In fact, there are many collectors who have been paying attention to the carving process, which contains a lot of advanced technology, and their materials are strange and rich. A few years ago, in an auction house in Australia, the ancient wood carvings of the ancient Arhat heads from the mainland were put into the auction series, but in the process of inspection, it was found that there were square objects inside the Buddha's head.
After professional investigation, we found that the organ was preserved in the Ming Dynasty banknotes that were more than 600 years away, and the news was instantly sensational!
The Ming Dynasty paper money system
Many people are curious about the value of this banknote, and we have to look back at the history of the Ming Dynasty, when for various reasons, paper money became popular. Zhu Yuanzhang issued this banknote during his reign, when copper coins and silver could no longer be used in china.
Later, the types of banknotes in the mainland gradually became more and more diverse, and at that time, the scope of application of metal money could only be in the official government, and the value of this "one-pass" treasure banknote found by seat experts was the highest in history. It can be seen that the owner of this item is very wealthy. But someone also asked the question, asking why would this person put this banknote in the wood carving?
After some speculation, it was found that this "private money" should belong to the owner. The shape of the arhat is easily attractive to men, and is also seen as a practitioner who has come to the state of nirvana. Moreover, in the early Ming Dynasty, the domestic use of treasure banknotes began to be popularized.
Later, in the Ming and Qing novels, the value of the currency was also mentioned, and "Dream of the Red Chamber" was a typical example. In ancient times, many dynasties had the internal treasury of the "pile vault", so that the state could have more adequate funds to prevent the domestic situation from falling into turmoil, but it was not long before the inner treasury became the emperor's small treasury.
This phenomenon was even more serious during the Ming Dynasty, when rulers attached great importance to their own interests. In this way, the people also rose this trend, and the man hid his private money in the wood carving, so that many people understood. So this person may have stumbled upon a dark compartment in the wood carving, so he began to hide his own private money.
Why didn't the two owners who had collected wood carvings find the treasure banknotes?
Many people are also curious about what happened to this wood carving, which took so many years to be made public. It is said that its owner is Melbourne collector Raphy Star, who not only loves collecting, but is also a travel enthusiast. During his travels, he acquired many collections, including some antiques from eastern countries.
This wood carving did not mention paper money when negotiating at that time, and collectors only favored its carving technique, so they wanted to obtain it. Later, he also said that at that time, he also judged that this antique came from the Yuan and Ming dynasties. At that time, domestic and foreign trade was also very developed, so in terms of materials, very high-quality materials were selected, which promoted the development of continental wood carving art.
However, some people feel that this cultural logistics fell to foreign countries, most likely because of the closed policy at that time, it was invaded by other countries, and after some robbery, it was brought to Britain. Later, the system of private collections was reformed, so the owner sent it to the auction house, and only then did he realize that he had really picked up the treasure, after all, the value of the Daming Treasure banknote was many times higher than the value of the wood carving itself.
How to collect cultural relics from overseas on the mainland?
In fact, there are many collections that appear at auction like the situation of this Arhat head, and we also spent a lot of energy to buy them back. Cultural relics represent the development of human civilization, so they can be well protected, no matter where they are, they have their significance.
Until 2003, our country launched the national treasure project, began to collect cultural relics scattered overseas, and negotiated with other countries under the protection of international law, but the process was not smooth, and many operations cost a lot. Many times it is a reasonable buyback method, and the bronze statue of the pig's head in the Yuanmingyuan is the best example.
Nowadays, the situation in the whole world has been unstable, our country has also appeared in many international treaties, and it has been developed in accordance with the "Belt and Road" initiative, and we will certainly be able to acquire more cultural relics.