Large stones dug out.
Lotus leaf pattern. Photo by Lin Qianwen
On the morning of the 18th, Zhuang Zhijun, director of the Collection Department of Yangzhou Museum, hurried to Touqiao Town, Guangling District, Yangzhou City. There, there was a stone that he needed to identify ... This is a stone dug up in the local area during the road reconstruction, because the location of the excavation is located near the residence of Wang Jianren, the "richest man" of the Republic of China in Touqiao Town, so people speculate that this stone may be an old property of the Wang Residence.
Road reconstruction dug out large stones
Heard that villagers have moved home?
On January 15, the road reconstruction project of Guqiao Road in Touqiao Town was in full swing, and the WeChat group of local villagers was also very lively, and a message about "excavating cultural relics on Guqiao Road" was widely disseminated. In the information released by the villagers, the cultural relics are not only related to an extremely important local sage, but also targeted by cultural relics dealers and intend to buy.
The news quickly reached the mobile phone of Du Rong, deputy director of the Social Undertaking Bureau of Touqiao Town, "If it is a real cultural relic, we must seize the time to protect it." Du Rong immediately contacted the staff of the Touqiao community and asked the community to immediately go to the scene to check.
Tang Fei, deputy director of the community, was the first person to arrive at the scene, and after being identified by the villagers, the site of the excavation of cultural relics was near the residence of Wang Jianren, the "richest man" in the Republic of China, touqiao Town. Workers and villagers said that the excavated cultural relics were a beautiful stone, which was originally buried under the cement road of Guqiao Road, but this time the road was reconstructed, and the ground floor was excavated, and the stone was exposed. When Tang Fei arrived at the scene, the dug road had been refilled and covered with new cement.
What about stones? Where did the stone go? Tang Fei inquired about the villagers at the scene, but was told: "The stone has been moved home." The safety of cultural relics could not be delayed, and Tang Fei immediately contacted the Touqiao police station for help, and coincidentally, the police of the police station also got news from the villagers and were rushing to the scene.
After visiting, it was learned that the stone was indeed taken back to the home by the local villagers. What needs to be further confirmed is how much stuff is dug up at the site? By visiting a number of construction workers and villagers who were at the scene at the time of the incident, it was confirmed that only this stone had been dug up, and everyone's heart relaxed a little. Has the stone been sold? The community quickly contacted the villagers who moved the stones home, and the other party's reply made everyone breathe a sigh of relief - "I am afraid that the cultural relics will be removed at the construction site, so I received the home, and I will come back immediately." ”
Why is a stone stressful?
Probably a "ninety-nine and a half" old object
Why is a stone dug up so nervous? A local scholar of literature and history in Touqiao told reporters that because the excavated site was relatively special, it was located near the residence of Wang Jianren, Wang Jianren, whose real name was Wang Jixian (Jiguang), was the township director and township council speaker of Touqiao Township in Jiangdu County (now Yangzhou City) of the Republic of China, and was the treasurer of The "Wang Yutai Sauce Garden" in Yangzhou's century-old touqiao, and was the "richest man" in Touqiao Town during the Republic of China period, and he also had an identity, that is, the uncle of Wu Daguan, the "father of China's aero engines."
According to the records, the Wang Mansion was called 'ninety-nine and a half rooms' at that time, and even if there were no ninety-nine and a half rooms, the scale was quite grand. Moreover, Wang Jianren's influence almost covered the entire head bridge. So many years have passed, the Wang Mansion has long been demolished, the original Wang Zhai gate of the Touqiao North Road is the riverbank, and then the curved river channel straightened, the Head Bridge North Road also has part of the section was filled, it can be said that the ancient bridge road is the former Touqiao North Road and part of the river. When the Wang Mansion was demolished, many old objects were pushed into the river, so what was found here is likely to be the old Wang Mansion, if true, it is not only an important object of the local xiangxian culture, but also a valuable cultural relic.
The villagers quickly handed the stone to the police at the police station. It is a rectangular stone with a broken bottom end, and the mud and sand that was originally wrapped in it have been washed by the villagers, revealing its exquisite ornamentation on the surface, including lotus flowers, lotus leaves, and several different styles of flowers.
After the stone was taken back to the police station for protection, Du Rong contacted the Guangling District Cultural and Tourism Bureau and invited cultural relics experts to the scene for identification.
Experts identified it as a cultural relic of the middle and late Qing Dynasty
The "Lotus" theme pattern is a local rarity
On the morning of the 18th, the staff of the Guangling District Cultural Management Office and the staff of the Yangzhou Museum Collection Department went to the scene together, and after identification, the stone was a door pillow stone with a white alum stone texture, "that is, the stones previously placed on both sides of the gate, we speculate that it is a cultural relic of the middle and late Qing Dynasty." Zhuang Zhijun introduced that from the size and shape of the door pillow stone, it is speculated that it can be used by ordinary petty officials or rich people, so it is very likely that local cultural scholars speculate that it is the old object of Wang Jianren's house.
On the afternoon of the 18th, the reporter saw this door pillow stone at the Touqiao police station, its main pattern is "lotus", there are lotus leaves, lotus flowers, etc., the bottom of the main pattern is water ripples, upwards, there are several pieces of young lotus leaves that have not yet been stretched, there is a lotus leaf after the young lotus leaf has been completely stretched, and further up, it is a blooming lotus flower, and a small lotus canopy also protrudes out of the head. What is particularly delicate is that in the lower ripples of water, there is also a lotus root lying horizontally. At the lower end and side of the door pillow stone, there are several different sets of floral patterns.
Zhuang Zhijun said that the door pillow stones with the "lotus" theme pattern seen in Yangzhou are relatively rare, "cranes are common, but there are almost no 'lotus' as the theme." We speculate that this is also a manifestation of the owner's pursuit of 'clean' family style. ”
At present, the local government is planning to hand over the door pillow stone to the Yangzhou Museum.
Correspondent Wang Rujian Reporter Lin Qianwen