiao Sima's master Jia Gaoping went to visit him once. The old man knew that he didn't have much time, so he entrusted him with his previous research and the location of the "Xia ware". However, the authorities were in turmoil, and Jia Gaoping Ping didn't dare to pick them up for a while, and he didn't set out until a few years later, after the turmoil of rehabilitation had passed. However, he found that the "Xia Qi" had disappeared, leaving only some remaining manuscripts of the old man.

After listening to Xiao Sima's narration, I couldn't help but sigh, things are really unpredictable. If the old man was still alive, I'm afraid he would already be a famous official in the archaeological world, and he would also feel sorry for the burial of civilization.

At the same time, I also had a doubt, so I asked: "That's not right. If you say so, the old man's research has not been handed down."

He took a sip of tea and glanced at the door with a strange expression. I immediately understood that he still had some things that he had not disclosed. I stood up and walked to the door. I glanced into the corridor. There was no guy working here for the time being, so I hurried over. Shamefully said: "Little master, no one is here, please tell me more."

He muttered: "If my old man knows that he has to beat me, it will hurt your ears."

I nodded like a chicken pecking at rice and promised: "That's it."

He sat up from the bamboo chair, leaned over and whispered: "My master didn't find nothing back then. At the back of the old house, he found a jade engraving. It was a big piece, more than 2 meters long, with cows and cows in front. There are 242 ancient Shu characters engraved on the back of the sacrificial scenes of tigers, sacred trees, and jade statues. The characters match the patterns. The characters are arranged in an orderly manner, with a rigorous structure, and are generally consistent with the lines of ancient Chinese. My master guessed It must be the ancient Shu language, the words on this helmet have appeared on that jade engraving."

I didn't expect that there was such a secret in it. If what little Sima said is true, combined with Teacher Zhuo's investigation when he was young, there was indeed an extremely brilliant civilization in Bashu, and even writing was produced, and the ghosts The tribe is one of them, but for some reason it has not been passed down.

I couldn't help but ask myself, could the operator who has been hiding behind the scenes come from the vanished ancient Shu?

I sighed. These were too vague and beyond the scope of my guessing. The matters at hand were more important. I pointed to the photo on my phone and asked Little Sima: "Little Master, do you think this bronze helmet is the batch of Xia wars?"

Little Sima squinted his eyes and judged: "It's not like that. I thought it was those Xia wars at first, but this thing is a bit special." He turned the phone in another direction, zoomed in on another piece, and only showed it to me: " What do you think this is?"

I leaned over and took a closer look. I could see some recessed gray-white things on the mouth of the bronze helmet, but it was hard to judge just from the photo. I scratched my head and said, "I can't tell."

He prompted: "What are helmets usually used for?"

"Huh?" I was stunned for a moment, then realized it and said in surprise: "Is it a skull?"

I immediately looked at the helmet in the photo again. This bronze helmet was decorated with a gluttonous face on the front, and the ears on both sides were protruding. It was a cover type, somewhat similar to the ancient Greek knight's helmet. There was a lot of space inside, and a skull could indeed be placed. .

He nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, it's a skull. The skull is slightly larger than the helmet mouth below. It seems that it was put on when he was still a minor. It was never taken off until the man died and rotted. In the end, only Removed the skull."

He suddenly asked me again: "When did it look like it?"

At the Qinhantang auction, no one guarantees that the items are authentic, and no one will give you a detailed list introducing where they come from, any allusions, etc., because many of the things that can be auctioned here are only mentioned in unofficial histories or anecdotes. appears, or even does not exist in history. If you want to take action, you must first know what this thing is, and secondly whether it is authentic or not. Even if you are hit in the eye, it will only be because your skills are inferior to others. Finally, how can you stand in the eyes of so many people? The vicious old lady is fighting for it.

But the things that can make the Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties hammer away, ordinary people can never tell the difference between the genuine ones. The ancient craftsmanship is already considered to be ingenious. So far, less than a palm's worth of fakes have been sold here, and even Beyond this number, buyers have not yet noticed that although these items are not genuine, they are definitely beyond the scope of fakes.

The same is true for this helmet today. But since Little Sima asked this, it proves that the few old monsters with fiery eyes and fine gold inside them have already identified this thing. It must be the real thing. I looked at it carefully and saw that from the beast After careful consideration from the pattern to the forging process, he finally asked cautiously: "Zhou?"

 "business."

He then said: "Don't be anxious or surprised. You know I am not responsible for this. I can't get the things, so I didn't get the helmet, but I think there is something wrong with this hole."

"Judging from the workmanship of this bronze helmet, it is definitely one of the best in the Shang Dynasty. So the question becomes, who is the owner of this helmet? Not a prisoner of war, not a common person, not an official, the third person on the head Judging from the eye decoration, this must be a nation that worships eyes. So in my opinion, the only people who could wear this kind of helmet were the high-ranking royal family at that time. But besides that, there was another kind of person, that is, the priests of the witch tribe. Since then, Judging from the inscriptions and animal faces above, the latter is highly likely."

"This raises another question. What is this hole used for? The priests of the ancient Shu Kingdom would not open a hole in their helmet innocently. I think this three-eyed symbol must have some kind of religious meaning." He Looked at me and said, "The skull inside is important."

I was secretly surprised. No wonder he was called Little Sima. It seemed that he had already figured out all this when he saw the bronze helmet. I smiled at him flatteringly.

He leaned back on the wicker chair, spread his hands and said helplessly: "It's useless for you to smile at me. Although I am also curious, this thing is not my responsibility. You also know that I only have a temporary position in Qinhan Hall. It doesn't even have six stars, so I can't get this thing privately."

I sighed, a little regretful. Xiao Sima wandered around and really only got one job here. Although the five-star rating was not low, there was really no way to take it out privately after the seller taught Qin Han Tang the goods. , I suddenly thought of another way. Unexpectedly, just as I was about to look at him, he waved his hand and shouted: "Stop, no."

I said: "I haven't said anything yet."

He took a sip of tea and said, "You don't have to say it. It's absolutely not allowed. This is the rule of Qinhan Hall. Since they choose to remain anonymous, we can't ask about the seller at all, and we can't find out. You, the boss of this place, also know that I will still I want to make a living in this industry."

I sighed: "Then there's nothing we can do."

"Yes." He regained his energy, sat up and said, "Let me pay attention to you. You can take a photo of it. To be honest, I am quite curious about this thing."

I said with a sad face: "Can you please stop making fun of me?"

"Hey, don't think I didn't hear what I said. Second Master, your Longshan Pavilion still has no money."

I pointed to the upstairs and said: "Uncle, you know better than me who is sitting up there. If you ask me to break my little arm from my thigh, isn't that lighting a lantern in the toilet and looking for death? I If I don't tell you, you also know what Longshan Pavilion is going through recently. Do we have any other methods? Let's talk about it in a reliable way."

He said "Hey", lay back again, and said, "I heard about it. This matter has caused quite a stir in the industry. No goods from Longshan Pavilion have come in recently."

I was surprised and said: "Longshan Pavilion still has goods delivered here?"

He rolled his eyes at me and said, "What's all the fuss about? Longshan Pavilion is not omnipotent. To tell you the truth, there are some bulk goods that cannot be accommodated by those shops. Come here with a bronze mirror snuff bottle." For those who are young, they just go to the store, but for bulk goods with a registered number, even if you are genuine, who dares to buy them, you still have to rely on places like Qinhan Hall, not to mention Longshan Pavilion, there are also places all over the country. A lot of people are delivering things here."