When it comes to the history of that late Qing Dynasty, there is always no escape from one person, he is Li Hongzhang. Born as a jinshi, he went through the four emperors of Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi, and Guangxu, and was an important courtier in the late Qing Dynasty.
Li Hongzhang was born in Anhui Li clan, and his descendants are also talented
。 The most famous is his great-granddaughter Zhang Ailing, a famous female writer in modern China, whose works such as "Love in the Fallen City" and "Little Reunion" have a relatively important position in the literary world.
Li Yinxuan, on the other hand, is an unknown descendant of Li Hongzhang. He is the grandson of Li Hongzhang's fifth brother, Li Fengzhang, and is a famous collector and bibliophile of modern China. He lived a simple life and acted in a low profile. But he did one thing, and even the country expressed its gratitude to him
。
At the end of the 1970s, the elderly Li Yinxuan died of illness. His wife donated all the treasures in her family to the state according to her instructions during her lifetime.
The number of donated cultural relics was so large that it could fill 72 rooms and load 6 trucks
Why did Li Yinxuan have so many collections, and what made him donate all these treasures that he had worked so hard to obtain to the country?
Young fun: obsessed with collecting
When other teenagers are still playing crazy all day and have no certainty, Li Yinxuan has found the most loved thing in his life, and even willing to dedicate his life's energy to it, that is, collection.
As a teenager, Li Yinxuan began to collect coins from various dynasties. However, collecting is time-consuming, laborious, and more expensive, and most people often give up this hobby because of various difficulties. Fortunately, Li Yinxuan's family is well-off, and his parents are also very supportive, so Li Yinxuan can continue to insist.
Perhaps because of his true love, Li Yinxuan, in addition to collecting coins, always looked for historical documents related to the dynasties and dynasties, and mastered the origin, characteristics, and production process of different coins, which is why he not only got precious coins, but also truly understood the history behind these antiquities.
After the outbreak of the Opium War, foreign powers successively opened China's foreign doors through war means, and the Chinese people began to contact more and more foreign affairs.
Li Yinxuan also took this opportunity to contact and collect foreign coins
。 According to relevant information, Li Yinxuan once collected ancient coins from ancient Greece, ancient Egypt and other places, and the value contained in them should not be underestimated.
With the continuous collection of coins, Li Yinxuan became famous in the collecting world. Some antique shops began to compete to invite Li Yinxuan to "go out of the mountain" and collect cultural relics for them, and some even paid a high price to personally come to the door to buy the collection in his hands.
Without thinking, Li Yinxuan resolutely refused.
Because in his view, collecting coins is not for fame and fortune, not for money, but only to satisfy the hobbies in his heart
。 It is admirable that even if Li Yinxuan has a valuable collection, he has always lived a simple life and is indifferent to fame and fortune. This kind of quality is really valuable.
Later, Li Yinxuan's collection of antiquities expanded, and he began to pay attention to the collection of ancient Chinese bronzes. Since the 1930s, Li Yinxuan has begun to collect ancient mainland bronzes.
Bronze is different from other antiquities, it mainly appeared in the Xia Shang Zhou period, coupled with the relatively backward level of production at that time, the production process is relatively rough, so that in modern times, there are few bronzes with clear ages and good quality for people to collect.
Li Yinxuan can not care about other things, but as long as it is about collection, he is "enchanted".
If the antiquities are old and difficult to find, he will go through the relevant materials and run all over the antique market, just to find a clue; if there is a shortage of funds and cannot buy antiquities, he will cut down on food and clothing, open source and reduce expenditure, just to buy a collection of hearts and minds.
Chen Yi of the Song Dynasty on the mainland once said: "If you do not see fun, you will not be happy to learn." ”
For Li Yinxuan, this is exactly the case. If it wasn't for his true love, how could Li Yinxuan spend so much time and experience in collecting it?
Turbulent times: The relevant departments take care of it on their behalf
In turbulent times, many people have been criticized, and Li Yinxuan is no exception. In order to preserve this hard-won collection,
Li Yinxuan had thought of various ways, but to no avail.
Just when Li Yinxuan was at a loss, the Shanghai Museum reached out to him.
One day, several relevant staff members of the Shanghai Museum visited the elderly Li Yinxuan, and after a conversation, Li Yinxuan considered it again and again, and had to "endure the pain of cutting love" and delivered the beloved bronze to the Shanghai Museum, hoping that it would be kept on its behalf.
It is said that when the museum came to take over the collection, all the collections were filled with 6 trucks, and then 72 rooms were piled up.
It is precisely for this reason that this batch of precious bronzes can escape the disaster, and Li Yinxuan's family has also returned to a dull life.
The mentality changed, and all was donated to the country
After entering old age, Li Yinxuan had nothing to do all day, so he began to tidy up his warehouse where he put his collections. Looking at the treasures he had collected all his life, he was always happy, and there were always some inexplicable sighs.
With the gradual aging, the elderly Li Yinxuan has a different understanding of the matter of collecting. He recalls his decades of collecting, including the joy of harvesting treasures and the regret of love, but he has never thought about the true meaning of collection.
After careful reflection and speculation, Li Yinxuan finally had an epiphany: If these collections are trapped around, only I can appreciate their charm alone, and only I can feel its long history. So what if these collections were donated to the state?
Tang Taizong Li Shimin has clouds, and with history as a mirror, he can know the rise and fall
。 This piece of cultural relics is not a mirror, which can lead people to feel the past history and understand the lives of the ancestors.
If the cultural relics are displayed in museums, more and more people will appreciate the beauty of ancient Chinese culture.
The meaning is indescribable.
After thinking about it, Li Yinxuan was relieved and decided to donate all the cultural relics he had treasured for many years to the museum. Unfortunately, Li Yinxuan's physical condition was too poor, and he died in 1972. When Li Yinxuan was dying, he entrusted the donation to his wife Qiu Hui.
Qiu Hui obeyed her husband's last wish and donated his life's collection to the Shanghai Museum.
The museum expressed its sincere gratitude to the elderly Li Yinxuan for his concept of the overall situation.
The old man Li Yinxuan collected all his life and spent his whole life paying time and energy. After experiencing suffering, he truly realized that the value of collecting is not only to satisfy personal hobbies, but also to have a higher value, that is, to be able
Through these "gifts of history", more people can understand history and feel history
There are always people like Li Yinxuan in the world, who seem ordinary and act low-key.
However, it is possible to consider gains and losses, preferring to sacrifice personal interests and dedicate their own strength to society.
This rare and valuable quality is truly worth learning from contemporary people.