In 1995, in the winter of Northeast China, an old man in his seventies with gray hair, braving the wind and snow, hugged an ancient painting tightly in his arms, and walked into the local cultural relics institution. Life was too difficult, and he wanted to sell this ancestral treasure so that he could save the emergency.
When he arrived at the antiquities, he carefully unfolded the painting and handed it to a very prestigious expert. The expert's eye is very powerful, and he was immediately attracted by the good craftsmanship of painting, and he liked it very much. He told the old man that he wanted to buy it, and he was willing to pay 10,000 yuan to take the treasure.
But the old man was not only not happy, but also silently put away the painting, turned around and left. Although he didn't know how to identify cultural relics, the legend that had been handed down from his family told him that the painting came from the imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty, and every seal and every stroke carried the royal majesty and brilliance. He knew in his heart that such a royal thing, how could it be calculated casually with money?
In his heart, the old man went to Beijing with the painting. There is the most lively antique market in the Qing Dynasty - Liulichang. He had heard that there were many experts in appraising artifacts here, and he might be able to know how much the painting was worth. With a lot of effort, the old man found Qin Gong, the general manager of the Beijing Cultural Relics Company and the State Cultural Relics Appraisal Committee.
Qin Gong looked at the painting carefully, his eyes full of surprise and praise. With years of experience in appraisals, he was sure that this must be a national treasure. However, Qin Gong didn't say it right away, suppressed the joy in his heart, and carefully invited a number of celebrities to make an authoritative appraisal of this painting together.
In the end, experts all believe that this painting was painted by Zhang Xian in the Northern Song Dynasty, and the "Ten Verses" was painted in 1072. This landscape figure painting is like a mirror of history, which can see the situation at that time, and the value of literature and historical research cannot be said, and it is particularly valuable.
On the painting, celebrities, royal seals and poems with inscriptions, such as the powerful minister Jia Nidao, the great calligrapher and painter Zhao Mengfu, the great writer Sun Jue, as well as the Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, the words of the Jiaqing Emperor, the Qianlong Emperor also personally wrote the four words "reciting Fen and writing wonderful", which can be seen that the artistic value of this painting is particularly high. This treasure, which has disappeared for more than 50 years, can now be seen again, can it not be exciting?
There is information that after the end of the Qing Dynasty, Japan made a puppet Manchukuo, and the last emperor Puyi smuggled out a lot of cultural relics from the Forbidden City in the name of reward, and hid them in the puppet palace.
In August 1945, when the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was over, Pu Yi, the last emperor of Manchukuo, ran away in a hurry, like a wolf lost in the wild. But the thousands of cultural relics and calligraphy paintings like stars in the "Xiaozi Building" are like thrown treasures, and they can't follow him.
When no one cared, the soldiers of the puppet Manchurian regime rushed to these treasures like hungry wolves, some of them were hidden, and some were taken out and sold, including the particularly valuable "Ten Songs". All of a sudden, these cultural relics are like meteors, and they are no longer found in history.
Qin Gong and the others were in this mess and ran into an old man with a painting. The old man clutched the painting tightly in his hand, his eyes were full of worry, and asked, "Is this painting really valuable?" Qin Gong said the truth, but he didn't expect the old man to run away like a frightened bird.
After persuading him many times, the old man shook his hand and gave him an address and a way to contact him. It turned out that when he heard that this was the treasure of the country, the old man was very scared. It wasn't until Qin Gong repeatedly explained that whoever held the cultural relics before the founding of New China belonged to him, that the old man was relieved.
However, the news of the "Ten Songs" came out again spread quickly, and many collectors went to the old man like sharks smelling blood, wanting to buy the painting at a high price. The final decision was made to auction.
On the day of the auction, many buyers rushed to bid, but it was lively. In the end, this "Ten Songs" sold for 18 million "super high price" and returned to the Beijing Museum.
From 10,000 to 18 million, the value of this painting suddenly went from the ground to the sky, and it became a national treasure that cannot be estimated. This painting sees the changes in history, and also sees the importance and protection of cultural heritage by the state.