▌ Warring States bronze statue, excavated in 1923 in Luoyang Golden Village, Henan, collected by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
Warring States bronze statue, excavated in 1923 in Luoyang Jincun, Henan, standing with his head held high, his face plump, his hair braided in front of his head, his neck with shell ornaments, his shoulders wearing a fabric shawl, wearing a robe, wearing a short sword on his right side, wearing leather boots, holding a barrel-shaped short stick in both hands, and standing a jade bird in each hand. The head of the bronze figurine is in an upward looking state, the eyes are focused on the double bird, the face is wide and fat, which is obviously not the face of the Chinese people, and there are two braids behind the head, which is a bit like "Indians". It is inferred that the figure should have come from a foreign land, responsible for the fun of the King of Zhou's birds, most likely paid tribute to the vassal states of the Zhou Dynasty at that time, or captured slaves in the war. The history of domestic bird training can be roughly traced back to the Jin Dynasty, and it is rare to find records further forward, and the bronze statue of the Warring States directly shows the scene of bird training, so that the history of bird training has advanced for more than a thousand years.
Some people say that Jincun is a village built on the "Golden Ruan Hall", which is not false at all. Since king Ping of Zhou moved east to Luoyang, successive Zhou Tianzi and nobles of prominent status have been buried here. The Tombs of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty are divided into three major mausoleum areas: Zhoushan, Wangcheng and Jincun, of which 8 tombs found in Jincun and thousands of exquisite bronze and jade objects are famous all over the world.
▌ The site of the Jincun Tomb
The discovery of the Golden Village Tomb has to start from the strange events that happened in the village in the 1920s and 1930s. Jincun is not far from Luoyang White Horse Temple, where the land is fertile and the water is abundant. What the villagers could not understand, however, was that some wells, which were clearly well-fed, would dry up overnight; some wells that were scarce would overflow overnight; and in addition, in the night of thunder and lightning, the earth would sometimes rumble. These mysteries were finally solved one day in 1928, when a farmland east of Jincun suddenly collapsed due to heavy rains around Luoyang, revealing a large pit. Villagers found chimes wrapped in muddy water in this pit. Originally, this was an ancient tomb group, the pits were connected, and the well water often seeped into the tomb. The roar of the earth is the sound of the underground bells and drums ringing in unison at the same frequency as the frequency of the thunder vibrations. The mystery is revealed, and the doom of the ancient tomb of Jincun follows.
The rare treasures in the ancient tomb stimulate the beating nerves of the villagers, and also attract a large group of red-eyed antique dealers. This includes those foreign profiteers who, in the name of missionary work, wantonly loot antiquities and sell them overseas in the Henan region. Driven by the common interests of internal and external interests, the ancient tomb of Jincun has been excavated for 6 years, and there are 8 "A" shaped tombs excavated, and thousands of cultural relics have been excavated. Although the newly excavated artifacts have been buried in the ground for thousands of years, they are still intact, and the chimes are taken out and struck, the sound is loud, and the tune can be struck. In order to make a quick profit, most local farmers choose to sell antiques cheaply.
▌ Huai Lu Guang
▌ Warner
This incident attracted the attention of the Canadian missionary Huai Luguang and the American Warner, who lived in Kaifeng. The two immediately used their relationship to induce the gentry villagers to dig up 8 large tombs in 6 years and transport countless mainland Zhou Dynasty royal relics to the country for export. According to incomplete statistics, Huai Luguang resold the Kanemura cultural relics to the Harvard Art Museum, the Freer Museum of Art, the Nelson Museum of Art, the Museum of Chicago, the Royal Ontario Museum of Canada, the National Museum of Anthropology in Paris, France, and baron Yoshitomo Osaka, the Marquis of Hosokawa in Tokyo, and Fukusaburo Kurokawa in Japan.
How many of the thousands of artifacts unearthed in Jincun are left in China? Only 3 pieces! The tomb of Jincun has become a permanent wound in the memory of that era.
This issue of "Collection" WeChat responsible editor Sui Feng
WeChat operation cooperation, please send a message to the public account
sczz029
It was founded in 1993
A volume in hand, grasp the collection
WeChat name: Favorite magazine
WeChat ID: sczz029