In 1945, with Japan's announced surrender, Puyi also hurriedly fled the puppet Manchukuo imperial palace. After the master left, the palace guards and palace maids couldn't help but pour into the small white building where Puyi hid the treasure, looted it, and then left in a hurry. Among them, the guard He Jinshan secretly took a nap at noon that day, and woke up to find that his belongings had been robbed. Unwillingly, he continued to search in the small white building, and finally found only two old paintings that had been discarded. Although he did not understand art, He Jinshan could not see the value of these two paintings and thought that they were not worth mentioning. But he couldn't go home empty-handed, so he took the two paintings with him.
In the following search, He Jinshan accidentally found a small purple clay pot in a corner, which made him happy. After having this harvest, He Jinshan did not stop at the puppet Manchu Palace, but quickly returned home. On the way home, he meets another guard, Lao Wang, and finds Lao Wang about to go to Xiaobailou. He Jinshan kindly reminded: "Don't go, everything there has been robbed." I took two paintings, give you one. Lao Wang also reluctantly accepted the painting and left. After returning home, He Jinshan threw one of the paintings on the balcony, took out the purple clay pot, and handed it to his father. My father carefully studied the purple clay pot, and although he praised its delicateness, he felt that the capacity was somewhat small and not very suitable for making tea. This may make the knowledgeable feel ridiculous, because this purple clay pot was originally stored in Puyi's "palace", but He Jinshan's father did not know it.
After Puyi fled, He Jinshan lost his job, and in order to make ends meet, he followed his fellow villagers to work abroad. In a foreign country, he lived a life of wind, food, and hard work. However, because he insisted on carrying it at first, he missed the best time for treatment and eventually fell ill. When he decided to seek treatment, it was too late and he eventually died overseas.
After He Jinshan's death, his father missed his son and brought him back to China. After returning home, his father hung up the painting that his son had brought back, and every time he saw it, it was as if he were seeing his son.
One day, a relative surnamed Lu of He Jinshan came to visit the house. When he learned that the painting came from Puyi's treasure building, he immediately recognized its preciousness. Although he tried to persuade Ho's father to sell him, he was unsuccessful. In the end, in the name of borrowing the painting, he tricked the painting and cut off the money and seal on the scroll, replacing them with the marks of other calligraphy and painting. Subsequently, the relative, surnamed Lü, sold those money and seals at a high price and obtained a huge profit.
Then, Ho Jinshan's father sold the painting to a painting and calligraphy store due to living difficulties. Due to improper preservation of the painting, it was only sold for 10 yuan in the end. However, what the He father and son did not know was that this painting that had been ignored was actually the "Green Garden Picture" by the Ming dynasty painter Shen Zhou, which was once treasured by successive emperors of the Qing Dynasty. The true value of the paintings was revealed under the guidance of the museum calligrapher Chen Zhongyuan. In 1961, Chen Zhongyuan found the money and seal of the "Qingyuan Map" during a treasure hunt, and felt very strange. He traced their origin and learned that the items came from Lao Lu in Anzishan Township, Liaoning Province. Chen Zhongyuan found Lao Lu, paid a payment, and learned the truth. He continued to trace the traces of the painting, and finally found Shen Zhou's scroll in a painting and calligraphy store. Through the restoration of famous artists, the painting was restored to its original appearance.
Chen Zhongyuan also found the painting that He Jinshan gave away that year, that is, Su Dongpo's "Yang Envy Post", which was also collected by famous artists of previous generations. In the end, he donated the two paintings to the Lushun Museum, which became the treasure of the museum, and the "Qingyuan Map" was estimated at 200 million. This story tells us that no matter how expensive an item is, it has real value only in the eyes of those who know how to appreciate it, otherwise it can only be buried.