In 2019, a piece of ancient donkey with a height of 28.5 cm, a length of 7.2 cm, a width of 7.2 cm and an inner diameter of 6 cm was particularly eye-catching in the market. It is known to be the crown of the jade treasured by Wu Da zhai, and it is the imperial tribute of Wu Da Li to the inner court, and also witnesses his last political career. And such a large material and exquisite craftsmanship, coupled with a unique production process and exquisite and mysterious ornamentation, will surely become the object of pursuit of ancient jade lovers.
Wu Dayi
In recent years, the collection of Wu Dayi and Wu Hufan's grandchildren has become a hot spot for everyone. Wu Dayi (1835-1902), originally known as Dachun, later avoided the Tongzhi Emperor and changed his current name to Qingqing, the number Hengxuan, Baiyun Mountain Tree, And So on. During the Tongzhi period, he served as a scholar of Shaanxi and Gansu, Hebei Province, Hebei Province, Taibu Temple, Taichang Temple, Guangdong Inspector, Governor of Hedong River, and Inspector of Hunan. In his early years, he studied under scholars such as Chen Yi and Yu Fan, and devoted himself to the study of Shuowen. His seal book was heavily influenced by the Jijin script and was highly valued by his teachers and friends during his lifetime. The painting is far away from Dong and Ju, close to Master Wang and Yun, and at the same time, the most important people are Hangzhou Dai Xi.
Wu Da Li Seal Book
Wu Da Li was politically controversial, but his great contributions to epigraphy and calligraphy and painting were unanimously recognized. As one of the most important epigraphers and paleographers of the late Qing Dynasty, Wu Dayi wrote a wealth of works, including "Shuowen Gushu Supplement", "Ancient Records of the Collection of Shu zhai", "Zi Shu", "Ji JinLu seen by Hengxuan", "Examination of Weighing and Measuring Experiments", "Ancient Jade Tukao" and so on.
Imperial Tribute - Wu Da Li Tibetan Ancient Donkey
From left to right, they are: Wu Da Zhen in the Shanghai Museum, Gao Yu chun in the Friar Museum, 19 sections of Yu Chun in the National Museum of China,
Among the collectors of the Qing Dynasty, there are not many people who are famous for their high ancient jade, and Wu Dayi's Tibetan jade can be said to be the best of them. In general, most ancient jade collectors have not seen the systematic study of ancient jade. Even if some people leave their works, they are generally named "atlases" and "catalogues", and the content focuses on the objective description and static records of the collections, without in-depth research.
Comparison of the details of the four screens of Wu Da Zang and Zhu Tuo.
In the group of four Zhu Tuo screens in the "Wu Da Tuo Tuo Zhu Shi Various Screens", there is a bibliography of "Group Chun" rubbings, which is consistent with the wu Da Tuo Tibetan ancient donkey shape system.
"Wu Da TuoTuo Notes On the Various Screens of the Golden Stone" Zhu Tuo's four screens "Group Qun" Zhu Tuo partial map
The book "Ancient Jade Tukao" compiled and completed by Wu Dayi in the fifteenth year of Guangxu (1889) has a landmark significance in the study of ancient jade, which later scholars such as Na Zhiliang (see the preface to the Taiwan photocopied edition of "Ancient Jade Tukao"), Deng Shuping (see Deng's "Introduction to ancient jade tukao"), and Zhang Aimin (see Zhang's "General Theory of The Identification of Ancient Chinese Jade"), etc., all of which have highly affirmed the academic value of their books.