In 2007, a special exhibition was held in Qingdao, Shandong Province, at which only one exhibit was presented, called "China Tenglong Yan".
After the exhibition, this exhibit was estimated by the national authorities and relevant experts, and the market value was as high as 200 million! The following year, it was also included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage, and was also included in the Guinness Book of World Records!
So what kind of exhibit is this "Chinese Tenglong Yan"? How was it made? Let's take a look at the ins and outs of this.
Since ancient times, "pen, ink and paper" has been called "four treasures of the literary room" by Chinese, and the "Yan" in it has the saying "Southern End and North Yi".
Duan Yan refers to the stone stone stone produced by Duanzhou (now Zhaoqing, Guangdong), which is known for its delicate stone quality, moisturizing, and the ink of the Duan Yan made of it is not damaged, and it does not freeze in winter, and it is a tribute to the imperial family during the Northern Song Dynasty.
And Yi Yan, also known as Yi Shui Yan is known as "the world's first Yan", the Yantai has excellent texture, tender and pure color, astringent pen is not stuck, astringent and easy to ink, the color is particularly bright, ranking first in the ancient court tribute.
In 1991, in a barren mountain in Yi County, several villagers who came here to cut firewood suddenly found a boulder not far away.
So a curious villager came forward to check to see why the boulder was so large, and when he carefully investigated, he found that the boulder in front of him was a huge purple stone.
Because Yixian has been rich in Yantai since ancient times, so there are many hearings about the stones used to make Yantai, although these villagers are not professional brick makers, but as the saying goes, "Have you not eaten pork, have you not seen a pig run?" ”
Therefore, it was immediately thought that the villagers recognized the huge boulder in front of them, which was the best material used to make Yi Yan - purple jade.
Looking at this huge purple jade, these villagers did not dare to delay, so they rushed down the mountain to inform the local government, claiming that they had found a huge purple stone on the mountain.
Originally, the local government did not believe at first how big the boulders in the villagers' mouths were, but when the government staff came to the scene, they were also shocked by the hugeness in front of them.
On the slope of the mountain at an altitude of more than 300 meters, the length of this boulder alone is more than ten meters, and the rest is buried by the mountain.
After a field investigation, the local government, after consultation, specially gathered dozens of workers, and it took more than a month to clear the boulder from the mountain.
Subsequently, in order to transport the boulder down the mountain, the local government opened a temporary trail for transportation, and it took more than a month to transport the stone down the mountain.
In the end, according to the calculation, the length of this boulder is close to twenty meters, the height is about four or five meters, the width is not equal, the widest place is also one or two meters, and the overall weight is about 180 tons.
After discovering this boulder, the local government wondered if it could be made into a representative handicraft to show the long traditional history of Yi County.
After some deliberation, the local government finally decided that Zou Hongli, a famous local brick maker, would lead another thirty-two brick makers to carve this purple stone.
Zou Hongli was born on the banks of the Yishui River, from a young age deeply influenced by his father, for the traditional Brick making culture of Yi County is very yearning, and after graduating from college, Zou Hongli returned to his hometown and devoted himself to the cause of spreading and promoting the culture of Brick Making.
When the government staff expressed his intentions to Zou Hongli, Zou Hongli immediately agreed, and then packed his bags and followed the staff to the carving workshop, where he met thirty-two other carvers.
In order to show the unique brick-making culture of Yi County, Zou Hongli and thirty-two carvers spent more than a year to finalize the carving image.
The body is fifty-six soaring dragons, in the middle are the "Sun Moon Mountain River", "China Territory" and nine sacred turtles scattered around, and the outermost is the "Great Wall".
The overall effect after the manufacture is very shocking, especially when looking down from the air, the three-dimensional feeling that comes to the face will give the strongest visual experience.
Zou Hongli and others began to work immediately after determining the pattern, but when they put themselves into the field work, they found that the difficulties were far more than they thought.
The most direct point is that this boulder weighs 180 tons, and even if the division of labor is cooperative, the amount of engineering for each person is still very large.
But Zou Hongli and others did not give up because of difficulties, in order to complete the carving faster and better, everyone did their best, and all kinds of unique creative carving techniques were used one by one.
In the following six years of carving time, Zou Hongli and others used a total of more than 10,000 carving knives, more than 100 electric mechanical tools, and more than 10,000 pieces of various carving accessories, and the amount of funds invested was even greater.
In 1998, this piece of Yantai, which took more than six years after the joint efforts of Zou Hongli and 33 other brick makers, was successfully made.
The completed "Chinese Tenglong Yan" is 12 meters long, 3.12 meters wide, 1.5 meters high, and has a total weight of about 58 tons.
Inside the Yan body are 56 soaring dragons of different shapes, symbolizing the harmonious coexistence of the fifty-six ethnic groups in China, while the "soaring shape" means that the development of the country and the nation is thriving.
On the outskirts of the dragon is the "Great Wall", the most representative artistic image of Chinese culture, and the interior is also carved with "Sun Moon Mountains and Rivers", indicating that Chinese culture can compete with the sun and moon.
In the Yanchi section, the territory of the People's Republic of China and the images of the nine sacred turtles, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River also jumped up.
The nine sacred turtles represent the land of Kyushu, which has been breeding and inhabiting the land of Kyushu since ancient times, and the Yellow River and the Yangtze River have bred a colorful Chinese culture.
Since the chinese Tenglong Yan was made, the local government has invited many yandi experts to come to observe, and the various experts who came to the scene to observe were all amazed after seeing the Chinese Tenglong Yan.
They claim that on such a huge brick body, such a fine carving can be carried out, and the effect displayed is also so shocking, which is definitely the only time in the field of brick carving.
It can be said that this yantai has been unanimously highly praised by the experts attending the meeting, which also makes Zou Hongli and other carvers feel proud and feel that their hard work in recent years has not been in vain.
Subsequently, this huge stone was collected by the local government until 2007, when the Guinness World Records China official, Shanghai Great World Guinness Headquarters Senior Certifier was invited to Yi County.
After on-the-spot measurements, Yixian's "Chinese Tenglong Yan" was certified and awarded the "Guinness Of the World's Best." ”
At the same time, the reputation of the Chinese Tenglong Yan has also spread more widely with this certification, and people continue to come to see this Yantai.
When the people who visited the site found that the largest "dragon whisker" in the Tenglong Yan was the thickness of an adult's arm, a series of exclamations came out.
Among the many onlookers, there was a person, although his facial expression was still very calm, but his eyes never moved away from this stone platform.
His surname is Qi, his full name is Qi Yunfa, from Qingdao, Shandong, is an entrepreneur, quite rich, and at this time, the Qi boss's eyes are staring at the Tenglong Yan in front of him.
After stopping to watch for a long time, Boss Qi made a decision in his heart that was not surprising at all, and he wanted to buy this brick platform.
So he tried to get in touch with the local government in various ways, and then he made it clear that he wanted to buy the Dragon Stone, no matter how much it cost.
There is no information on the specific negotiation process, and the final transaction price has not been announced by the government or the qi boss.
However, one thing we can be sure of is that Boss Qi successfully bought this tenglong stone, which also made Boss Qi's fame soar.
After signing the relevant agreement with the government, Boss Qi obtained the huge stone as he wished, and then Boss Qi prepared to transport it back to Qingdao.
However, this piece of brick platform is really too heavy, and the size is relatively large, and the requirements for transportation capacity are very demanding.
In order to be able to transport back this brick platform as soon as possible, but also to avoid wear and tear during transportation, Boss Qi also paid a high freight for this.
After more than a week of arduous trekking, the brick platform was finally transported to Qingdao, where it was subsequently stored in an open parking lot.
The reason why it will be parked in the open air is mainly because the size of the Yantai is too large, and Boss Qi has not found an indoor environment that can be stored for a while.
After thinking left and right, Boss Qi decided to empty part of his factory building first, and then renovate and renovate the factory building.
After being busy for a while, Boss Qi finally found a place to shelter from the wind and rain for this giant yantai, and looking at the yantai in front of him, Boss Qi's heart was very happy.
However, what Boss Qi did not expect was that the biggest trouble was not to find a place for Juyan to shelter from the wind and rain, but to face the gossip on the Internet.
Ever since the Internet rumored that wealthy shandong merchants spent a lot of money to buy China Tenglong Yan, there have been people talking about this matter, but there are far more negative comments than positive reviews.
Some people have suggested that the Yantai was originally an object used by literati in calligraphy painting, but the size of the Yantai was too large to be placed on the table at all, and it had no practical value.
Some people also said that this is a brick platform, is it simply a "ship"? Some people even commented, "It is not useful in the middle, it is pure nonsense, it is better to carve it into a bath tub." ”
So many gossip and malicious comments made Qi Yunfa very annoyed in his heart, he believed that these people on the Internet did not understand what was called art, let alone the history and culture of Yantai.
After feeling extremely annoyed, Qi Yunfa decided to hold an exhibition to introduce this Piece of Chinese Tenglong Stone to the public, but also to publicize the brick-making culture in traditional Chinese culture.
Therefore, under the careful preparation of Qi Yunfa, the scheduled exhibition was held as scheduled, and after hearing the news that China Tenglong Yan would be exhibited again, it immediately attracted a large number of people to visit.
So one day in 2007, many tourists from home and abroad flocked to the exhibition to visit the Chinese Tenglong Yan.
On the other hand, in order to better introduce the Chinese Tenglong Yan and the history and culture it represents, Qi Yunfa also specially hired three publicity teams to alternate and introduce this brick to the audience.
At the end of the day's exhibition, the boulder was sent back again, and the exhibition also caused more discussion on the Internet, and many people passed on the photos taken on the scene.
Subsequently, the comments on this giant stone were gradually reversed, and more and more people learned about the history and culture of Yantai through this exhibition, and also understood the historical charm contained in Tenglong Yan.
The success of the exhibition also makes more people willing to understand this unique charm of Chinese culture, and then the Chinese Tenglong Yan has also been known to the relevant state departments.
Subsequently, after the joint evaluation of the national authorities and experts in the industry, it is believed that the market value of "China Tenglong Yan" is as high as 200 million!
This is undoubtedly a sky-high price for the vast majority of ordinary people, but Qi Yunfa is extremely calm about it, because what he loves is not the price of Yantai, but the culture and art contained in Yantai.
On June 7, 2008, the "China Tenglong Yan" Yantai production technology was approved by the State Council and successfully selected into the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.
At the same time, this brick platform will also be unveiled again at the opening ceremony of the Second Cultural Fair Dafen Oil Painting Village, the purpose is to let foreign friends witness the style of China's first Brick.
Similarly, this giant stone will also be stationed in Zhengzhou Century Amusement Park on June 9, 2009, so that the people of Henan can experience the charm of Yantai.
In order to be able to enter the park smoothly, the relevant staff has begun to design a simulated route into the park as early as the beginning of the year.
In order to ensure that Yantai can finally enter the park intact, the staff also spent two or three days on this purpose and opened a special passage.
Finally, on June 9, 2009, "China Tenglong Yan" successfully entered Zhengzhou Century Amusement Park according to the scheduled date for tourists from all over the country to visit and take photos.
Qi Yunfa claimed, "This time, in addition to allowing the people of Henan to experience the 'Chinese Tenglong Yan' immersively, there is also a layer of purpose that is to 'meet friends with Yan' through this activity."
I hope to bring together more collectors who love art and the brick makers who teach art to exchange ideas and contribute to the development of traditional literary knowledge."