Facing the crisis of celebrity manuscripts| Wang Xirong

With the bullish auction market in recent years, there has been a crisis in celebrity manuscripts.

According to reports, the Japanese auction market is about to auction "Lu Xun's manuscript" and "Rely on the Sky to Eat" recently. However, after a little examination by the academic community, it is clear that it is obviously a forgery: the original has been lying in the treasury of the National Library for more than sixty years, and it has long been printed in the Complete Manuscripts of Lu Xun, and it has been printed for more than thirty years. This "manuscript" used "National Peking University manuscript paper", and it is not known that Lu Xun did not use this kind of manuscript paper at all in his later years (in fact, the entire "Complete Manuscripts of Lu Xun" had never seen this kind of manuscript paper), but used his own printed green grid manuscript paper to write articles. The level of calligraphy imitation of the auction is also low, it is not Lu Xun's handwriting at first glance, and he actually changed Lu Xun's 1935 article to 1932, and added a sentence to the snake, as if he wanted to create the impression of "different versions", but it could not withstand examination at all. Compared with the previous fake manuscripts, the counterfeiting method is much inferior, and it is almost laughable. Why do counterfeiters dare to build it overseas? It is no more than that the Japanese may not be able to see the original manuscript of Lu Xun, or even the Complete Manuscripts of Lu Xun.

Lu Xun's manuscript is currently the most hyped manuscript of a writer on the auction market. The most extreme example is a letter to Tao Kangde in 1934, only more than two hundred words, auctioned to nearly seven million in 2013, each worth thirty thousand yuan. Attracted by this market, counterfeiters naturally flocked to it. In the following years, a number of "Lu Xun handwritings" appeared on the market, most of which were later proved to be fake. This kind of counterfeiting has almost no risk, even if it is recognized, it is only to earn less, will not bear legal responsibility, and can still deceive some people who are lucky, selling hundreds of thousands will not be too difficult, but the cost of counterfeiting is so low that it is almost negligible compared with the selling price.

What is more serious is that due to the mixing of counterfeiters, there are some "manuscripts" on the market that are difficult to distinguish between true and false, although there are still often people who come out to identify counterfeits, but they may not be able to identify every time. Perhaps just like the goblins in "Journey to the West", they were just beaten by the Great Sage in front of them, turned into a green smoke and left, but turned around but changed their appearance and came again. Moreover, the methods and techniques of counterfeiting are constantly improving, from scanning and photocopying to splicing and assembly, and then to copying, some copyers have been quite similar. And once it can't be recognized, the fake becomes "real"! This time it only sells for a few hundred thousand, and next time it may sell for a few million! Next time, if someone proposes it to be included in the Complete Works of Lu Xun, what will happen? If the editor does not accept it, it will be questioned, and if it is accepted, what will be the consequences? Lu Xun manuscript or Lu Xun manuscript? Is the Complete Works of Lu Xun or the Complete Works of Lu Xun?

Moreover, due to the impetus of speculation, the auction market of manuscripts of other writers in recent years has also risen. For example, Mao Dun's manuscript "On the Recent Short Story" has been auctioned to more than 12 million yuan, whether true or false, it has become a bellwether of the market situation, attracting more people to this market to pan for gold. In fact, for many years, the handwriting of celebrities in the painting and calligraphy market has been flooded with fakes. It is said that when Mr. Qi Gong was alive, he had to smile bitterly in the face of the "Qi Gong Calligraphy" sold for 20 yuan a piece at the Panjiayuan stall: "They write better than me!" It is foreseeable that with the bullish market of modern and contemporary writers' manuscripts, the counterfeiting of writers' manuscripts will become more and more intense in the future.

At present, calligraphy and painting fraud is mostly only related to art appreciation. However, if those who intend to confuse the public create some articles, "manuscripts" of letters, inscriptions, etc. involving the evaluation of important figures (in fact, similar cases have appeared in previous years), it will have an immeasurable impact on how to evaluate historical figures——— If someone produces a letter that Lu Xun bows down to his knees, sells his friends for glory, and shows his humble personality, but cannot be recognized, will it not have serious consequences for the overall evaluation of Lu Xun? This kind of bottomless "concealment and deception" is not unimaginable at a time when manuscript fraud is frequent.

Although the market is disrupted by counterfeiters, it is difficult for people to deal with it, let alone punish them, and it is not easy to prevent them from entering the market. At present, the counterfeiting is exposed, often after the fact, and people give moral condemnation at most, and the other party can also argue and even regurgitate, and if you are not careful, you will bite back... Therefore, although it has a certain deterrent effect, the intensity of the blow is limited.

How can we stop fake manuscripts from cheating and making huge profits? To solve this problem, it is necessary for society to join hands with auction companies and regulatory authorities. First, auction companies should do their best to prevent counterfeit manuscripts from entering the auction. The expert team of the auction company should really play a role, screening and screening the lots, and organizing expert consultations for suspicious lots to decide whether to auction them. Second, strengthen the management of appraisal experts, and experts themselves should also enhance their identification ability and professional ethics. At present, some experts do not pay attention to their own influence and role, and casually stand for auction companies without in-depth research, and some experts identify across fields, issue unprofessional opinions, mislead the market, and need to be regulated or even trained. Third, auction companies should blacklist those who have a record of selling fakes and restrict their right to participate in auctions; government regulatory departments should also record the auction companies' auction of fake products in the integrity file and restrict their business behavior. Only a multi-pronged approach can curb the current trend of increasing manuscript fraud. Otherwise, the situation of celebrity manuscripts will become more and more unfortunate!

This article was published in Wen Wei Po PEN on February 22, 2017.

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