«——【Preamble】】 ——»
Li Gonglin has also made great achievements in the collection and appraisal of cultural relics, and Li Gonglin's love for collecting has reached the point of sparing no money. So why did Li become a collector?
«——【The Rise of Song Dynasty Cultural Relics Collection·】——»
With the expansion of the group of literati and doctors in the Northern Song Dynasty, the group of cultural relics collection also gradually expanded. The rulers of the Song Dynasty learned the lessons of their predecessors and "emphasized literature over military force" and recruited a large number of bureaucrats with high cultural quality through the imperial examination.
In the imperial examination, the Song Dynasty even selected scholars through painting, and set up bureaucratic institutions such as calligraphy and painting institutes. The attention of the ruling class and the prosperity of the social economy have jointly promoted the cultural relics collecting craze.
Influenced by the family environment. The officials of the Song Dynasty had a high income, and Li Gonglin was born in the family of an official eunuch and served in the imperial court, which was like a tiger for Li Gonglin to carry out his hobby and collect cultural relics.
It can be seen that as a scholar born in Jinshi, Li Gonglin could have played a role in the "Taiwan Pavilion" in the era in which he lived.
However, "tired by the joy of painting", did not play a greater role in politics, although he sighed at this time, Li Gonglin did not care.
«——【Li Gonglin's Sorting and Research on Cultural Relics·】——»
Li Gonglin not only likes to collect cultural relics, but also focuses on the systematic organization and research of collections. "History of the Song Dynasty" records that he "is good at ancient erudition, good at poetry, and more literate words, since the Xia and Shang, Zhong, Ding, Zun, and Yi can all be tested for the world."
"Identification and identification" has a high attainment in the collation and research of cultural relics. During the Northern Song Dynasty, under the influence of the rulers, literati and doctors were generally keen on collecting and appreciating, and the boom in collecting cultural relics also promoted the study of antiquities, and thus formed a new field of research, namely "gold and stone science".
Li Gonglin played an important role in the development of Jinshi science, and after Yuanfeng, there was a scribe Li Gonglin. Liu Yuan's father is Liu Chang, the original father of the word, and his book "Pre-Qin Ancient Artifact Tablet" has a pioneering contribution to the study of Jinshi, but unfortunately the original book has been lost.
However, later Ouyang Xiu had a follow-up to Liu Chang's research in "Jigulu". The book written by Ouyang Xiu has been handed down and has become the earliest surviving work on gold and stone. Zhang Hongming also pointed out in an article in his article.
Li Gonglin's style of pioneering in his works on gold and stone and his work "included the facsimiles of the gold and stone cultural relics he had collected and seen, which was an outstanding contribution to the ancient Chinese gold and stone collection".
Li Gonglin attached great importance to the combination of cultural relics and documents in his research, but another Song Dynasty scholar of gold and stone seriously criticized this in his own article, demanding that he be held responsible for this behavior.
Why bother with the names contained in the biography and then be wonderful! The disadvantages of this good ancients are also. In Zhao Mingcheng's view, as long as it is proved that an artifact is a cultural relic of the three dynasties, there is no need to examine in detail what the value of this cultural relic is, and there is no need to find relevant evidence from ancient books.
From the current point of view, Li Gonglin's method of comparing cultural relics with documents to illustrate history is undoubtedly more rigorous and scientific, and of course there are other documents to describe it.
Although some of these books have disappeared, the legacy of these books is still there and will be inherited by future generations. The Chinese characters of the book quote words from Li Gonglin's "Archaeological Map" in many places. Li Gonglin has accumulated a lot of experience in the process of long-term collection and collation of cultural relics.
He has mastered certain scientific identification methods and has become a cultural relics identification expert recognized by the times. In the third year of Shaosheng, that is, in 1096 AD, Duan Yi, a citizen of Xianyang, accidentally dug up a piece of ancient jade while building a house.
It is said that when the jade was unearthed, "there was a light room" Shaosheng four years (1097), this piece of jade was handed over to the imperial court, and Song Zhezong issued an edict to hundreds of officials to check its authenticity, at that time people had different opinions, some people said it was true, and some people said it was fake.
According to the "History of the Song Dynasty", at that time, "the imperial court got the jade seal, and the officials discussed the Confucianism, and everyone spoke differently". When everyone was arguing, Li Gonglin gave his opinion: Qin Xi used Lantian jade, which is now green in jade, and uses dragons, worms, birds, and fish as the text, and the jade is very strong.
It can be seen that after Li Gonglin put forward his opinions, the original complicated opinions of the imperial court became "the reason for the discussion is decided". Qin to Song has a history of thousands of years, and it is not easy to distinguish the authenticity of Qin Xi.
Li Gonglin was a famous artist at that time, and "Xuanhe Painting" said that he "followed the name and tested the truth, and there was no error". Li Gonglin's opinions are naturally important, and Li Gonglin finally came to a convincing conclusion after looking at the material, the second looking at the engraved text, and the third looking at the production process.
The three basic criteria for identifying the authenticity of jade seals he put forward are worth learning from even today. Regarding the authenticity of this Qin seal in the Song Dynasty, people have always debated. After the Northern Zhu Zhezong Dynasty experienced Wang Anshi's reforms, it was a very delicate period for the political situation.
At that time, the new party and the old party were fiercely contested. Song Zhezong Zhao Xu was only nine years old when he ascended the throne, and his grandmother, the Empress Dowager Gao, listened to the government. Gao used Sima Guang and others to restore the old law and exclude the new party represented by Wang Anshi.
«——【Yuan Yu Change·】——»
After Gao's death, Song Zhezong became pro-government, and began to use Cai Bian, Cai Jing, Zeng Bu and other new parties, changed the era name to Shaosheng, and vigorously propagated Shaoshu thought, intending to inherit the reform of Song Shenzong. The Qin seal that appeared in the last years of Shaosheng just added a rationality to Song Zhesong's reform.
Therefore, some people say that no matter whether this jade seal is true or not, it will be considered real. Cai Jing and others said that this Qin seal was real, but it was actually for the favor of Song Zhezong. Some scholars believe that in the process of circulation, the words engraved on the Qin seal have changed.
Originally, the front of the Qin seal was written by Li Si with a large seal, "Ordered by the sky, both longevity and eternal prosperity". In the inheritance of later generations, Emperor Wen of Wei once engraved the "Great Wei Seal of the Han Dynasty" on the shoulder of the jade seal. After the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, Later Zhao Shile engraved the words "Heavenly Mandate Shishi" on the right side.
This situation is not mentioned in the "History of the Song Dynasty: The Biography of Li Gonglin" and the "History of the Song Dynasty: The History of the Song Dynasty" and the memorabilia of Cai Jing and others. Zhang Cheng said in the book "A Brief History of Chinese Museums": "The history of the Song Dynasty lists many inscriptions on 'jade seals'.
There is no mention of the inscriptions that can be determined, such as 'Great Wei Shou Han Chuan Guo Xi' and 'Heavenly Mandate Shi', and at the same time, Cai Jing and others speculate more than research, and later generations prefer to think that this is a 'taken for granted' jade seal. Li Gonglin himself proposed to see the text on Qin Xi.
In "The History of the Song Dynasty: The Biography of Li Gonglin", when it comes to the words engraved on the jade seal of the country, it only says "the 'talisman of the order'", and it is not clear what words are engraved on the jade seal. Whether there is no other text on it, or Li Gong thinks that this is something that everyone knows.
The author of the "History of the Song Dynasty" did not give a clear explanation, and it is now unknown. Discussing the authenticity of the Qin seal obtained by the unrepresented Qin is not the focus of this article, because the three identification criteria proposed by Li Gonglin can be discussed in terms of materials, characters and craftsmanship.
The reasonableness of several appraisal criteria put forward by Li Gonglin when appraising Qin Xi. From various discussions, we can see that even the opposing opinions are mostly discussed from the perspective of materials, words and craftsmanship proposed by Li Gonglin.
In the controversy between the new party and the old party, Li Gonglin intersected with Wang Anshi, a representative figure of the new party, and Su Shi and Huang Tingjian, who were members of the old party. Li Gonglin is indifferent to fame and fortune, "does not travel to the powerful and noble", but his paintings are "treasured by the world", and the rich and noble families compete for his handwriting.
Faced with the increasingly fierce dispute between the old and the new, Li Gonglin finally chose to resign and return to his hometown to live a reclusive life. His "Mountain Villa" reflects the state of mind of the scholar who retreats to the mountains and forests.
«——【·Conclusion·】——»
Although Li Gonglin has gone into hiding, he has become an important figure in the study of the history of ancient Chinese painting and calligraphy. From the perspective of painting and collecting, he studies Li Gonglin's thoughts as a literati doctor in the Northern Song Dynasty as reflected in him.
Information sources:
"Li Gonglin's Hometown Examination"