Chapter 86 Lin Sicheng, hurry up and buy it!

Built in the fourteenth year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign, Duganglou was later called Yuhua Pavilion. It is the only place in the Forbidden City where statues of the Four Deities are enshrined and where the Four Deities (the four stages of Tantric practice) are practiced.

It has four floors in total: the first is the Hall of the Department of Actions, the second is the Hall of the Department of Conduct, the third is the Hall of Yoga, and the fourth is the Hall of Supreme Yoga.

The so-called supreme state symbolizes the highest realm of Tantric Buddhism; to put it more bluntly: only meditate on the Buddha of Bliss.

Adding "Tsochin" after the name of the hall only means one thing: this fragment of the scroll came from the Qing Dynasty imperial palace, specifically for the Qianlong Emperor's practice of esoteric Buddhism in the Hall of Blissful Buddha.

How precious is it?

If the broken scroll is just a replica of Dong Qichang's brush, it would be worth around a million. But if you add Xiang Molin's "人" (ren) character seal, the price could increase by about half.

But this seal can double the value of the broken scroll.

Make no mistake: it was a Qing Dynasty imperial collection, viewed by the emperor himself, and absolutely worth the price, at least.

But the price is secondary; the main thing is the wonderful feeling it evokes: in his previous life, the first imperial artifact Lin Sicheng appraised came from the Qianlong period.

I just feel like I have a special connection with Emperor Qianlong?

While pondering, Lin Sicheng looked up and exchanged a glance with Ye Anning, but Ye Anning was clearly confused.

But confusion is the right thing to do: this is the Brahmi school, even Hao Jun would be completely lost.

After calming himself down, Lin Sicheng continued translating the second-party translation.

It's also a square seal, but it's much larger and has more letters.

He continued to copy and translate simultaneously. Lin Sicheng wrote down the translation of the first phrase, "Lan Zha Ti" (a Sanskrit term used in Tibetan Buddhism), on a piece of paper. The general meaning was "Heavenly King" or "Heavenly God".

The second one, “妙德”, can also be translated as “妙祥”, “妙吉祥”, or more directly, Manjushri Bodhisattva.

Then the third phrase is "Chain King," which can also be directly translated as "Emperor"...

But when he put down the last letter representing the Holy King, his finger trembled involuntarily.

What is this? Heavenly King Manjushri Bodhisattva, the Universal Monarch?

The literal translation is correct, but the understanding is different. It should be: Manjushri Bodhisattva, the Great Emperor!

It's no exaggeration to say that even if he had lived two lives, he would have remained calm even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, but when he saw this line of translation, his heart skipped a beat as if it were out of control.

What did I just say: that I have a special connection with His Majesty the Qianlong Emperor... and here I am, running into him?

This is Emperor Qianlong's collection of Buddhist scriptures...

Lin Sicheng's fingers tightened involuntarily as he gripped the pen, and his Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.

You can't scroll down any further.

Because he wasn't invited by that woman, and she didn't pay him after he ransacked the place?

He put down his pen, sat up straight, his cheeks puffed out like steamed buns, and slowly exhaled from his lips.

Lin Sicheng's face was expressionless, but when he suddenly stopped writing, Ye Anning still tensed up: "Lin Sicheng, how is it?"

Lin Sicheng didn't speak, he just stared at her.

At first, Ye Anning was completely confused, but suddenly, as if she had thought of something, her eyes brightened: The scroll, is it genuine?

Ye An moved her lips slightly, her voice trembling slightly: "Lin Sicheng, the indigo silk made by the Great Yuan Palace is very rare and very beautiful, isn't it?"

Lin Sicheng nodded.

"Four layers of mounting, in the style of Yuan Dynasty mounting?"

Lin Sicheng nodded again.

"The paper looks a bit like the paper from the Yuan Dynasty imperial collection... but it's too new, it seems like a copy of the paper from the Ming Dynasty's Ren Palace, but I'm not entirely sure..."

Lin Sicheng's eyes lit up; he really wanted to give a thumbs up.

Think again, how much effort did he just put in to find that layer of wax between the gold foil and the dragon pattern?

It's not that he's bragging: among those who appraise calligraphy and paintings, how many have seen what the paper from the Mingren Hall looks like, what the process is, whether the wax coating comes first or the foil and patterns come first?

Without sufficient knowledge, even if you find the wax film sandwiched in the middle, you might just assume that's how the process is supposed to be.

But Ye Anning could, or at least dared to suspect, that this wasn't some other paper from the Yuan Dynasty, but rather the legendary paper from the Mingren Hall. This alone made her superior to 99% of calligraphy and painting appraisers.

Secretly surprised, Lin Sicheng nodded again.

Ye Anning's eyes grew brighter and brighter, shimmering like rippling water.

His lips trembled slightly, revealing his excitement: "Whose handwriting does it resemble? Jin Cong, or... Dong Qichang?"

Upon hearing "Dong Qichang," Lin Sicheng seemed stunned.

The Jin Cong that Ye Anning mentioned is the calligrapher Jin Cong from the mid-Ming Dynasty. He devoted his entire life to one thing: imitating Zhao Mengfu.

He imitated paintings and calligraphy to the point that if someone removed his original signature and added the three characters "Zhao Mengfu" in Zhao's style, he could sell it as a genuine work.

Xiang Molin did just that, and the Jin Cong "Running Script Poetry Scroll" and "Copy of Zhao Mengfu's Calligraphy Album," now treasured in the Palace Museum, came about in this way.

The key lies in the last "Dong Qichang": Dong Qichang's extant works, whether calligraphy, paintings, or rubbings, are all from his middle and late years when his calligraphic style matured.

However, this calligraphy was created during his youth before he passed the imperial examination, and it is very different in terms of the beginning stroke, the brushstrokes, the strength of the brushstrokes, and the artistic conception.

Moreover, this is a copy, with even fewer traces of the author's personal writing style.

But Ye Anning was still able to find traces of Dong Qichang between the lines, which shows how strong his eyesight and appreciation skills must be.

He was so strong that Lin Sicheng couldn't help but admire him.

If a comparison must be made, Lin Sicheng's strength lies in his knowledge base; he knew exactly what Zhao Mengfu's original works looked like and had some knowledge of Sanskrit.

Wow, Cousin Ye is amazing!

His expression was very serious: "Sister Anning studied Art Appreciation (Chinese and Foreign Art) at the China Academy of Art, right? She only studied it for five years?"

Ye Anning was puzzled and didn't know why he suddenly asked this: "If you don't take the postgraduate entrance exam, you can only study for five years at most!"

Is this what I'm asking?

What Lin Sicheng wanted to say was: No matter how well you learn, how skilled you are, it will only take five years.

If students taught by the China Academy of Art all have this level of assessment ability, what chance do Peking University and Northwestern University have?

Lin Sicheng also realized that the truly capable person wasn't Bao Li's appraiser, but rather Ye Anning...

"Sister Anning, who authenticated this broken scroll?"

"I was the one who first examined it and then examined it again... so I've always been inclined to believe that this is a copy of Dong Qichang's brush... and..."

Ye Anning paused slightly, her gaze falling on the circled image, and then blinked.

To be more precise, that square-shaped "人" (human) seal...

Lin Sicheng was surprised again: she even recognized Xiang Molin's anti-counterfeiting seal?

Therefore, she knew very well that this was the Qing court's treasury...

Lin Sicheng squinted, controlling his trembling eyelids, and looked at the two leaders beside him: "But your company's leaders and appraisers don't agree?"

“Yes,” Ye Anning pursed her lips. “The appraiser said that the brushstrokes, turns, and artistic conception in this calligraphy are completely different from Dong Qichang’s style, and even more so from Zhao Mengfu’s characteristics…”

Lin Sicheng didn't know what to say: This was Dong Qichang's imitation when he was young. His style hadn't been finalized yet, so it would be strange if it looked similar.

What does this mean? It means that Ye Anning presented the most accurate assessment results to everyone, and even emphasized them countless times, but no one believed her.

The appraiser didn't believe it, the boss didn't believe it, and even the seller didn't believe it!

Otherwise, Teacher Ma wouldn't have this expression: a mixture of amusement and sarcasm, disdain and mockery.

But then again: to receive such an absurd evaluation result right after graduating from university, only someone with a screw loose would believe it...

Seeing that Lin Sicheng remained silent but his eyes were full of admiration and appreciation, Ye Anning's face slowly turned red.

It wasn't shyness, but excitement: Lin Sicheng's silence was tantamount to acknowledging the final outcome: Dong Qichang's imitation calligraphy was kept in the imperial palace...

When Lin Sicheng gave a barely perceptible nod, Ye Anning's eyes suddenly widened, her long eyelashes trembling slightly with her rapid breathing, and the blush spreading from her ear tips to her collarbone was like a newly blooming rose.

Suddenly, she bit her lower lip again, her eyes welling up with tears, staring intently into Lin Sicheng's eyes.

At first glance, it looks exactly like exchanging glances.

But in an instant, Lin Sicheng understood what she meant: Buy it, Lin Sicheng, you have to buy it quickly...