In the Shanghai Museum, the collection of ancient bronze instruments with the most complete arrangement and rhythm: the Jinhou Su Zhong.
This set of 14 chimes not only represents the highest technical and artistic level of the Zhou Dynasty, but also a set of valuable materials for rewriting the history of Chinese metallurgy.
However, it was such a treasure that was mistaken by many people for a fake and wandered around...
Fortunately, thanks to the insight of an old man, it was able to see the sun again and regain its former style.
The image originates from the internet
The story begins in 1992.
In the area of Quwo County, Houma City, Shanxi Province, there is a small village called Composer Village.
Until the 1990s, this small village remained unknown.
No one expected that the 19 Jin Marquises of the Ninth Dynasty and their wives had been sleeping in the underground of this small village for more than 2,000 years.
However, in August 1992, Tomb No. 8 of the Jinhou Cemetery was excavated, and a large number of burial items were stolen, including a set of 14 chimes.
Generally speaking, such stolen tomb relics will be sold everywhere, but this set of chimes is too fake, so no one cares, and finally it is lost to the antique market in Hong Kong.
So why is this set of chimes from the jinhou cemetery considered a "fake"?
Because the chimes were still rusty at that time, the inscription was engraved.
People who know about the point of bronze should know that among the tens of thousands of bronzes unearthed in Our country, there has never been such an inscription.
The patterns and words on the bronze are all engraved on the pottery in advance, and at the same time as the casting, the pattern and text are naturally left on the bronze, which seems to have become common sense to distinguish the authenticity of the bronze.
Therefore, this set of 14 chimes obviously does not meet the standards of authenticity, and they are also left out in the cold.
It wasn't until Professor Cheung Kwong-yu of the University of Chinese hong Kong saw the chimes that their fate changed.
When Professor Zhang Guangyu saw these chimes, he immediately told the news to Mr. Ma Chengyuan, director of the Shanghai Museum in Shanghai.
Mr. Ma, who studied ancient scripts, saw these chimes and felt that they were most likely genuine.
There are two main reasons for Mr. Ma's judgment:
First, the style of jinwen comes from the Western Zhou, but the counterfeiters do not need to use jinwen to write complete and meaningful sentences.
Second, if counterfeiters want to counterfeit, they will generally do something more similar, but this set of chimes looks too fake.
Because of this practice of engraving inscriptions on bronzes, anyone who understands a little will be considered a fake.
Therefore, after Mr. Ma consulted the leaders of Shanghai Municipality, he decided to buy back the chimes in the name of the museum.
In order to avoid the long night, Mr. Ma entrusted Zhang Guangyu to negotiate with the seller.
Because the seller did not understand the true value of the chimes and was eager to sell, the chimes were sold at a low price and then mailed to Shanghai.
You know, if the seller knew the inscription and its value at that time, such a price would not even be able to buy a chime.
In December 1992, after the Shanghai Museum rescued the chimes, Mr. Ma derusted it and saw three exciting words: "Jinhou Su"!
In addition, inscriptions on chimes were found, and the inscriptions on each artifact were not written separately, but were connected to the upper bell.
Through the inscription, it was found that this was a set of chimes from the Western Zhou Dynasty, even hundreds of years earlier than the Zenghou Yi chimes.
The inscription on it is carved with a sharp weapon, and the knife marks are very obvious, which is a relatively special situation, so that some local museums and collectors dare not easily shoot, thinking that it is suspected of forgery.
It is precisely because of this that these 14 chimes were recovered by Mr. Ma.
Recalling the process of rescuing the chimes back to Shanghai, Ma Chengyuan said:
"I immediately told this antique shop in Hong Kong that these 14 clocks should not be shown to others, and the antique shop has this rule, after showing it to people, only after it is not wanted, it can be shown to the second person." I discussed with my colleagues that the clock was a great thing, and we hurried to send it back. Probably twelve or three boxes were sent, large boxes, packed back, and packed to the Shanghai Museum. Opening it, this is indeed a very early Tomb Chime of the Marquis of Jin. ”
From October 1992 to January of the following year, the archaeological excavations of the Tomb of the Marquis of Jin in Shanxi unearthed 2 surviving small-scale bells, which also confirmed that these 14 Pieces of The Su Bells of the Marquis of Jin were indeed cultural relics from the Li Wang period of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
Because these 2 chimes are the same as the 14 Jinhou Su bells, the size and text can be completely connected.
The inscriptions on the chimes are carved separately on the front of each bell, and the inscriptions can be connected to express a complete narrative.
The inscription of more than 300 words completely records the thirty-three years of King Li of Zhou's 33rd year, Marquis Su of Jin led his troops to accompany King Zhou to tour the eastern lands, conquer rebellious tribes, and receive meritorious rewards.
The recorded wars are missing from historical sources and are extremely important for the study of the history of the Western Zhou And Jin Dynasties.
Therefore, in 2002, this set of chimes was listed as "The first batch of cultural relics in China that are prohibited from going abroad (abroad) for exhibition".
Today, this set of Jinhou Su bells as Chinese treasures, 14 pieces in the Shanghai Museum, 2 pieces in the Shanxi Museum, estimated at more than 1 billion, of course, is only an estimate, because the national treasure is impossible to sell.
To this day, the music collected from it can still be arranged with beautiful music, which surrounds the Shanghai Museum.