If you want to learn more about the 5,000-year history of China, it is generally through consulting ancient documents or history books, and some of the history that is not recorded in the history books can only be understood through the cultural relics unearthed by archaeologists to understand the food, clothing, shelter and behavior of the people of that era. Therefore, archaeology has always been an important way to study ancient cultures. Once, such a farmer dug out a vase in an accident, and it contained 40 pounds of gold.
The incident occurred in Mahu Village, Xuyi Township, Xuyi County, Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province, and on February 10, 1982, Wan Yicai, the leader of the village's highway squad, was tasked with organizing villagers to clean up the canals located on the edge of farmland.
At that time, the boss asked them to "do it in pieces", so it was only in a way that each villager chose a precinct that he was responsible for cleaning. The workload of the canals in each area is different, so everyone has chosen a better area to clean, leaving a canal full of sewage and silt that no one wants to take charge of, leaving it to the belated completion at that time.
Wan Yiquan is the younger brother of squad leader Wan Yicai. While he was cleaning the silt from the canal, his shovel suddenly dug into an unknown object, so he called his brother to come and check it out. At this time, another of his brothers in the team, Wan Yinian, noticed the movement on this side and followed him. After some investigation, the three brothers decided to dig further and prevent others from touching the thing. After digging two feet deep, they found the object buried in the soil, shaped like a vase.
So the three brothers took the excavated "vase" home, and after carefully washing it with water, they found that it was a delicately crafted "vase", which was completely different from ordinary vases, but for farmers, although this "vase" had unique ornamental value, it had no practical use. They then discovered that the "vase" was particularly heavy, so they decided to open it and find out what was stored in it.
However, it was this inadvertent act that brought them a windfall. The three brothers were pleasantly surprised to find that there was a large amount of gold hidden in the "vase". After mentioning this to the family, the wives of the three brothers all advocated that the gold be divided equally, and this "vase" belonged to its discoverer.
However, after much deliberation, the three brothers rejected the offer, because the news that Wan Yiquan had dug up the "vase" had spread in the village, and if the gold was stolen, it would definitely cause big trouble. In the end, the eldest brother Wan Yicai selected two pieces of gold among the many gold, and brought the two pieces of gold to the township government to report the situation and appraise them, and the identification results showed that the gold content of these two pieces of gold was extremely high.
Wan Yicai said that in his home, a total of 40 pounds of gold like this was shocked by the experts present, and then sent a number of experts to Wan Yicai's home to check it out. Experts found that the gold excavated by the Wan Yicai brothers was of different shapes, some like gold cakes, some like beasts of prey, and those golden beasts weighed 9 kilograms, and some other gold vessels weighed 11 kilograms.
The expert hurriedly asked the three brothers where the container used to store the gold was, and the three brothers handed over the "vase" they had almost discarded. However, after careful study by archaeologists, it was concluded that the value of this inconspicuous "vase" was far greater than the 40 pounds of gold.
This "vase" is 24 centimeters high, 12.8 centimeters in diameter, 22.2 centimeters in diameter and 13.8 centimeters in diameter in foot diameter, and its origin is marked in ancient Chinese. It turned out that this "vase" was a national treasure snatched from the State of Yan when King Xuan of Qi led troops to attack the State of Yan in the fifth year of King Xuan of Qi.
From the delicate pattern on the surface of this pot and its unique shape, experts have determined that it is a cultural relic left over from the Yan state during the Warring States period. With its outstanding craftsmanship, it is considered to be the most outstanding work in the Chinese Bronze Age clay fan casting process technology and is a well-deserved national treasure. Eventually, this cultural relic was named "Chen Zhang's Round Pot" and placed in the Nanjing Museum for the world to appreciate, and was recognized as the treasure of the town museum.
With further research, it was found that according to the inscription on the surface of the Chen Zhang's round pot, the Chen Zhang round pot was actually a pair, and the other "Chen Zhang square pot" was snatched by the Eight-Power Coalition and is now treasured in the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States.
On the surface of the "Chen Zhang Round Kettle", "Qi Zang Ge You" is engraved, while the surface of the other "Chen Zhang Square Kettle" is engraved with "Da Zang Ge You". This shows that after the State of Qi successfully defeated the State of Yan and seized the treasure of its town at that time, their morale as the victorious side soared.
In order to commend the Wanjia brothers for taking the initiative to hand over the "Chen Zhang's round pot" they had inadvertently dug up to the state, the state decided to take out 10,000 yuan as a reward for their discovery of this hard-won treasure of the town. In the 1980s, it was a lot of money for ordinary peasant families.