China has a long history and splendid culture. From the Xia Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, China has a large number of historical relics, including some precious national treasures. Among China's national treasure-level cultural relics, there are some top-level cultural relics, worth hundreds of millions or billions, which we call "billion-level national treasures". Let's talk about China's four billion-level national treasures, on the value, the eight White Houses are not comparable, the total price of more than 10 billion, one of which is valued at more than 9.2 billion.
The first one: the figure Royal Dragon Painting
The ink and light color painting on silk created by an Anonymous artist in the middle and late Warring States period was excavated in 1973 in the No. 1 Tomb of the Bullet Kuchu Tomb in Changsha, and was excavated flat between the rafter cover plate and the coffin. This picture depicts the scene of the tomb owner ascending to heaven by dragon, the upper end of the painting has a bamboo shaft, and there is a silk rope on the shaft, which is a banner that can be hung vertically, which should be the inscription used to induce the ascension of the soul in the tombs of the Chu state in the Warring States period, which belongs to the non-clothing nature of the late Warring States painting. It is now in the collection of Hunan Provincial Museum, with an estimated value of more than 2.5 billion yuan.
The second piece: The Western Han Dynasty straight-pleated plain gauze jacket
Western Han weaving embroidery, excavated in 1972 in Changsha Mawangdui No. 1 Han Tomb, the length of the coat is 128 cm, the length of the sleeve is 195 cm, the cuff width is 29 cm, the waist width is 48 cm, the hem width is 49 cm, and the weight is 49 grams. The owner of the garment was Xin Chai, the wife of Li Cang, the minister of changsha in the early Han Dynasty, and there were two plain gauze robes in her tomb. In 1983, a 48-gram plain gauze cuff was destroyed during a tomb robbery, and although this plain gauze cicada garment was recovered, it was also damaged. It is now in the Collection of Hunan Provincial Museum, which is one of the first batch of cultural relics prohibited from going abroad (abroad) in China, with an estimated value of more than 2.99 billion yuan.
The third piece: Marquis Su of the Western Zhou Dynasty "chimes"
Bronze musical instruments of the Zhou Li Dynasty, a total of 16 Yong bells, the large one is 52 cm high, and the small one is 22 cm high. The bells are engraved with regular text, a total of 355 inscriptions, and the last two bells are 2 lines and 11 words. The inscription is carved with a sharp weapon, which completely records the whole process of the eighth day of the first month of 846 BC (the thirty-third year of King Li of Zhou), when Marquis Su of Jin was ordered to cut down Suyi. In December 1992, the Shanghai Museum found 14 pieces of this set of chimes from the Hong Kong antique shop and rescued them back to China. At the beginning of 1993, the archaeological excavation of the Tomb of Jinhou in Shanxi unearthed 2 remaining small-scale bells, the shape of which is the same as the 14 Jinhou Su bells, and the size and text can be completely connected, confirming that the 14 bells rescued by Shangbo from Hong Kong and the 2 bells unearthed from this excavation are from the same tomb. This set of chimes is now in the Shanghai Museum and is estimated to be more than 8.1 billion yuan.
Fourth piece: The lamp of the Changxin Palace of the Western Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty bronzes, named after the Changxin Palace placed in Empress Dou. It was excavated in 1968 from the tomb of Dou Xie, the wife of Liu Sheng, king of Zhongshan Jing in Mancheng County, Hebei Province. The lamp is gilded throughout and held by a lady of the palace, and the lamp body (together with the palace maid) is 48 centimeters and weighs 15.85 kilograms. This palace lamp is cleverly designed, and one of the hands of the palace maid is a rainbow pipe that smokes oil smoke, which is both beautiful and practical. It is now in the Collection of Hebei Provincial Museum, with an estimated value of more than 9.2 billion yuan.
The above four hundred million-level national treasures have a total value of more than 17.3 billion yuan, about 2.5 billion US dollars. It's an exaggeration to say it's worth a lot, but it's worth more than 8 White Houses. The White House was worth $332 million at the height of the property market in 2006 and depreciated in 2012 to $253 million. Rising a bit in 2016, the White House had a market capitalization of $287 million. At 2016 prices, these four national treasures are worth more than the eight White Houses.