Li Yinxuan (1911–1972)
Li Yinxuan, Zi Guosen, Number Xuanqing. Originally from Anhui, born in Shanghai, li hongzhang's fifth brother Li Fengzhang's grandson, modern cultural relics collector.
The family is prominent, full of gold and jade
The people of the Li family have been officials and business for more than a hundred years, accumulating a lot of wealth. Although there are no great achievements in culture and education, in the collection world, they are a team that cannot be underestimated, comparable to the Zhou Fu family of the governor of Anhui Dongzhi Liangjiang, the Family of Shangshu Pan Zuyin of the Ministry of Works of Wu County, Jiangsu Province, and the Ding Huopu Family of Huang County, Shandong.
Li Hongzhang family
In Li Hongzhang's former residence in Hefei, there is a library all carved out of mahogany, which contains books in the middle, which has been scattered in all directions after the war. Li Hongzhang's eldest son, Li Jingfang, was good at diplomacy and was also known for his book collection and bronze collection. Li Hongzhang's nephew and son Li Jingxi, Li Guosong, is also a well-known university inquirer and collector in the north and south. The key to his study was strung on the keychain he carried with him, and no one could take it away. Friends come to borrow books, and everything must be registered. If you borrow a set of 10 volumes, and return it with only 8 volumes left, then he doesn't even want those 8 volumes, simply send it to you, and then he goes to the owner of the used bookstore to find another full set. His collection covers bronze, oracle bones, porcelain, ancient money, calligraphy and painting. Unfortunately, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he was reclusive in his life, not only not as a pseudo-official, but even the officials of the Republic of China did not care, but also had to maintain the expenses of a large family, and finally had to sell the collection to Yi rice.
The only things that can still be seen are the books of Li Hongzhang's younger son, Li Jingmai, and the bronzes collected by Li Yinxuan, the grandson of Li Hongzhang's fifth brother, Li Fengzhang.
Li Jingmai's collection is called "Wangyun Caotang". In his later years, the precious edition was changed by the owner of Han Wenyuan Bookstore, and the rest was sorted out by his son Li Guochao in 1940 and donated to Aurora University, totaling 18,000 volumes, divided into political books, military books, local chronicles, scientific and technological books, and celebrity annals, but there was nothing in the literary and art books.
The Lilac Garden of the Lee Family
The collector of the Li family who really deserves a lot of books is Li Yinxuan, who grew up in a rich and thick manner, influenced by traditional Chinese culture, and began to play with ancient money in his teens, and finally made collecting his lifelong career. What he has in his family is money, as long as he looks for things, he is not stingy at all times. Ever since he received Deng Qiu's collection, he has been unable to receive it at once, both Chinese and Western, ancient and modern, and leaps and bounds. His family lived in a garden house on Urumqi Road, and he buried his head in the collection all day long, enjoying himself, and the key to his study was carried with him.
According to Li Yinxuan's descendants, there are 72 rooms in their home that are dedicated to putting antiques, and there is a servant in the family whose daily job is to help their family dust the cultural relics, and the 72 rooms are dusted once a day. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Li Yinxuan spent a lot of money to store his collection in the vault of a bank and keep it safe.
Low-key, collecting numismatic boutiques
Li Yinxuan is always Sven in the antique market, a book volume, no matter whether it is bought or sold, it has always been quietly carried out, often the dragon sees the beginning and does not see the end, hides deeply, and does not have much contact with outsiders.
At that time, Li Yinxuan often went to the Xianghe Spring Coin Club opened by Ma Dingxiang to look for things. Li Yinxuan is very calculating, although he is very rich, but every time he will still pay back some prices, Ma Dingxiang will always look at the friendship of Quanyou, give him certain discounts, make him happy.
Ma Dingxiang (1916~1991)
Ma Dingxiang once bought a White Snuff Bottle from Beijing, and the inside of the pot was painted with an ink-colored image of Li Hongzhang wearing a three-eyed flower plume dressed in a court dress, which was vivid and meticulous, so meticulous that the day Ma Dingxiang showed Li Yinxuan, he held it in his hand and played with it for a long time. Ma Dingxiang generously provided it to him, tacitly acknowledging each other, and both understood that this snuff bottle painted with Li Hongzhang's head was of great commemorative significance to Li Yinxuan.
Sometimes Ma Dingxiang would politely refuse his request. There is a Qin Dynasty half two silver coins, which Ma Dingxiang obtained in 1952 at Mr. Quanyou Yu in Xi'an, and at the same time as this silver coin was unearthed, there were dozens of half two coins and five baht coins from the Qin and Han Dynasties, but the half two large silver coins of the Qin Dynasty were only this one. After Ma Dingxiang received this money, he regarded it as a treasure, and he had successively appreciated it to collectors such as Luo Bozhao, Sun Ding, Shen Zicha, and Zhao Quanzhi, who were full of praise and had asked for it to be transferred, but Ma Dingxiang all politely refused. Li Yinxuan saw it, very fond of it, must Ma Dingxiang to sell, Ma failed to agree, so later Li Yinxuan often said: "You have a good copper tungsten, don't sell, hang my appetite!" ”
Ma Dingxiang's old collection, most of the Qin Dynasty two silver coins, minted during the Warring States period during the reign of King Huiwen of Qin (337 BC - 321 BC). Silver, diameter: 66 mm, thickness: 7 mm, weight: 96.15 g.
Another time, Ma Dingxiang received a batch of bronze and silver commemorative medals cast in Germany, Russia, Britain, France and other countries from a Russian collector in Shanghai, which were very exquisitely designed and carved, each of which was a first-class work of art, totaling more than seventy pieces. Most of these medals were given to Li Weixian and Li Yinxuan, and Ma Dingxiang only retained a commemorative medal made by the German Mint in 1896 when Li Hongzhang visited Germany as a special envoy of the imperial court. This medal is exquisitely made, on one side is the head of German Prime Minister Bismarck, on the other side is the head of Li Hongzhang wearing a three-eyed flower, the heads of the two prime ministers are carved very vividly, the chinese and foreign heads cast a chapter, which has never been seen before, ma Dingxiang regards it as "the best in the chapter". When Mr. Li Yinxuan learned that Ma had this medal, he earnestly asked to show him, ma Dingxiang was worried that this chapter had a portrait of Li Hongzhang, and he would make a request after seeing it, but because Li Yinxuan had repeatedly requested it, he could only let him watch it because of his affection. After he saw it, as Ma expected, he immediately expressed his willingness to buy at a high price, but Ma insisted on refusing, and Li Yinxuan complained to Ma Dingxiang: "If you have good things, don't be willing to sell them to me." ”
Ma Dingxiang's old collection, Li Hongzhang and Bismarck double head medal. This chapter is the first chapter minted by the German Mint by the German Mint during Li Hongzhang's visit to Germany in 1896. Ma Dingxiang called this "the best in the chapter" and was completely unused.
General collectors have obtained good collections, are willing to let friends in the circle appreciate, one can exchange lines, and at the same time, they can further listen to everyone's appreciation opinions. But Li Yinxuan's things are not big for others to see, Ma Dingxiang is so familiar with him, he never mentioned asking people to come to his home to see the collection. Probably he was reluctant to show off, not to show his wealth. Engaged in collecting, he always has to pay a lot of money, perhaps he is afraid that the fame of the Li family is too big, afraid of the tree big wind. After 1949, Li Yinxuan even hid his real name, and became known as Bao Shenfu, who was called "Mr. Bao".
In the early 1950s, when domestic political movements were frequent, especially the "three antis and five antis" movement, most collectors' interest in collecting cultural relics was greatly weakened, especially in the numismatic world. Li Yinxuan's interest remained undiminished. Iron money is known as the "black tiger" in the Chinese numismatic circles, indicating the difficulty of its research and identification, many collectors are not willing to spend energy on the mottled and rusty iron money to study and collect, Li Yinxuan is not, he is very attentive to China's ancient money. His collection of Chinese coins, plus foreign coins, totaled 30,000. Li Yinxuan, there are many fine products.
Li Yinxuan's old collection, the Southern Song Dynasty "Great Song Tongbao" back "Dangshi", Ding Fubao's "Ancient Money Illustrations of Past Dynasties" Original Objects, Slightly Cracked, Rare, Beautiful.
Among Li Yinxuan's collections, there is a large coin of the Great Song Dynasty Tongbao "Dangshi", which is actually rare, and was cast after July of the first year of the Southern Song Dynasty (1225). At that time, the Great Song Yuanbao money, while the Great Song Tongbao only had iron Xiaoping money. Copper people only see one kind of back "when picking up" big money. The production is exquisite and rarely passed down from generation to generation. The "Dangshi" large coin is one inch and six minutes (5.2 cm) in diameter and weighs between 30 and 35 grams. Qian Wenkai's direct reading, beautiful calligraphy, and picking up words from the in, are its characteristics. According to Yun, it is written by the great calligrapher Cai Jing of the Song Dynasty. According to the glyph of money, it is divided into two kinds of thin book small characters and thick strokes of large characters, of which thin books are preferred. When the big money was minted in the Xichuan area, it was imprisoned with Jiading. How much casting is there, it is impossible to check. It has become a rare numismatic treasure in the world.
Li Yinxuan Old Collection, Pay a Dollar, Era: Qing, Size: Diameter 18.83 mm.
Li Yinxuan also has three pieces of the size of the "Bronze Medal for Lin'an Province", and there is also a "Gaochang Jili" cast by Gao Changguo in the Tang Dynasty, and the four corners on the back are cast with patterned coins, which are the only ones that have survived, Li Yinxuan regards it as a pearl in his palm, personally made a copy for this coin, stamped his "Xuanqing Caotang Hidden Spring" seal, and personally wrote the four words "Gezhai Hand Tuo".
Bring together the world's bronzes, and pay equal attention to theory
Li Yinxuan's collection of ancient Chinese bronzes began around 1930. Bronze is a heavy weapon in the collection industry, the age is long, the number is small, can receive a few pieces can be complacent, Li Yinxuan collected more than 200 pieces of bronze.
Li Yinxuan, Lu Houzun, And King Kang of Western Zhou, with a height of 22.2 cm, a caliber of 20.7 cm, and a weight of 4.1 kg. There is an inscription of 22 characters on the inner sole of the abdomen, which records the Eastern Kingdom of Luhou. Its shape is unique, the whole resembles a barrel-shaped square figure, a wide mouth and a long neck, and a high square seat, but it has the animal head on both sides of the general Western Zhou Gui, and there is a drooping bird's tail decoration under the hook. All-over photonsyl.
Li Yinxuan is not only a collector, he can also study, and he has made identification and textual references to these collections one by one, and there are almost no suspicious items. Every time Mr. Li found a satisfactory bronze and came back, he always put the bronze on the table, brushed and cleaned it up, and then copied and expanded the inscription on it, turned the book to check it, looked for the basis, determined the age and verified the recorded events. The written evidence and identification of these collections are very sophisticated, and there are almost no suspicious items. He once got Wu Fang Yi Gai at the corner of the wall of the ruined old house, which was thought to be a fake, which Was caused by fire by Mr. Li.
Li Yinxuan Old Tibet, Xiaochen Shan Chen, Western Zhou Chengwang, Tong height 13.8 cm, caliber 9.3 to 11.6 cm, oval flat body, extravagant mouth, neck, drum abdomen. The neck ornament is a dragon pattern and a phoenix pattern connected from end to end, and the decoration is simple. The 22-character inscription on the inner sole of the abdomen is recorded as the historical event of The King's suppression of the Wuyi Rebellion, which is an important physical example of the historical materials of the early Zhou Dynasty.
In his small room, his beloved treasures were filled with bronzes, ancient money, and ancient books. Precious famous utensils include dozens of pieces such as Xiaochen Shan Chen, Lu Houzun, and Houyue Fangding.
In addition, Li Yinxuan collects Qin and Han bronze mirrors, ancient qianfan, Qinhan wa yong, historical seals, Yuan Dynasty bronze rights, Ming and Qing dynasty symbol plates, and ancient books. Among them are the Han seal "Juchao Houxiang" and "Lechang Houyin", the important cultural relics of the Opium War in the Qing Dynasty silver coin "Guangdong Admiral", the Ming Dynasty Jianwen "Bureaucrat Jixun Shilang Zhongchao Shanya Tablet", the Ming Zhengde model of the "Eagle Raising Camp Bronze Medal", and the QingQianlong "Imperial Pension Silver Medal" of the Qing Dynasty.
In the 1960s, the staff of the Shanghai Museum's collection team found Li Yinxuan, and after repeated efforts to do his work, Li Yinxuan finally came up with 3 bronze treasures with inscriptions. There is a large inscription recording the western Zhou Dynasty king leading the army to march east to Zhunyi, the name of the instrument is Qisheng, and the name of the instrument is Qisheng, which is of great historical value.
Li Yinxuan's old collection, Xiaochen Shan Chen (pictured is an inscription rubbing)
The chaotic world is difficult to protect, and it is hidden in the Shanghai Museum
During the ten years of catastrophe, Li Yinxuan's collection was in ruins. After the cultural revolution began, high-end garden houses in Shanghai's Xuhui district were raided door to door. One day, a group of Red Guards suddenly rushed into Li Yinxuan's home and saw that the home was full of things that were "sealed and repaired", and they smashed and smashed. Li Yinxuan is a person who loves cultural relics like life, and when he sees these Uncultured Red Guards acting in his home, his heart is like a knife. In the case of 100,000 fires, Li Yinxuan made up his mind to donate his family's cultural relics to the Shanghai Museum and let the museum keep them. ”
In this way, at noon, Li Yinxuan made an important decision to protect the valuable cultural relics and antiques he had hidden all his life, and made the most important phone call in his life. Ma Chengyuan, director of the Bronze Research Department of the Shanghai Museum, received a call from Li Yinxuan and rushed to Li's house with several colleagues. Only to see that the room was a mess, and the ground was full of bronzes, all of which were orderly treasures, such as the inscription that recorded the small minister Shan Chen, who suppressed the rebellion of Wu Geng, the son of King Shang, in the era of King Zhou Cheng, and Lu Houzun, who recorded that King Ming of Zhou Kang led the war against Dongyi, etc., a total of more than 100 pieces, and there were dozens of extremely important pieces. Since the museum cannot receive donations in this particular case, it can only be received in the name of custody on behalf of the museum. The collection was carried out one by one and filled six trucks. In the early morning of the next day, when the truck started, Li Yinxuan delivered it to the door, tightly held Ma Chengyuan's hand, and said: "I will ask you to bother more about these things in the future..."
Li Yinxuan's old collection, Liang Qixu (音許) in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, excavated in 1940 in Ren Village, FamenSi Town, Fufeng County, Shaanxi Province, with a shallow cover with buttons, but it can be placed, and the head of the beast is eared. The lid is decorated with two dragon patterns, the lid edge, mouth edge and circle foot are decorated with deformed animal body patterns, and the abdomen is a horizontal groove. Instrument, cover the inscription of thirty-one words, remember Liang Qi as this travel cup. Liangqi casting also has ding, gui, pot, bell and so on. Ancient bronze vessels containing food, oval mouths, lids, ears, circled feet or quadrupeds.
Historian Jiang Ming said what he had heard, and the director of Shangbo, Ma, told the details of accepting Li Yinxuan's collection: "When all the collections were moved to the truck and the truck was about to leave, Li Yinxuan's two eyes were completely dull, like the eyes of a dead fish, watching those cars disappear into the dust." ”
Later, the Shanghai Museum registered the bronze collections one by one and kept them for safekeeping. After the overthrow of the Gang of Four, the government began to implement a general policy of returning home raiders. Shangbo always wanted to return Li Yinxuan's collection until one day in 1979, Li Yinxuan's wife, Ms. Qiu Hui, suddenly came to the museum to find Ma Chengyuan and informed Ma Chengyuan that Li Yinxuan had died of cerebral hemorrhage in 1972. Qiu Hui said that Li Yinxuan liked to collect cultural relics all her life, and she decided to donate all these cultural relics to the Shanghai Museum according to her husband's wishes during his lifetime.
Li Yinxuan and his wife Qiu Hui
Mr. and Mrs. Li Yinxuan not only donated a large number of precious bronzes, ancient coins, Chinese and foreign books to the Shanghai Museum, but also many gold watches, medals, medals, foreign antiques, etc., the value of these cultural relics is incalculable.
The solemn "Maritime Collection Family" also has a record of Li Yinxuan. Speaking of the donation of the Li family, it is divided into two parts, and the gold coins were collected and returned by the housing management bureau where Li Yinxuan was located, weighing 13 pounds, which was sold to the museum. Ms. Qiu Hui later said: "The museum bargained with me when it bought this batch of gold coins, they did this on behalf of the interests of the country and the museum, I understand very well, when it comes to the end, the purchase of each pound is slightly higher than the bank's price, they said that they can no longer give in." In this way, I had to say: 'I have always looked up to you, and since these commemorative gold coins are historical relics, how can they be calculated as loose gold, even if they are collected from old goods. They didn't answer me head-on, they just played with me haha. Seeing their embarrassment, I didn't care, thinking that all the family wealth was gone, and I didn't have to worry about the price of commemorative gold coins anymore. ”
From the need for someone to clean it up, to the dispersion of all, Li Yinxuan's huge collection has witnessed the changes of the times. Nowadays, when people walk into the Shangbo Bronze Museum, they can see that the introduction signs of many collections are marked with the words "Donated by Li Yinxuan and Qiu Hui", most people may not think that they are actually members of the Li Hongzhang family, and an era has finally passed.
Former residence of Li Yinxuan, No. 151 South Urumqi Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai
Resources:
Song Luxia, "Li Hongzhang Family's Fortune in Foreign Affairs", 2001
Ma Chuande, Celebrity Anecdotes in numismatics, 2010
Ma Chuande, "The Mysterious Guest of collecting worlds - Li Yinxuan", 2010
Xiangshan Port, China, Bronze Collector Li Yinxuan and His Wife, 2011
Song Luxia, "Small Shops and Big Collectors", 2014