When he arrived at the first treasure room, Iwasaki Nobuichi said apologetically: "Mr. Xiao, the antiques and cultural relics transported from various places are quite messy. You haven't had time to classify and sort them out yet. Please wait for it."

"It doesn't matter, it's the same whether they are classified or not." Whether these antique cultural relics are classified or not, they have to be seen one by one, and Xiao Yao doesn't mind this.

There are about 70 or 80 items placed in this treasure room. Xiao Yao looked at it carefully and took a long time.

He appreciated these collections of the Iwasaki family, not only to find the most precious cultivation items, but also to select some of the more precious antiques and cultural relics from them.

This time, he obtained too many precious cultural relics from Fujiwara's treasures. He exchanged collections with several museums, only a small part of them were used up. Now there is a large part of them left. He is planning to exchange them with the Iwasaki family first.

It has to be said that the Iwasaki family, which has a history of more than 100 years, does have a profound heritage, and the third cultural relic he saw is very precious.

This is a bronze gilt galloping horse in the Western Han Dynasty, about 70 cm tall, and it is well preserved. If it weren't for some subtle places with obvious traces of time, it would be suspected that this is a new product just cast.

This bronze gilt galloping horse has a realistic shape, full muscles, strong muscles and bones, a symmetrical and harmonious body, and a lifelike dynamic. If you look at it from the front, you will mistakenly think that a golden galloping horse is running towards you.

The horse is made of copper and hollow, showing the momentary dynamics of a horse galloping. The horse is a male, with its head raised and its ears raised, its lips raised and its teeth raised, its nostrils are round and open, and its neighing shape is whistling; its neck is thick, its hips are tight and round, and its tail is raised backward; its limbs are strong and powerful, its wrists are thin and its hooves are large, which shows that the galloping horse is both powerful and fast, and its body is good.

"I want this bronze gilt galloping horse in the Western Han Dynasty."

This rare fine product cannot be missed. Xiao Yao believes that there will not be too many cultural relics of this level in the collection of Iwasaki family.

"Mr. Xiao, is this bronze gilt galloping horse from the Western Han Dynasty? I don't know much about cultural relics from the Western Han Dynasty, and I want to ask you for advice." Nobuichi Iwasaki said.

Xiao Yao said: "It was indeed the Western Han Dynasty. The characteristics of this cultural relic were still very obvious and it is not difficult to break the ages.

"Book of the Later Han Dynasty? Biography of Ma Yuan" says: "Horse is the foundation of armor and weapons and the great use of the country." Horses play an important role in the strength and weakness of the country and have been highly valued since ancient times. In the Han Dynasty, due to the need to fight against the Huns, they attached great importance to improving horse breeds and specially introduced sweat-blooded horses from the Western Regions. Therefore, the Han Dynasty's sculptured horses had a unique charm and temperament in the history of arts and crafts, and were deeply loved by collectors."

Nobuichi Iwasaki continued to ask humbly, "The horse's face has a distinctive feature, and a horn-shaped flesh crown is born between the ears. Will this be an important basis for dynasty?"

"You read it very carefully, and this is indeed an important basis. According to the "Xiangma Sutra" of the Western Han Dynasty silk book from the Han Tomb of Mawangdui, Changsha, the size of the meat crown is related to the speed of galloping: it is one inch long, three hundred a day, three inches long, and thousands of miles a day. According to Yang Fu's "Rather Things" of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a horse with a meat horn has several inches.

These are enough to show that the horse was cast from Dayuan horses.

This galloping horse is agile and fierce, and it is a stroll on the opposite side. It combines the advantages of Hexi horse riding, Dayuan horse, Mongolian horse and other horse breeds, and is obviously shaped by the standards of good horses."

The artistic level of this galloping horse is very high, and Xiao Yao likes it very much, so he continues to popularize science for these half-barrels or laymen. "Since its birth, the bronze ware has been closely related to the politics, economy, science and technology, culture and art, belief, aesthetics, etc. at that time, reflecting and reflecting strong cultural connotations. The bronze art in our country was the first peak period in the Shang and Zhou dynasties; by the late Spring and Autumn Period, bronze ware undergoes profound changes from content to form, and the second peak period appeared; the bronze culture of the Qin and Han Dynasties and later opened up a new world with a new trend, which was the third peak period.

You see, this gilded horse in the Western Han Dynasty created a male horse. The horse has a low head and bent neck, its ears are upright, its lips are raised and its teeth are exposed, its nostrils are round and open, and its right front hooves are sprinkled outward, making it a running shape. The horse's back is attached with a leather blanket. There is a row of seven breast nail patterns in front and back of the leather blanket, and its tail is knotted, and its whole body is gilded.

The horse has a well-proportioned shape and a strong shape, artistically recreating the most beautiful artistic conception of a horse galloping. It not only contains the extremely high ideological connotation of that era, but also perfectly reflects the eternal artistic charm of the casting craft of the Han Dynasty. It is no exaggeration to say that this is an immortal masterpiece in bronze sculpture art!”

Xiao Yao had a high evaluation, but this bronze gilt galloping horse from the Western Han Dynasty deserves such praise.

If the price of this bronze gilt galloping horse in the Western Han Dynasty is estimated, it will definitely not be less than 60 million yuan. This shows how precious this galloping horse sculpture is.

Next, Xiao Yao looked at another Ming Xuande lacquerware, a Tang Dynasty bronze mirror, and a Song Dynasty fine folk kiln porcelain. These cultural relics are also very precious, but there is still a big gap compared to the Western Han Dynasty galloping horses just now, and Xiao Yao did not choose them.

Seeing the next cultural relic, Xiao Yao's eyes lit up. This turned out to be a Kangding Fangyi of Shang Dynasty!

This square Yi is about 40 cm tall, with a magnificent shape, a thick wall, a wide mouth, a short neck, a curved belly, a high ring foot, and a wide edge of the foot, and a door-shaped gap on each side.

There is no doubt that this is a rare national treasure, "I want this piece of Kangding Fangyi of the Shang Dynasty, too."

"Is this bronze ware called Fang Yi? I like bronze ware very much, but I never know much about the name of bronze ware." Nobuic Iwasaki humbly asked for advice.

"Yi is a general term for ritual vessels among ancient bronze ware. Fangyi first appeared in the late Shang Dynasty, with a short cross-section, like an ancient palace building. Most of the vessels have four or eight ridges), commonly known as the halberd.

Fang Yi is one of the most genres of bronze ware. Five square Yi was unearthed from the tomb of Fu Hao, the concubine of Wu Ding, the concubine of Shang Wang, and one of them was also an ordinary square Yi with curved walls and bulging belly. Fang Yi has a unique shape and exquisite patterns, but it is relatively small in number, and has always been loved by collectors from both China and foreign countries."

Nobuic Iwasaki pointed to the exquisite patterns on the bronze ware and asked, "I think the patterns on them are very special. Is this the Taotie pattern?"

"It is indeed the Taotie pattern, also called the beast face pattern. What is most appreciated about this bronze ware is its ingenious design and exquisite patterns cast on it.

The main pattern of Kangding Fangyi is a wide-mouthed fang and a curved horn animal face pattern, which was called Taotie pattern in the past. These animal face patterns are arranged in the corners of the four walls, with the door edge as the bridge of the animal face and nose. At the same time, they cooperate with Fangyi's bulging belly to highlight the three-dimensional sense of the animal face, achieving harmonious unity of the shape and patterns. Behind each group of animal faces, circular vortex patterns composed of seven small breasts are added, with precise layout and moderate density.

The Kuilong pattern on the neck and the foot of the instrument is also centered on the door edges of the four corners and is arranged opposite each other. From the front of the four walls, it is a Kuilong walking opposite each other. From the four corners, it is four groups of animal face patterns, which match the master and subordinate of the animal face patterns on the abdomen, complementing each other, presenting the fierce beauty of square Yi decoration.

The ground pattern uses a thin cloud thunder pattern as thin as hair, circling and coiling, meticulous and exquisite workmanship.

The square Yi shape is similar to the Fu Haoyu Fangyi and Lei Fangyi, but it is closer to the Wanfu Fangyi in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. The patterns and inscriptions have the characteristics of the late Shang Dynasty, so its era should be concluded in the late Shang Dynasty, about the period of Emperor Yi and Emperor Xin.”

"It turns out that the patterns on it contain such profound knowledge. Today I really have a lot of knowledge. I wonder what the inscription on it is written?" Nobuichi Iwasaki continued to play the role of supporting actor.

"The inscription with twenty-six words cast on the inner bottom of this bronze ware. There are many opinions on the interpretation of the inscription. For example, the first four words are read as Kangding Girl's Sculpture and the other is read as Kangnuding Girl's Sculpture. I personally think it should be read as Kangding Mother's Sculpture.

Female, mother is originally a differentiation of one character, so it should be read as mother here. Kang and Kong are the names of the objects of sacrifice, King Xia has Kong Jia, and King Shang has Kang Ding.

In ancient times, kings and princes could be called Kong Jia and Kang Ding, and ordinary nobles could also be named after them. "Mother Kang Ding" is the mother whose leader passed away, named Kang Ding.

This square Yi is a ritual vessel cast by the leader of the tribe to sacrifice his mother Kang Ding. Therefore, according to the general example of bronze ware designation, the square Yi should be called the mother Kang Ding Fang Ding Fang Ding, or it can be referred to as the Kang Ding Fang Ding Fang Ding.

In short, Kangding Fangyi has a magnificent shape, thick walls, fine casting, luxurious and handsome patterns, cast inscriptions, and orderly circulated. It is a treasure in our Chinese bronze art treasure house.

In addition to its high artistic value and historical research value, it also set a precedent for the artistic style of Fangyi in the Western Zhou Dynasty, providing physical information for the development and evolution of Fangyi."

This bronze ware is a real national treasure, and it is a national treasure with orderly inheritance. It has been recorded in many records. However, such a precious national treasure disappeared in the 1930s.

It has been nearly 100 years since I heard of this national treasure bronze ware. I didn’t expect that such a precious national treasure would be collected by the Iwasaki family.

If Xiao Yao hadn't come to the Iwasaki family's collection room, I don't know when this national treasure will be returned to Zhao.

"Mr. Xiao, this bronze ware was purchased by my grandfather from Italy in the 1960s. Because there are many inscriptions on this bronze ware, my father thought it was very precious at first sight, so he bought it at a considerable price."

Nobuichi Iwasaki was worried that Xiao Yao would mistakenly think that this bronze artifact was a cultural relic plundered by Hijima from China during the war, so he made a special explanation.

"Then your grandfather has a good vision and is very lucky." No matter whether what Iwasaki Nobuic said is true or not, it doesn't matter anymore. What's important is that this national treasure is destined to be brought back to China by him.

The next dozen cultural relics are not very precious. Not to mention that they are compared with the Shang Dynasty bronzes worth at least 300 million yuan, even compared with the Western Han Dynasty bronze gilded galloping horse.

It was not until his eyes fell on a pure gold beast that his eyes lit up.

This is a golden treasure-embedded auspicious beast of Qianlong Qing Dynasty. It is brilliant, dazzling and looks extremely luxurious!

This incense is made of copper gilt technology, and is in the shape of a auspicious beast. The top of the smoke bottle is open, the neck is integrated with the back of the auspicious beast. The beast body is the main body of the incense, the tail of the beast is rolled inward, the auspicious beast is slightly looking up, opening its mouth and showing its teeth, and carving the details by carving and relief. The beast body is inlaid with gems such as agate, tourmaline, white jade, turquoise, lapis lazuli and other gems inlaid with red, white, blue, purple, green, brown, black, etc., magnificent, majestic, majestic, exquisite carvings, realistic image, full of grace and wealth, and full of royal style.

The history of incense has a long history in our country. The famous Boshan furnace in the Han Dynasty was designed by people for incense. Incense smoke was originally made of bronze, but it was originally just to incense clothes, eliminate fatigue and dispel mosquitoes. After the Han Dynasty, the material of incense smoke gradually became richer, and its use also began to transform from a practical utensil to a furnishing or playful viewing item.
Chapter completed!