What attracted Zhang Junping into the trust store was a fan.
This is a sandalwood fan.
Maybe it was just brought in and the clerk hadn't had time to put it away, or maybe the clerk was curious about the fan and was playing with it.
The sandalwood fan is a specialty of Suzhou and one of the four famous fans in China. The fan bones are made of sandalwood, hence the name sandalwood fan.
Sandalwood, also called sandalwood, is divided into white sandalwood and red sandalwood with rotten purple skin. The wood is hard.
Sandalwood is extremely fragrant. Sandalwood fans made from sandalwood have a natural fragrance. They are used to fan the wind and the fragrance overflows. Therefore, if you hold a fan in your hand, the fragrance will overflow everywhere. It is known as "the fan keeps the fragrance". It can cool down the heat in the hot summer and clear the mind in autumn. Hidden in the basket, it has the effect of fragrant on clothes and preventing insects and moths. It has been stored for ten or eight years, and "the fragrance of flowers is still growing under the fan every day".
Some people say that the sandalwood fan was inspired by the Japanese bamboo folding fan and was created in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China.
In fact, this statement is not accurate. Suzhou's fans have a long history. As early as the Song Dynasty, they had become famous all over the world and were deeply loved by literati, celebrities and ladies.
In Chapter 48 of "Dream of Red Mansions", Jia She instructs Jia Yucun to kill people, confiscate homes and exterminate families, just for a fan.
And this fan is a folding fan made in Suzhou.
It can be seen that it is not accurate to say that Suzhou sandalwood fans imitate Japanese folding fans.
However, ancient literati loved and respected bamboo, and folding fans made of bamboo were considered elegant, while folding fans made of sandalwood and ivory were considered vulgar.
Therefore, ancient folding fans were mainly made of bamboo.
It was not until the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China that sandalwood fans made of sandalwood became popular.
"Sir, what do you need?" The middle-aged clerk was also a discerning person. Seeing Zhang Junping's extraordinary bearing, he took the initiative to greet him.
In the early 1980s, and before the 1980s, shopping mall salespeople and restaurant waiters were very good.
What it means to feel at home, the customer is God, this has nothing to do with them.
If I don't hit you or scold you, it's considered polite.
Of course, at any time, there will always be people who flatter others and look down upon others.
Live the Qi and nourish the body.
Zhang Junping's elegance carries a confident pride.
"Hello, comrade, can I see the fan in your hand?" Zhang Junping pointed to the sandalwood fan in the clerk's hand and said politely.
"Please!" the middle-aged clerk said and gently put the sandalwood fan on the counter.
A simple action made Zhang Junping understand that the other person was not a simple clerk, but an expert.
Zhang Junping picked up the sandalwood fan and looked at it carefully.
This is a men's fan.
Sandalwood fans are divided into male fans and female fans.
The earliest sandalwood fans were all men's fans. It was around the 1920s and 1930s that Wang Xingji Fanzhuang began to make women's fans.
Seriously speaking, the female fan actually borrows the style of the Japanese ladies’ folding fan.
Once the Sandalwood Fan was launched, it was immediately praised by ladies from all walks of life.
In TV dramas of the Republic of China, you can often see some rich ladies, noble ladies or social butterflies, who like to hold a small and exquisite folding fan in their hands.
This is the female sandalwood fan.
The sandalwood fan in Zhang Junping's hand is a men's fan. It is nine and a half inches long. The large ribs are made of ivory. The ribs are carved with auspicious patterns. The eighteen strips in the middle are made of sandalwood. There is a Wada on the bottom. The jade fan pendant is made with exquisite craftsmanship.
Gu Hu
The bamboo strips are the fan surface. Before the early Qing Dynasty, folding fans were made of bamboo wood as the skeleton and paper or Juan as the fan surface.
After the middle and late Qing Dynasty, Suzhou's sandalwood fans replaced the original paper fans with sandalwood.
This sandalwood fan must be at least seventy or eighty years old. It should be a work from the late Qing Dynasty and is very well preserved.
Even though seventy or eighty years have passed, you can still vaguely smell the faint fragrance coming from the sandalwood fan.
Sandalwood fans are popular for a reason. Not only are the fans exquisitely made, the aroma of sandalwood is also an important factor.
Not only does it fill the air with a pleasant fragrance, it can relieve the heat of summer and purify the mind. It can be stored in a basket for storage in autumn. It also has the effect of fragrant on clothes and preventing insects and moths.
In an era when there were no perfumes, or perfumes had not yet entered the country, the sandalwood fan was very popular.
After looking at it for a while, Zhang Junping raised his head and asked: "Comrade, are you selling this sandalwood fan?"
"Sir, you have good eyesight. This sandalwood fan was just brought in. If you want it, sir, just take it for five hundred yuan!" The clerk first complimented Zhang Junping, and then directly quoted a high price.
Five hundred yuan was definitely a high price in the 1980s when the average salary was only thirty or forty yuan.
This sandalwood fan is worth the price. Not to mention anything else, the two large ivory fan bones cost more than 500 yuan.
However, the real value is the mutton-fat Hetian jade fan pendant below. The fan pendant is a small gourd. The gourd is carved with an Antarctic fairy using intaglio techniques. The carving is very delicate and delicate, with a typical Suzhou craftsmanship style. It is
It is made by a famous artist in Suzhou.
Therefore, Zhang Junping did not negotiate the price and directly asked the clerk to issue an invoice and pay the money.
"Comrade, are there any other good items?" Zhang Junping asked after paying the money.
Zhang Junping didn't beat around the bush and asked the question very directly.
To use an old saying, they are all foxes of thousands of years, so what kind of fun is it?
Making detours will only offend people.
As a historical city and one of the core cities in the south of the Yangtze River, Suzhou has a long history and profound cultural heritage, and there are definitely a lot of good things preserved.
The middle-aged clerk looked at Zhang Junping and asked, "I wonder what kind of things you like, sir?"
"Anything is fine! I'm a very complicated person. I want gold, wood, water, fire, and earth." Zhang Junping said with a smile.
"There are a few more, but I don't know if they can catch Mr.'s eyes."
“I don’t care about the value of things when I collect them, I just want a fate.
Just like this sandalwood fan, I took a look outside the door and felt that this thing was eye-catching, so I came in to buy it." Zhang Junping said with a smile.
"Xiao Li, please take care of it. I'll take this gentleman up to the second floor to take a look at something." The middle-aged clerk called a young man to explain, and then took Zhang Junping to the second floor.
There aren't many things on the second floor, but they are all exquisite.
For example, small items such as various famous watches, gold and silver jewelry, pens, inks, paper and inkstones, calligraphy and paintings.
Zhang Junping looked around and was a little disappointed.
Although watches like Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Cartier, and Rolex are all very good, most of them that can be displayed are 70% to 80% new. In later generations, famous watches that cost tens of thousands, tens of millions, and now only cost a few hundred yuan.
However, Zhang Junping is not interested in these world-famous watches. It's not that he can't afford them, but he doesn't like wearing watches very much.
"Comrade, is this all there?" Zhang Junping asked after randomly buying seven or eight watches and about ten pieces of Huizhou ink.
Although he doesn't like to wear watches, they are cheap and it is good to buy a few and give them away.
"There are still a lot of things in the warehouse at the back, but unlike a few years ago, there are not many good things in the warehouse now."