Mr. Zhang Shutao
In the heyday of Nanxun in Huzhou, Zhejiang, at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic, it was known as "four elephants, eight cattle and seventy-two dogs" due to the operation of silk and salt transportation. The richest ones are: Liu, Zhang, Pang, and Gu, who are both rich and benevolent, and all attach importance to promoting cultural and educational undertakings on the basis of economic development. The Liu family did not hesitate to rebuke 300,000 silver to build 600,000 volumes of the "Jiaye Lou" book, and published the "Jiayetang Series" to benefit scholars; Pang Zhai is committed to the collection of cultural relics, Yuan Ji and Zuo Yu are good at Danqing, collecting many famous calligraphy and paintings from the past, and founding the "Xunxi Girls' School"; Gufu has set up a "Shuping Scholarship" to fund Qing han, and cultivate talents so far; In addition to Mr. Jingjiang's donation of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's democratic revolution, Mr. Song Xian and his second son were balanced, and they were the collectors and compilers of the "Suitable Garden Series".
"Suitable garden master" Zhang Balance, character Shi Ming, lost his father since childhood by his mother Gui Taifu ren, Zhongguang Xu Jia Wu (1894) Kexiang trial lifter, teaching the military department to drive The Lang Zhong. In Shanghai, he handled salt affairs, pawn and real estate investment commercial bank affairs, began to collect books in Guangxu for 20 years, and built "Suitable Garden" in 33 years (1917) to select "Liuyi Pavilion" as the place for collecting books, accumulating more than 100,000 volumes. After his death, his entire collection of books was sold to the "Chongqing Central Library". His eldest son was Xiong, Qinbo, and Xiucai. The book is better than the father; The third son, Ji Ji, Zi Shu Tao, and Qi Zhai, was a collector of ancient coins. His grandsons, Liang Yun and Ming Heng, are famous calligraphy and painting experts. In 1950, he became deputy director of the Cultural Relics Bureau of the Ministry of Culture.
The above is only some of the rich people in Nanxun, among whom there is a person who is not very familiar with it but really has "money", that is, the Quan family's huge wealth Zhang Shutao.
Zhang Naiji , Zi ShuTao ( 1900-1949 ) , Quan Jie titled "Mr. Shu Tao", the number Qi Zhai. Speaking of the reason for his name Qi Zhai: In 1925, The ancestor of Dai Baoting in Shaoxing received a money from a stall owner in Poyang, Jiangxi Province, because his child chiseled a hole as a kick shuttlecock, and regarded it as a famous product, which was a small ping "Great Qi Tongbao" cast by Xu Zhi of the Southern Tang Dynasty when he was crowned King wu, but there were four holes in the chisel named "Four Eyes Great Qi", and it was returned to the Zhang clan with five hundred silver yuan, so it was called "Qi Zhai". The Zhang family has a collection of gold stone tablets and Song, Yuan, and Ming calligraphy and paintings are very rich, Jun yi family origins, ear and eye, extensive knowledge, good at identification, good nature of ancient jade, ancient springs, and love of ancient springs for especially cool, vigorous search, at all costs, all over the rare treasures are obtained. In the southeast, he rode alongside yuju Jinmen's prescription medicine rain (劬園), and the people of the time were called: "Northern Nanzhang" (in fact, both of them are Zhejiang people), and the north and south of the present world are also big
During the Republic of China period, Zhang Shutao, together with the northern Fang Yaoyu and the Sichuan Luo Bozhao, was known as the "Southern ZhangBei Bashu Luo" of the Chinese Spring Temple, and was listed as the three most prestigious connoisseurs and collectors in the ancient spring industry.
Zhang Shutao has a lively personality and likes to interact with the outside world, he not only has many friends, but also the initiator and active organizer of the Quan coin organization. In the mid-1920s, quan numismatists from southeastern China gathered in Shanghai and were very active at the time. In 1926, Zhang Shutao invited Cheng Wenlong, a collector of quan coins, and others to found a "Guquan Society", which was the first numismatic research group in China. The following year, he also founded the "Guquan Magazine", which is also the earliest numismatic professional magazine officially published in China.
The "Guquan Society" studies ancient coins, and the people in the circle are all enthusiasts of coin collection. Here, they aim to elucidate the ancient spring science, identify and distinguish the authenticity and era of ancient coins, and inspire people's shanggu heart. As long as you like ancient coins, then there are no borders, as long as you are introduced by more than two people in the company. The "Guquan Society" advocated by Zhang Shutao had a strong lineup, many of which were well-known collectors and university inquirers, including almost all the authorities on the study of Spring Coinage in China at that time. For the same goal, they got together and each had a division of labor: Zhang Shutao was one of the appraisers here; Fang Yaoyu, Bao Xi, Luo Zhenyu, Yuan Kewen, etc. are the commentators; Wang Yinjia and Cheng Wenlong are editors.
In this group, there are many erudite people. For example, Bao Xi, who was famous for collecting antiquities after the Qing Dynasty royal family, was a regular visitor to the Beijing Liuli Factory and the Tianjin Persuasion Field, and was also the teacher of Xu Senyu, the old director of the Shanghai Museum. Another example is Yuan Kewen, who is the second son of Yuan Shikai, known as the "Second Son of the Emperor", famous for his talent and style, and he is also famous for collecting ancient money, ancient books and stamps. Luo Zhenyu not only collects ancient money, but is also a famous bibliophile; Wang Yinjia, Fang Yaoyu and Cheng Wenlong are all famous people in the spring industry. Such a lineup is undoubtedly the highest level of Spring Studies academic society in China, representing the highest level of Spring Studies research at that time.
Among them, Zhang Shutao and Cheng Wenlong also became the directors of the society, and they gathered together on sunday afternoons of the first and third weeks of each month to appreciate and study the new collections they collected, and to exchange knowledge with each other and verify authenticity. They also take out their collections on the first Sunday of each month and hold exhibitions to facilitate exchanges between them.
In 1936, Zhang Shutao, Ding Fubao, Ye Gongqiu and others decided to establish the Chinese Ancient Spring Society and founded the quarterly journal "Ancient Spring Science". It turned out that at this time, it had been ten years since Zhang Shutao established the "Guquan Society", and in the past 10 years, with the gradual rise of the boom in Chinese spring studies, Zhang Shutao felt the need to establish a fixed spring coin organization and publish regular publications. In the Guquan Society, Zhang Shutao served as the vice president, and the next year he was elected as the president, but unfortunately the life of the society was not long, and the magazine only published 5 issues without a sound.
In 1937, Zhang Shutao wanted to establish the Quan Coin Society, and in order to invite scholars who were highly renowned in the ancient spring circle, he specially went to the home of Mr. Wang Yinjia in Suzhou to invite him out of the mountain, and let him specially manage the publication of the Spring Coin Society and publications. Zhang Shutao also found Chen Rentao and covered all the expenses of the society with him, and they planned to have 10,000 oceans each for the two of them. Zhang Shutao even set up a small building next to his home as a house for the society. Unexpectedly, when Zhang Shutao was actively campaigning for the birth of the third Quan coin society, the War of Resistance broke out. The war raged into the sky, and the Chinese side lost the Battle of Songhu and the fall of Shanghai, all of which broke Zhang Shutao's dream of establishing the Quan Coin Society. Zhang Shutao's family also went to Hong Kong because of the war, and the new Quan Coin Society, which had not yet had time to be officially born, was halfway folded.
In May 1940, the Chinese numismatic celebrities living in Shanghai held the inaugural meeting of the China Quan Coin Society at the home of Luo Bozhao, another numismatic collector in China, and the conference publicly promoted Ding Fubao, the most prestigious and eldest, as president and Luo Bozhao as vice president, and prepared publications, and also carried out various forms of coin collection research activities. At that time, Zhang Shu was trained in the United States and could only serve as a sponsoring member, but he still contributed to the establishment and growth of the society.
In fact, Zhang Shutao's activities in collecting ancient coins are not limited to China, he once joined the Royal Society of Art in the United Kingdom in 2000, and also served as a member of the organizing committee, and even when the American Numismatic Society was founded, he was invited to become a member of it. Earlier, in the late 1920s, Zhang Shutao was invited by friends in japan's ancient spring circles to visit Japan and did academic exchanges in Japan, which caused great repercussions in the Japanese ancient spring circles at that time. He is also a Special Sponsor of the Japan Toyo Monetary Association. In the mid-1930s, when the famous Japanese coin collector Hirao Juquan visited Shanghai, he would find Zhang Shutao and communicate with him.
Zhang Shutao once wrote the book "Qi Zhai Quan Cheng", which recorded his examination of his precious coins, and published some articles in the "Guquan Magazine" and "Guquan Xue" magazines. Zhang Shutao believes that the collection of ancient coins must understand some basic terms, so that when dealing with numismatic dealers and communicating with fans, it is possible to be proficient in jargon.
The following are some of the terms commonly used in the collection of ancient coins, such as the inner outline refers to the perforated raised edge of the ancient coin, and the outer outline, also known as the outer wheel or edge, is the raised edge around the ancient coin, then the part between the inner outline and the outer outline is called the money curtain. In addition, raw pits refer to the rust color on newly excavated ancient coins, or the rust color that has not been destroyed after a long time. The ripe pit refers to the rust color on the ancient coins handed down through the generations. The ancient coins have not been buried, handed down from generation to generation, and there is a layer of black-brown paste on the surface, which is often said to be passed down from generation to generation. Unlike the ancients, bone rust is the rust that penetrates deeply into the body of the ancient coin and is hard and difficult to remove. In this way, popularizing the basic knowledge of some common terms and other basics of ancient coins, so that more people can understand ancient coins and like ancient coins is something that Zhang Shutao is happy to do.
It can be seen that Zhang Shutao plays an important role in the history of Chinese ancient coin collection, he not only collects hongfu himself, but also pays attention to research and exchange, making important contributions to the inheritance and development of ancient numismatics for later generations, and is a well-deserved "king" in the chinese ancient numismatic industry.
The Zhang clan traveled widely, and the famous men and sages and the pawns of the peddlers all interacted. In his early years, he became acquainted with Lang Wu, a zhike monk who was proficient in spring coins at the corner of the Nanji Lane in Huzhou, and later bought it for three hundred silver yangs at the recommendation of a certain craftsman in Hangzhou, who was a craftsman in Hangzhou who was a gilded dragon and phoenix pattern in the countryside. According to the Tongyi collector Dr. Pan Lanjiang, who forgot to pay the year to me: "At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, the monks of Lang Wu will go to Zhangfu to celebrate the New Year, and the three princes will be given a gift of Wu Bai or one thousand yuan, and jokingly said: "Sincerely for consumption, heaven gives opportunities, and is happy to get one or two, and then negotiate the price." When Qu was searching for 'Jing', 'Ji', and 'E' of 'Hongwu' and 'Dazhong', he asked for gold, doubled the exchange, and Luo Zhixin was eager to see it.
The Zhang family had a different business in each of the buildings, often searching for ancient springs in Shanghai, and collected and merged some famous secrets: such as the book Xiaoping from Haining Zhang Weiyu "Daguan Tongbao" Iron Mother; For 2,000 yuan from Yu Tingsheng's old collection, he obtained the "National Treasure Golden Treasure Zhi Wan" and passed down the authentic product; From Gao Huanwende "Shunzhi Tongbao" back dragon pattern big money; From Zhou Zhongfen easy to get "Zi Qiao"; Its "Ying Yun Yuan Bao", Fold Ii "Hongguang Tongbao" and "Feng" were obtained from Jiang Boxuan; Others, such as "Tiande Chongbao" back "Yin", "Qianfeng Quanbao" back "Tian" copper product, "Zhihe Chongbao" back "虢", Xiaoping "Yuanyou Tongbao" Xingshu, and seal book back "Shaanxi", Xiaoping "Jing Kang Tongbao Yuanbao" Seal Book, True Book, Lishu Variety, "Heyang Round Gold" and "Sheng Song Yuanbao" back to the Moon Iron Mother, "Ying Yun Yuanbao" and so on are all from Mr. Dai Baoting. Among the collections are Liu Shouguang's "Ying Tianyuanbao" carrying "Wan" and "Ying Shengyuanbao" carrying "Picking", both of which are orphan products in the sea.
In the fifteenth year of the Republic of China (1926), the Guquan Society was founded in Shanghai, and Jinshan Cheng Wuquan (Wenlong) Dong Qishi was invited to issue an issue of "Guquan Magazine", which was the earliest officially published numismatic professional magazine in China. In 25 years, Wu Zhihui (Jing Heng), Ye Yuhu (Gong Qi), Zhang Shutao (Nai Ji), Ding Zhonghu (Fu Bao) and other gentlemen organized and formally established the "China Guquan Society" in Shanghai, with him as the vice president and re-elected as the president the following year. During this period, five issues of "Ancient Spring Studies" were issued, and the publication of the Sino-Japanese war was suspended
Although Zhang Shi has a large number of springs, there are not many spring texts published, and what I have seen in the inaugural issue of "Quan Coin" includes two short articles, "Yin Jin Yi Jinhua" and "Western Xia Dade Tongbao", and later there are several spring texts signed by Zhang Shu Andi Zang Quan and Zheng Jiaxiang explaining "Yu Yi Jinhua" and "Half Circle". He is the author of the book "Qi Zhai Quan Cheng", and once published the two rules of "Yongguang" and "Jing He" in the "Ancient Spring Magazine". According to the publication: After World War II, he held the "Chinese Numismatic Treasures Exhibition" in London, England and Paris, France.
In 1938, Zhang Shutao's family came to the United States due to the Japanese invasion of China, and when he left, he entrusted all his coin collection and business affairs to his sister Zhang Zhiya. In the United States, perhaps forced by life, he sold his ancient jade, but he was still reluctant to give his precious ancient money.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhang Shutao returned to Shanghai in 1946 to deal with his accounts and property, and returned to the United States a month later, taking his best ancient money (about two thousand pieces) to the United States before leaving. These two thousand ancient coins are the finest in his collection, and the famous orphan "Great Qi Tongbao" is among them. In his final years, Mr. Zhang opened an Oriental Art Company at 125 East 57th Street, Manhattan, New York, but due to health reasons, the business did not work well. 1
The best two thousand pieces of ancient money are still in the United States, but have changed hands and were sold by his wife Xu shi to a prominent philanthropic foundation in the United States after the death of Zhang Shutao. Zhang Shutao's last batch of fine works, including the orphan "Daqi Tongbao", "Ying Tian Yuanbao", "Zhongsi Yuanbao", "Ying Sheng Yuanbao", "Xianping Yuanbao", "Tianqing Yuanbao", etc., are now in the collection of an art museum in Chicago, USA.
There is also a part of the collection at the Shanghai Museum. Zhang Shutao had an in-law named Xu Maozhai who had received a batch of Zhang Shutao's coin treasures. After the liberation, his life was difficult, so he sold this ancient money to the Shanghai Museum.
In 1946, when Uncle Zhang returned to Shanghai, in addition to taking away two thousand of the best coins, the rest of the collection was handed over to his sister Zhang Zhiya for safekeeping. When Zhang Zhiya went to Japan in 1956, she entrusted these things to her daughter and son-in-law. In 1961, Zhang Zhiya's daughter and son-in-law were also going to the United States, and these things were handed over to a relative of Zhang Zhiya's son-in-law Gu family for safekeeping, until they were raided by rebels during the "Cultural Revolution". When the policy was implemented after the Cultural Revolution, the things that were copied were re-issued, and in addition to other cultural relics, there were more than 3,000 ancient coins. At that time, the museum mobilized collectors to donate good things to the state, or to buy them at a price. In this case, the best part of the collection left in Shanghai is also included in the Shanghai Museum.
What remains in the hands of Zhang Nanchen, Zhang Shutao's son, is the last part of the collection that remains, including hundreds of ancient sword coins. Years have passed, history is merciless, and everything has become a smoke cloud of the past, but Zhang Shutao will always be a dazzling scenery in the history of Chinese coin collection. Whether it is his small life or his coin collection, it is like the colorful fallen leaves of history, sprinkled on the road to glory of Shanghai Beach.
Zhang Shutao's hometown is in Nanxun, Huzhou, which is one of the richest areas in Jiangnan. The Zhang family is also one of the four richest giants in Nanxun, ranking second among the "four elephants" of Nanxun, second only to the Liu Yong family of Xiaolianzhuang. Zhang Shutao's great-grandfather Zhang Songxian made his fortune in the raw silk and salt industries a century and a half ago, leaving behind tens of millions of two families for future generations. The descendants of the Zhang family settled in Shanghai after the Xinhai Revolution and continued to develop, and by the time Zhang Shiming's father Zhang Shiming died in 1928, the Zhang family's property alone reached 20 million yuan in the south zhang shiming (and the east zhang jingjiang). The land where the famous Great World and the Apricot Blossom Building are located originally belonged to the territory of the Zhang family.
The Zhang family is not only rich, but also a confucian merchant family with a lot of books. Zhang Shiming is famous for his collection of books, and his Shiyuan collection alone ("Shiyuan Collection") amounts to 16 volumes. The collection of Song and Yuan orphan books and Ming and Qing dynasty rare books are respectively engraved in the three series of books of "The First Collection of Zhang Shiyuan Series", "Shiyuan Series" and "Choosing to Be a Residence Series", with a total of 100 rare books. Other collections, such as the Ancient Huanlu, were not yet engraved, and he himself died. Perhaps because of this, the outside world only knows that he is a bibliophile, while his other collections, such as ancient coins, bronzes, calligraphy and paintings, etc., have been forgotten.
After Zhang Shiming's death, all of his collection was inherited by three children and grandchildren. The eldest son, Zhang Qinbo (named Naixiong), mainly inherited his collection of books; the eldest Zhang Naihua unfortunately died early, and his son Zhang Liangyu inherited the family's calligraphy and paintings; Zhang Shutao was the third son, mainly inheriting his father's collection of ancient money and ancient jade. They were very ambitious, did not stand still in the collection of their predecessors, and made amazing achievements after a few years. On the basis of his father's collection, Zhang Qinbo doubled the number of Rare Books of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and there was the "Bibliography of Qinpu Shanshu" passed down; Zhang Shutao came to the top, hoarded in the mountains and the sea, and became the king of ancient money in China; Zhang Liangyu buried his head in calligraphy and painting, and became China's first-class calligraphy and painting appraisal expert.
According to this logic, when the Zhang family arrived at Zhang Shutao's generation, in addition to business matters, the inheritance and promotion of traditional Chinese culture should be their main theme. There is no doubt about this, and they are indeed outstanding and admired by the world. However, after all, they have been living in the Shanghai concession for a long time, and the gradual influence of the west wind and the accumulation of subtlety over time have made the descendants of the Zhang family "small open" vigorously. This also has a lot to do with the business of the Zhang family, Zhang Shutao's great-grandfather in the 19th century soon after the opening of Shanghai, has been to Shanghai to sell the hometown of "Ji Lisi" to foreigners, generations of foreign life, so that the Haipai cells gradually penetrate into their bone marrow, so that in their Nanxun ancestral home "Yi De Tang", there is still a beautiful ocean building. This Ancestral Home of the Zhang Family has been included in the National Cultural Relics Protection Unit, and whenever tourists step into it, they will have an illusion - is this in the countryside, or in Shanghai?
Therefore, Zhang Shutao's life is both full of ancient fun and full of foreign atmosphere. In Zhang Shutao's new residence, there are not only his ancient money collection room, ancient jade collection room, but also the Western restaurant, entertainment hall and sunshine room of the absolute Haipai. The big grass in front of the building, pulling up the net is the grass tennis court.
Uncle Zhang's tennis court is not only for his family to play, but also open to relatives and friends. The tennis court is open two to three days a week, and relatives and friends with different skills become his guests.
Many of the friends who came to play tennis were celebrities on the beach, such as Qiu Feihai and Lin Baohua, the best tennis players in the country at that time. Zhang Liangyu's good friend Tan Jinglai is very diligent, he is a wealthy Cantonese, but also a "threshold" of the most refined art connoisseur. He played tennis very well, often driving the twelve-cylinder Cadillac over to play, always bringing a group of friends each time.
He is very fond of imported mechanical gadgets, and often has the ability to suddenly "conjure up" the latest cameras and video cameras. He had a camera that he could use to make movies. He also had a more unusual hobby, which was the installation of radios. In 1930, he and his brother Yao (his wife's third brother-in-law, Yao Xinquan), had been radio enthusiasts for many years. On the third floor of his new house on Xiafei Road, a radio manufacturing room with a special installation was also designed.
He also loves Western music. He didn't like classical music very much, but he had a soft spot for popular dance music. At that time, there were many dance halls in Shanghai full of dance lovers, but those were not the places where he went. He always went dancing with his wife at the famous Majestic Hotel, which had the best ballrooms of the time.
At the same time, he also likes to run horses. Around 1930, he raised more than a dozen horses at the Jiangwan Racecourse, often riding his own horses to participate in the competition. Once he was running a horse, he personally put on the battle again, because he was not very famous in the circle, so no one believed that he could win the championship, and no one bought his horse ticket. There was only one tailor who bought one with the idea of trying his luck. However, the miracle suddenly came, and the running horse of that day actually made Zhang Shutao unexpectedly dominate! The tailor who bought his horse ticket accidentally made a fortune, because he was the only one who bought Zhang Shutao's horse ticket, so all the bonuses were obtained by him alone, a total of hundreds of thousands of yuan! That day, boxes and boxes of cash were carried into the taxi, and the tailor happily transported home. Seeing this scene, even Zhang Shutao himself opened his mouth!
Of course, what really "played" him famous and made him famous was his first-class collection of ancient money. (If you want to be famous in history, you can become a great collector and you can @ appreciate the ancient treasures)
China's modern spring coin industry is to "south Zhang north" as a giant. "Nan Zhang" refers to Zhang Shutao.
It seems unbelievable to say that Uncle Zhang was in shanghai in the Ten Mile Ocean Field, but he had never entered the Western Academy, and his learning was all learned from Mr. Private School in the high-walled deep courtyard. His sinology teacher was an old master known as "Chen Gelao", a native of Haiyan, Zhejiang, an old Hanlin in the capital of the late Qing Dynasty, who lived in Shanghai after the Xinhai Revolution. Uncle Zhang trained from such an old scholar, his foundation of traditional Chinese studies is naturally extraordinary, coupled with the influence of family learning (his father Zhang Shiming was a man during the Jia Wu period), the things that pass by the eyes are either ancient books or antiquities, and their cultural cultivation and value orientation are naturally easy to associate with traditional culture.
In the fourteenth year of the Republic of China, Uncle Zhang tamed the cold stall in the ancient capital of Xuannei Xiao City, and gave it to each other, friends and friends, by expressing gratitude. This type of tooth money is the least readily available. "This kind of money carved from ivory has always been regarded as a rare treasure. Because that is when the imperial court minted a kind of new year number of money, after the coinage bureau designed the coin style, it was impossible to get more samples for the emperor's purpose, generally only one or a few pieces were carved for selection, so the teeth were all orphans, not to mention the emperor's imperial objects. At that time, Uncle Zhang was rich and powerful, and he even raised his teeth to send people, which showed his vision and personality.
In the mid-1930s, when the northern numismatic fang ruo sold the quan coin collection, it was the time when Zhang Shutao was ambitious and "expanded". He was good at making friends and willing to pay a lot of money, and gradually obtained a batch of unique orphan products in the world, and as long as people mentioned these ancient coins, they knew that it was his collection of Uncle Zhang. For example, the "Great Qi Tongbao" cast by Li Fu of the Southern Tang Dynasty during the Five Dynasties, the "Ying Tianyuan Bao Bei wan", "Qiansheng Yuanbao Beibai", and "Ying Sheng Yuanbao Beishi" cast by Liu Shouguang of later Liang, the "Yidang Bo Qian" cast by Shi Siming, the "National Treasure Jin Gui Zhi Wan" in Wang Mang's period, the "Zhongtong Yuanbao" of the Yuan Dynasty Seal Kai, and the "Gong Guo Tong Bao" of the Qincha Khanate are all well-known treasures. The world's rare Warring States Qi six-character sword coins, he actually collected as many as sixteen pieces.
Zhang Shutao's obsession with ancient money is far beyond the imagination of today's people. For a time, he was extremely fond of coins during the Ming Hongwu period, and when he encountered the hongwu dazhong back "Jing", "Ji", and "E" layouts, he often paid for gold to buy them. Sometimes, for a coin, he was determined to get it, and he would not hesitate to spend double or even higher to buy it. His heirloom treasure, "National Treasure Jin Gui Zhi Wan", was "dug" from Yu Chuansheng's old collection for two thousand silver yuan; he also "dug" the "Ying Yun YuanBao" from Jiang Boxi; "dug" from Zhou Zhongfen to "dig" the "ZiQiao" cargo spring; and "dug" from Gao Huanwen to get a large amount of money with the dragon pattern of Shunzhi Tongbao...
Zhang Shutao's achievements in ancient money collection have always been highly praised by the domestic spring circles. In the 1940s, Ding Fubao, a titan of the Spring Realm, specifically introduced Zhang Shutao's treasures in his "Miscellaneous Records of Ancient Springs", saying: "Xiang Said Xinmang Six Springs and Ten Cloths are extremely rare, and recently Nanlin Zhang Junshu has obtained all of them and has a copy. "Now Uncle Zhang has obtained a treasure of heaven and virtue, with a slightly smaller shape and a Yin character on his back, and he is a rare treasure." "Uncle Nanlin Zhang Jun tamed, carrying a bag of ancient springs, in two words, that is, it is as expensive as gold, but it is only more than a thousand gold, but Zhang Jun got it with more than twenty thousand gold!" "Zhang Shutao, the origin of family learning, good at identification, vigorously collect ancient springs, the rich armor of the whole country, the ancient spring family Xian zun of the ancient springs of the great Wang Yun."
Numismatic ma Dingxiang visited zhang Shutao's entire collection at 40 Tianping Road (now the Literary and Art Hospital) in 1946. According to him, the total number of pieces is about 30,000, which can be described as a grand view, and there are many orphans and rare products in the interior. Regarding the "iron mother" money, it is remarkable that the average collector can take out a few pieces, while Zhang Shutao can take out several strings at his fingertips, which is surprising.
Zhang Shutao had several important numismatic friends, such as Dai Baoting and Dai Baoxiang Kunzhong of Shaoxing, Dong Taomang of Ningbo, Zhu Baoqing and Zhu Baoding Kunzhong of Hangzhou, etc., all of whom were the main suppliers of ancient money to Zhang Shutao, of which Dai Baoting contributed the most to him. His world-famous "Great Qi Tongbao" was provided by Dai Baoting.
When Dai Baoting was young, he traveled around the world under the banner of collecting ancient money in various cities, villages and towns, and even in poor and remote areas. One day he went to the countryside of Poyang, Jiangxi Province, and saw a few little girls kicking shuttlecocks, and he watched from the side for a moment, knowing that the bases of the shuttlecocks kicked by the children in the countryside were made of copper coins. He was watching when suddenly a shuttlecock flew to his side. He picked up the shuttlecock, turned it over and glanced at it casually, but he was startled, it turned out that the base of the shuttlecock was nailed with a Southern Tang "Great Qi Tongbao" copper coin! This made him jump up with joy, and finally got his hands on it for a few change. This is the rare treasure that was later called "Four-Eyed Great Qi" by the Spring Coin Circle. After returning to Shanghai, this ancient coin was bought by Uncle Zhang and regarded as an unforgettable product, which was enshrined in gongbi, and its name was therefore called "Qi Zhai".
Regarding the "Great Qi Tongbao", the ancient money industry has always attached great importance to it. The Qiantuotu was first found in Dai Shuoshi's "Ancient Spring Cong Dialect" of the Qing Dynasty, and later reproduced in Li Zhupeng's "Ancient Spring Hui" during the Qing Tongzhi Period, and also found in Tang Youbi's "Quan Coin Hui Kao" and so on. However, in modern times, except for Dai Alcohol, everyone has watched rubbings, and no one has ever seen real money, and originally everyone thought that the money was minted by Huang Chao, because the peasant regime established by Huang Chao was called Daqi. In the 1930s, some people raised doubts, and it was not until the 1980s, after the famous numismatist Ma Dingxiang examined it, that the former theory was overturned with strong evidence and strict logic, proving that the "Great Qi Tongbao" was a minted coin in the early Southern Tang Dynasty.
The "Great Qi Tongbao" hidden by Dai Alcoholshi was called "Missing Horn Great Qi" because of the mutilation of the left corner, which was an ancestral object in his home. However, Dai shi has long disappeared, and it is said that when the Taiping army attacked the city of Hangzhou, Dai shi carried this precious ancient coin and jumped to the Qiantang River and died, and there was no trace of "Daqi" in the world from then on.
More than sixty years later, in 1925, Dai Baoting accidentally caught a piece from the countryside of Jiangxi. Because children need to make shuttlecocks, they poke four small holes in it, so it is called "four eyes and big qi". Because the "missing angle Qi" no longer exists, the "Four Eyes Qi" has become the world's lone product, and it is suddenly worth a hundred times. There is also the humanistic palm of the predecessors of the aforementioned Tibetan Spring, and the ardent care of Uncle Zhang after taming can be imagined, so the long-term secret is not revealed. In order to prevent others from reproducing according to the rubbing, even the rubbing was very strictly controlled. Even in an issue of Guquan Magazine, printed in 1927, there was no news.
But there is no impermeable wall in the world, and after a long time, relatives and friends always want to see the style of the money. Uncle Zhang thought of a way, please copy a master to imitate one, instead of the real thing, occasionally show people, enough to show the eyes, only a very few people know this secret. This is the truth about why there were two "Great Qi Tong Treasures" in the precious money that Zhang Shutao later brought to the United States. The mystery was not revealed in an article by Ma Dingxiang until the 1980s.
Uncle Zhang tamed a Buddhist friend, Lang Wu, and also helped him a lot. The monk Lang Wu originally presided over the Qixian Temple on the corner of the South Ji Lane in Huzhou City, and later went to the Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou, which was very famous in the Huzhou area. This enlightened monk also likes to play with ancient money, is well versed in the mysteries and knowledge of ancient money, and pays attention to collecting it when traveling in all directions. The good men and women in the Hangjiahu area knew that the monks of Lang Wu liked to make special ancient money, so they all tried to find it. One year, a Hangzhou craftsman obtained from the countryside a gilded gold-backed dragon and phoenix pattern "Tiance Fubao" coin cast by the fifth generation of Chu, and was overjoyed and presented it to the monk Lang Wu. Long Wu recommended this never-before-seen orphan to Zhang Shutao, who bought it for three hundred taels of silver. Over the years, many people have great strength, and a lot of valuable and rare ancient money in the Jiangnan region has reached the hands of the monks of Long Wu. This naturally aroused greater interest from Zhang Shutao, and whenever Lang Wu came to the Zhang family to pay his respects during the New Year's Festival, Zhang Shutao always instructed the accounting office to take out a large number of silver dollars for charity. Lang Wu could not repay it, and the simplest way was naturally to pull out the ancient money he had collected. According to the descendants of the Zhang family, before the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhang Shutao did often go to the Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou. He himself didn't believe in Buddhism, so what was he going to do? Presumably, it was always related to the ancient money in the pocket of the monk Lang Wu.
Zhang Shutao not only has many friends, he is also the initiator and active organizer of the Quan coin organization.
As early as 1926, Zhang Shutao invited Cheng Wenlong, a collector of spring coins, and others to found a Guquan Society, which was the first spring research group in China. In 1927, he also founded Guquan Magazine, which was the earliest officially published numismatic professional magazine in China. But somehow the magazine was published in only one issue and was silent.
By 1936, with the gradual rise of the chinese spring science boom, it was deeply necessary to establish a fixed spring coin organization and publish regular periodicals. Zhang Shutao, Ding Fubao, Ye Gongqiu and others were eager to move again, so they restarted the stove and initiated the establishment of the Chinese Ancient Spring Society, with Zhang Shutao as the vice president, and the following year he was re-elected as the president, and founded the quarterly journal "Ancient Spring Studies". Unfortunately, this time the life expectancy was not long, and the quarterly magazine only published five issues and did not have a sound.
In the spring of 1937, Zhang Shutao, Chen Rentao, Wang Yinjia and other people were still immortal, and they wanted to set up Quan Coin to learn, and it was planned that Zhang Shutao and Chen Rentao would each give 10,000 oceans. Unexpectedly, while they were actively campaigning for the birth of the third Quan coin society, the outbreak of the War of Resistance broke the shanggu dream of literati students. In the spring of the following year, Zhang's family and his cousin Zhang Jingjiang's family took a boat to Hong Kong, and later to Switzerland and the United States. This spring coin society can only die halfway.
In the first two Quan Numismatic organizations, he was the initiator and main person in charge. When the China Quan coin Society was founded in Shanghai in 1940, although others were in the United States, they contributed to the society as a sponsoring member. He also wrote the book "Qi Zhai Quan Cheng" (unpublished, several times published in the "Ancient Spring Magazine"). Unfortunately, the second half of his life was living in a foreign country, the environment changed, the soil of survival changed, and the taste of the spring coin career must be different. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1946, he returned to Shanghai because of family affairs, left in a hurry a month later, never returned, and unfortunately died in the United States two years later.
In 1938, Zhang Shutao's family came to the United States due to the Japanese invasion of China, and when he left, he entrusted all his coin collection and business affairs to his sister Zhang Zhiya. In the United States, perhaps forced by life, he sold his ancient jade, but he was still reluctant to give his precious ancient money.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhang Shutao returned to Shanghai in 1946 to deal with his accounts and property, and returned to the United States a month later, taking his best ancient money (about two thousand pieces) to the United States before leaving. These two thousand ancient coins are the finest in his collection, and the famous orphan "Great Qi Tongbao" is among them. On May 30, 1948, the champion of the ancient Chinese money collection, died of illness at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York.
The best two thousand pieces of ancient money are still in the United States, but have changed hands and were sold by his wife Xu shi to a prominent philanthropic foundation in the United States after the death of Zhang Shutao. Zhang Shutao's last batch of fine works, including the orphan "Daqi Tongbao", "Ying Tian Yuanbao", "Zhongsi Yuanbao", "Ying Sheng Yuanbao", "Xianping Yuanbao", "Tianqing Yuanbao", etc., are now in the collection of an art museum in Chicago, USA.
In 1946, when Uncle Zhang returned to Shanghai, in addition to taking away two thousand of the best coins, the rest of the collection was handed over to his sister Zhang Zhiya for safekeeping. When Zhang Zhiya went to Japan in 1956, she entrusted these things to her daughter and son-in-law. In 1961, Zhang Zhiya's daughter and son-in-law were also going to the United States, and these things were handed over to a relative of Zhang Zhiya's son-in-law Gu family for safekeeping, until they were raided by rebels during the "Cultural Revolution". When the policy was implemented after the Cultural Revolution, the things that were copied were re-issued, and in addition to other cultural relics, there were more than 3,000 ancient coins. At that time, the museum mobilized collectors to donate good things to the state, or to buy them at a price. In this case, the best part of the collection left in Shanghai is also included in the Shanghai Museum.
What remains in the hands of Zhang Nanchen, Zhang Shutao's son, is the last part of the collection that remains, including hundreds of ancient sword coins. Years have passed, history is merciless, and everything has become a smoke cloud of the past, but Zhang Shutao will always be a dazzling scenery in the history of Chinese coin collection. Whether it is his small life or his coin collection, it is like the colorful fallen leaves of history, sprinkled on the road to glory of Shanghai Beach.