At every tourist antique market, auction, and even street-side flea market, collectors and investors are looking for treasures that will make them rich overnight.
It was always assumed that only one person knew what he was talking about, but when the excitement in the crowd subsided, only one in a million would turn around in search of the lost treasure.
However, there are also some lucky ones who are chosen by heaven, and fate will quietly send a huge fortune to his door. And he became a vegetative person because of a car accident! All this is because of a boy named "Qin Xiaofeng". This child is Qin Xiaofeng. Was he lucky or unlucky? In 2005, despite his wife's anger, Mr. Qin in Beijing waited with an uneasy heart for dawn and continued to raise money from family and friends.
He had discovered a secret, and in the eyes of all, this unworthy secret could be his chance to get rich.
The 90,000-piece auction house is a treasure
Teacher Qin, who lives in Beijing, works in a cultural unit and is full of enthusiasm and dedication to the protection of cultural relics. He has a strong affection and love for traditional Chinese art, especially in the collection of ancient paintings. Outside of work, he often asked friends or acquaintances over the Internet or the phone for information about ancient art. Under the influence of the surrounding cultural atmosphere, Mr. Qin gradually developed an interest in participating in auctions, viewing treasures, and understanding the historical origins behind the treasures.
One day in 2005, he attended an auction as usual, only to become a rich man.
The atmosphere at the auction was particularly lively, with people looking up at the high-priced items on display, mentally valuing their value, waiting to hold signs to pocket their coveted treasures.
After all, no one wants others to take away their "favorites."
Over time, each lot was called "the master of famous flowers", Mr. Qin's heart was envious and pity, envy was that others had a smile on their faces to get valuables, but unfortunately, although he had the heart to collect some treasures, but every auction was just to solve the problem.
At this time, the staff put an old robe that had lost its luster on the podium, and the dusty color and the worn-out appearance of the robe left the crowd, and few of them listened to the introduction of the photo.
Mr. Qin is very interested in robes, after all, compared with other antique cultural relics, the price is very different. Therefore, Mr. Qin decided to find out. When we walked into Mr. Qin's house, he was lying on his desk. "Both pieces were made by myself and I hope it will be a work of art." He suddenly thought of a strange question—why is it that ordinary robes are usually made of small pieces of cloth, while it is made of a satin sheet of robes? Any secrets?
Thinking of this, Mr. Qin thought of a bold idea, and he wanted to pick up the robe and study it well. So, under his leadership, we came to the "Qin's Antique Market" located outside the East Third Ring Road in Beijing. Only to see that it is crowded and bustling, and it is full of all kinds of cultural relics collections, which is dazzling. What's going on? However, many collectors on the scene did not like this worn-out robe, was he wrong?
To gamble or not to gamble? This seems to become a question: Is it that hard to gamble? In this market, can you guarantee that you will make a lot of money every time? The answer, of course, is no. Because there are a lot of risks here! Mr. Qin's heart was already "at war with heaven and man", although the reserve price of the auction house was already very low, but he could not get it out for the time being.
In the end, since no one bid on the spot, the worn-out robe was eventually auctioned off.
It was late, and although the auction had been over for a long time, Mr. Qin's heart was still wrapped in the tattered robe. This is a treasure he has treasured for many years, and it has been given as a gift to many people. However, it is now impossible to sell due to the reasons of the auction company. How was this artifact lost? Mr. Qin was at a loss for a moment. At home, Mr. Qin's worried and distressed sigh attracted his wife's attention. As a last resort, Mr. Qin analyzed his speculations about the robes to his wife and made up his mind to buy it.
Although his wife strongly objected that he should borrow money from friends and family to bet on whether the worn robe was a treasure. But he decided to sell the artifact to make up for the loss. So, he borrowed 100,000 yuan from a friend, made an IOU in the bank, and then went to the court to apply for enforcement. As a result, the court dismissed the claim. However, Mr. Qin raised $90,000 and returned to the auction house.
Since no one bid on the broken robe, Mr. Qin managed to auction it off this time and take it home. "I wanted to buy something." Mr. Qin said, "I want to tear it down." "Can you open this cloth bag first?" Mr. Qin asked. "Okay! Let's do the research together! As soon as he entered the house, Mr. Qin hurriedly spread the broken robe carefully on the table for observation, and finally decided to take the risk of ripping the satin on it, and Mr. Qin couldn't help but shout.
The robe actually has a mezzanine layer inside which is a thin satin plate as thin as a cicada's wings! Yellow satin woven gold, gold, five colors, Sanskrit. It was a relic of Qin Shi Huang when he was unearthed in the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit, and there were some words and patterns embroidered on it... "This is a rare treasure!" Mr. Qin said to me. Although Mr. Qin did not know where the treasure was, in order to keep it a secret, he first found a cultural relics expert to identify it.
Experts told Qin Gang that at the funerals of qing royals, satin was used to wrap corpses, which was not auspicious. He thought that if it could be worn with clothes made of silk, it would be nice to wear it, so that it would be warm and beautiful. So he sold it. Later, he found the silk and sold it to a company. Although some cultural relics have cultural relics of historical value, they are difficult to circulate in the market, and he happens to be studying these cultural relics and is willing to buy them at double the price to help Mr. Qin resell them.
As soon as Qin Shi Huang listened, he knew that there was another important reason for this scripture, that is, no one would throw something worthless at Qin Shi Huang.
So he declined the invitation and went to Li Yanjun's home, a friend who studied jade and wanted to see the value of the sutras. In his opinion, this artifact itself has a high artistic value, coupled with the long collection time, it will naturally attract people's attention. But he didn't rush to bring it to market, but waited for an opportunity to develop it. Li Yanjun, who also found some religious writings while studying jade, seemed to be related to the court through comparison, so he suggested that Qin An should consult with researchers at the Palace Museum.
Mr. Qin said goodbye to his friends and decided to consult zhang Shufen, a famous cultural relics appraiser. "This is a famous painting I saw online!" Professor Zhang smiled and said, "This is a very special work of art, it has a very high collection value and appreciation value. Mr. Qin developed a keen interest in the painting. She "invited" this verse into the research room, and after careful discussion with her colleagues, gave an answer, this verse is absolutely extraordinary!
First of all, this "quilt" is made of silk. Secondly, the color is the royal yellow system. Third, there is also a cute little bird embroidered on the "quilt", which is the owner of the quilt - the phoenix bird. Fourth, the word "emperor" is also engraved on the "quilt". Therefore, it should be used after the death of the emperor, empress or crown prince. However, its owner is unknown.
The second auction was a surprise with a $130 million sale
Since then, Mr. Qin has carefully collected this scripture. In his view, this is a very meaningful artifact, because it not only records the rise and fall of a dynasty in history, but also reflects the attitude of people to death and funeral customs at that time. In order to be more valuable, Qin Shi Huang consulted a large number of materials about the Dravidian sutra and the funeral culture of the Qing dynasty's royal nobles, and when he learned more, he could not help but sigh again for his good luck and good eyesight.
At the end of 2007, Mr. Qin decided to auction the collection that had been collected for three years.
The sutra was officially unveiled at an auction held in Beijing on January 6, 2008.
The presence of the Dravidian sutra sparked bids from more than a dozen buyers, collectors gritting their teeth, none of them bidding below the highest price they could afford. At the auction site, a woman's hand had not yet left the auction stage, "My heart has flown!" She excitedly told reporters: "This is a rare treasure!" I'm going to collect it well. The atmosphere at the auction house was very warm, with $65.5 million sold, and with commissions, the actual price reached $72.05 million.
Mr. Qin's assets rose more than 800 times at once, and neighbors and colleagues envied him. However, in Mr. Qin's view, all this is so accidental. In that year, after graduating from school, he was assigned to a factory to do technical work. In the process, he made many friends. At present, no one was more satisfied with the arrangement of fate than Qin Gang.
No one would have thought that a tattered robe contained a priceless treasure! This ragged garment is embroidered with a golden phoenix. Its owner is Qin Jiushao, a famous scientist and inventor in ancient mainland China. Qin Jiushao was born between 383 and 403 AD and died in 504. Before that, Mr. Qin, like everyone else, was an ordinary working class, and even the 90,000 yuan he spent on the quilt was put together by himself.
After reselling this huge wealth, if you only rely on Mr. Qin's salary, you may not earn so much in your lifetime! But his experience tells us that in this age of risk and opportunity, wealth is not innate. In the course of his life, he has experienced countless tribulations and setbacks; at the same time, he has a happy family. This experience makes people can't help but sigh "rich and dangerous".
After the auction, Mr. Qin said a final farewell to the treasure. Because his friend wanted to sell him the cloth, and he himself did not intend to buy it. He thought: This must be a good collection, how nice it would be if I could get it too! But he could never have guessed that this piece of cloth was worth much more than that.
The time comes to 2010, it has been two years since Mr. Qin's production, how much can this quilt appreciate in just two years? During this year, Mr. Qin resold a treasure in the eyes of collectors, "The Change of Law and Tibet in Dunhuang", to the world, and caused a big sensation. At auction for the third beam, bidders were still fascinated by the beam, and the price rose by $130 million.
In the era before the advent of smartphones, $130 million was a big windfall! However, with mobile phone technology and features getting more and more powerful. Mobile phones are no longer just a means of communication. Instead, it has become an indispensable part of people's entertainment, leisure, work and study. In this age of information explosion. We need mobile phones to record the bits and pieces of life. Enough for an average family to live a wealthy lifestyle.
Many may wonder why an obscure scripture can sell so high at auction, several grades higher than many artifacts, paintings, and rare porcelain. In fact, this is because traditional Chinese culture pays attention to "noble qi" and "rich and noble qi". "Rich and noble" refers to a spiritual temperament and way of life advocated by ancient emperors. In fact, the reason is very simple, people often say that "things are rare and expensive", only the royal family of the Qing Dynasty will use the Silk "Dravidian Sutra".
After a series of wars, tomb robbers and the influence of the earth's crustal movement, there are very few scriptures from ancient tombs to folk scriptures, and it is fortunate to have preserved them, not to mention the quilts used by emperors and empresses, which can now be counted while collecting.
There is also the quilt used by Cixi, which is now in the collection of the Qing Dongling Museum, and its Dravidian quilt is the largest quilt in the world, with a width of 274 centimeters and a length of 280 centimeters. All three sutras belong to the category of Buddhist statues. The other is in Kangxi's coffin. However, the sutra was taken abroad in its early years, but was eventually brought home at a high price by patriots. The third is the Dravidian Sutra discovered by Mr. Qin, which has been circulated for more than 200 years and is still brilliant today.
So why would the items used to bury the Empress end up being auctioned off? What's hidden in the broken robe? This series of questions will be answered for you one by one in this issue of the "Collection Investment Guide". What are the special features of the "broken robe" unearthed from Sun Dianying's tomb? What kind of tragic historical events lurk behind this rare auction? The prologue to this story also begins with Sun Dianying's tomb robbery in 1928.
Trace the roots to the treasures stolen from the imperial tomb
Sun Dianying, a warlord, was defeated by the National Revolutionary Army in the Northern Expedition, and his subordinates were changed to the Twelfth Army of the Nationalist Army, still serving as a commander, stationed at Malanyu, Jixian County, Hebei Province, where the Qing Dongling Tombs were located.
Day and night, sleeping with a large number of precious funerary items, seeing fewer and fewer recruits and horse supplies, Sun Dianying's heart gradually began to become unjust.
Sun Dianying said that in order to successfully achieve his goals, his troops were about to conduct military exercises and would not allow civilians to approach Tanglin. He also said, "If anything happens here, it will bring you trouble and disaster." However, these practices of his were strongly opposed by the common people. They see it as a means of self-destruction. In the summer of 1928, Sun Dianying led his subordinates to forcibly open the mausoleum of the Qing Tombs with artillery fire.
Both Cixi Ding Dongling and Qianlong were attacked by these crazy thieves, who stole countless treasures. In order to obtain these treasures, they did not hesitate to carry out fraudulent activities by various means, and finally they developed to the point of spreading false rumors and distorting the truth. Among them, the most notorious one is Sun Dianying and his subordinates. Sun Dianying and his people are both rough people, who can only rob tombs, do not know the calligraphy and paintings of ancient celebrities, but throw them on the ground and trample on them, which is sad and hateful!
After seven days and seven nights of continuous looting, the entire mausoleum of Qianlong and Cixi was looted, and the treasure was filled with dozens of carriages, not to mention the losses caused by the uneven distribution of looted goods.
Even more outrageous is that the remains of Cixi and Qianlong were arbitrarily discarded in the underground palace to facilitate theft.
massif.
Sun Dianying's theft of Tanglin immediately caused heated discussion at home and abroad. This incident occurred on the eve of the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, and was planned by the Japanese to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and bring about the demise of the Qing Dynasty. However, due to Sun Dianying's lack of understanding of etiquette, he eventually failed. At that time, after Puyi knew about it, while he was eager to grit his teeth, he was ashamed to become his royal descendant, and even the old ancestor who was buried there could not be protected! He swore that he would not be worthy to be the son of Xinjue Luo if he did not kill Sun Dianying, but because he did not have the strength, he had to write his anger on a piece of paper to vent it.
When the other Manchus learned of the news, they all ran to Tanglin in grief, only to find broken rocks and scattered bones of Samson, as well as mud and muddy water.
Later generations reburied the bones of Qianlong and Cixi. In their eyes, this is just a trivial object, but it is enough to make people sigh. Although these artifacts have been completely unrecognizable, the historical value contained in them is immeasurable. What exactly is hidden in these relics? Perhaps the old and the young could not bear to leave the ancestral relics in the ruins and broken walls, or perhaps they were afraid that the rest of the treasure would be coveted by the tomb robbers again, which surprised their ancestors, so they went out a little and quietly hid it in the robe.
The afterlife of the Qing Dynasty's most precious treasure, Tora
Torah is also known as the "Quilt of the Past". It is a religious ritual that was introduced to the mainland by India, China and Nepal and gradually developed, and it is also one of the first funerary ceremonies in the world to appear in the form of Buddhist scriptures. Initially, it was only used within Buddhist monasteries. Buddhism believes that by covering the body of the deceased, all the sins of his life can be erased, and he can reach the Western paradise world. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that the Toranian Classic was officially incorporated into the funeral rites.
The quilt mentioned at the beginning of the article is composed of Tibetan antelope cashmere, camphor velvet and gold thread. After special processing, this velvet thread has a unique style, soft and smooth feel, elastic and glossy; the warp direction has good strength, and the weft direction is a strong twisted yarn structure. Tibetan antelope cashmere is very precious, as valuable as gold.
According to the Qingming Upper River Map, the Huayan Sutra has five colors of Sanskrit on it, and there is a lama pagoda in the middle, all embroidered with gold thread.
It is not difficult to imagine that the Draupadis that appeared in several auctions had intricate characteristics.
In fact, in addition to the royal family's name, the sutra itself is a fine work of art, based entirely on its handicrafts. It is not only a delicate and gorgeous form of fabric, but also an important part of a country's history and culture. In the traditional Chinese art of weaving and embroidery, silk is a long-standing, skilled and far-reaching handicraft. Silk reeling is the pinnacle of Chinese silk weaving skills and has always been untouchable to the flat-headed people.
The futon is 2 meters long and about 1.38 meters wide, covering an area of nearly 3 square meters. It is one of the most precious embroideries in ancient China. Silk fabrics require three to five royal craftsmen to complete within a few years.
Since the Song Dynasty, silk has been one of the royal fabrics of the royal family. But for various reasons, it has been in a state of neglect. It was not until the 1980s that a small number of excavations began to be unearthed, but they did not attract enough attention. Now it seems that these artifacts are difficult to see. In the museum, we can only catch a glimpse of some of the emperors and queens' court clothes, or on rare books and paintings that are not allowed to go to sea.
Due to the high difficulty of the silk reeling technique, it is known as the "Saint of Weaving" and is one of the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage.
With the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Dravidian Sutra was no longer used by the royal family. During the Republic of China period, ordinary people would also use the quilt to cover up the dead, and pray for peace behind only one person's back. In folklore, there are many sayings about "the scriptures are not passed on", "the transmission of the books has no owner" and so on. The most typical of these is the word "chuan". In today's society, it is often used by Buddhist monks and disciples at home.
According to China News Network, in August 2021, after five years of restoration work, the Qing Dongling Museum successfully restored 20 Qing Dynasty "Jiangning (Nanjing) Weaving" royal treasures, including precious cultural relics such as the "Toland Sutra" and the Shouzi Bamboo Robe unearthed from the Cixi Underground Palace.
The Cixi Dravidian Sutra is decorated with auspicious motifs: "Under the heavens, under the heavens, under the whole world, under the whole world, under the whole world, under the whole world, under the whole world, under the whole world, under the whole world, under the whole world, under the whole world." According to the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty", in the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu (1901), when Empress Dowager Cixi held a grand celebration for the birthday of herself and the Guangxu Emperor, she dedicated this precious cultural relic to the Guangxu Emperor at that time. They were all made of gold silk embroidery embroidered with satin twisted gold embroidery, dotted with 820 glittering pearls, but unfortunately lost in Sun Dianying's tomb robbery.
Before the restoration, Torah was in a state of disrepair, with a lot of things written on it that many people didn't know. When repairing, the staff must go through strict screening and testing to carry out the repair work, which requires the use of various protective measures in the repair process to protect the repair object. Repairing the indoor environment is very harsh. The air contains a large number of microorganisms. The restorers are all professional weavers who cover themselves with sterile materials, with the exception of the eye part, to avoid bacteria entering from outside the cavity, causing irreversible damage to the workpiece.
Compare it with the raw materials, determine the repair stitch method, consider the text of the restoration, and with the efforts of the restorers, the work will finally return to its former glory in 2021.
conclusion
In these two hundred years, a history has walked through the hands of countless people, walked through a long period of time with the masters of various stages, experienced turbulent years, and witnessed the demise of the Qing Dynasty and the rise of China.
A robber took it out of the darkness, and an appreciative collector put it in the spotlight. In that era, it was the darling of aristocratic collections; today, it has become the most common work of art in the hands of the masses. From its inception, it was destined to be linked to politics. From the initial mystery to the current publicity. In the space of a century, it has also gone from being a priceless treasure to a collection of numbers that represent value.
"Xie Tang Qianyan Lao Wang flew into the homes of ordinary people." This is the praise of qin chiguan in the Tang Dynasty poet Liu Yuxi's "Buried Room Ming". Today, this thousand-year-old garden has been well known to the world and has become one of the famous tourist attractions in Xi'an. It is the School of History and Culture of Shaanxi Normal University. Modern society is changing with each passing day, and when we praise Mr. Qin for his great wealth and wealth, we never lament the rise and fall of the imperial dynasty.
However, there are always very few lucky people like Teacher Qin, who do not want to gamble money to get rich, and forget that as most ordinary people, the only way to happiness is to work hard down-to-earth.