Chapter 79: The bamboo slips are still withered and the heart is still rotten, who can summon the soul for a thousand years?
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture is a multi-ethnic region, where ethnic heritage is declining. Qin Tian had originally planned to spend some time learning more about it, but Tong Zhongyuan's presence changed her plans. They crossed the Tianshan Mountains, passing glaciers and grasslands, and arrived near Yining after two days. Aimu's maternal grandfather, a Han Chinese, had come to Yining to attend a cultural exchange meeting. They arrived just before the National Day holiday, and the meeting had just concluded. Director Jiang was waiting for them at the hotel.
His face was gaunt, with deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, but his eyes were bright and spirited. Aimu had already told him on the phone that the visitors were two promising young experts from the Shanghai Museum. Only after meeting them in person did he realize the truth of his words.
Qin Tian respectfully presented the two-handled cup and bronze coin. Director Jiang picked up the cup and examined it carefully for a moment.
"It's from ancient Loulan. Not only does Jingjue have rose patterns, but rose patterns are also a characteristic of ancient Loulan. The pattern is very delicate, so it must be a rare ancient Loulan artifact."
Qin Tian nodded secretly. The provenance of the two-handled cup was not controversial. The difficulty lay in the bronze coin.
Curator Jiang picked up the bronze coin, his expression startled. His fingers touched the slightly raised inscription. It was a typical Han coin, but this line was in Kharosthi script. He immediately stood up and unpacked his backpack. Qin Tian quickly produced a magnifying glass and handed it to him. Curator Jiang took it with approval, sat down again, and placed the bronze coin under the magnifying glass.
His brows were furrowed, but his eyes became brighter and brighter.
"Where did you get this coin?" he asked, looking up.
"My grandfather was an antique dealer, so this must have been his. As for where he got it, that's exactly why I came to you."
Director Jiang stared at the bronze coin, shaking his head with reluctance and infinite regret.
"I'm afraid you've found the wrong person. I can't give you an answer."
Qin Tian was slightly disappointed, but she still stared at him, waiting for him to speak. Her intuition told her that there was more to it than that.
He pondered for a moment and said, "I've seen all the coins unearthed in Niya, and none of them have this style. But this rose totem is a characteristic of Niya, and judging by its age, I believe it's from the Jingjue Kingdom. And this line of Kharosthi script was also the mainstream writing style at the time. The strange thing is..."
His voice gradually faded, as if he had entered a world known only to him. He stroked the inscription and murmured, "Impossible. No coin stands alone. But this is clearly a characteristic of Niya."
Qin Tian and Tong Zhongyuan waited in silence. After a long moment, Director Jiang regained his composure.
"If we can understand the meaning of this line of Kharosthi, we might be able to find the origin of this coin."
Qin Tian's heart sank, which meant that even Director Jiang could not decipher this line of words.
She couldn't help but ask, "Hasn't the same Kharosthi language as this line appeared in any of the texts you deciphered?"
He picked up a pen and tapped the first word.
"There's only this one character. This one is 'wu,' which means I. As for the following characters, we don't know." He paused, then looked up. "Khrasi was a secret language used between nobles and religious figures, which is why it became extinct. Too few people knew how to use it. By then, Kharosthi had already become extinct elsewhere, and Jingjue was its last refuge. With the fall of Jingjue, Kharosthi also died out. Most of the Kharosthi scripts we've discovered were used to transmit ancient war reports. Its rarity was equivalent to encrypting them. Deciphering the text requires cross-verification from a large amount of literature, so the directions we've been able to decipher are mostly related to the war situation at the time, and this sentence probably has nothing to do with the war."
"What do the inscriptions usually engraved on the coins unearthed in Niya mean?" Qin Tian asked.
Director Jiang stood up, took out a catalog book from his backpack, and turned to a page.
"This is a coin data image. The Jingjue Kingdom at the time primarily used Chinese characters for inscriptions, but the casting process was Greek. This Chinese characterization signifies Jingjue's submission to the Han Dynasty! For Niya coins, the inscription's language represents the nation's strength. This is precisely the magic of this bronze coin. It utilizes Han Dynasty casting techniques and styles, yet is engraved with Kharosthi script. This is the first time I've seen Kharosthi script appear on a coin."
Qin Tian bit his finger and fell into deep thought. Tong Zhongyuan took the catalog book, flipped through a few pages, and asked, "Can I take a picture?"
"Please."
Tong Zhongyuan flipped through the book page by page, photographing every page. Curator Jiang examined the bronze coin through a magnifying glass. He took out a pen and paper, wrote the line of Kharosthi script on the paper, and photographed both sides of the coin. Only then did he return the coin to Qin Tian.
"My reference books are all back home. When I get back to Niya, I'll try to decipher it. Although the words aren't many, it requires a lot of information, so it might take some time."
Qin Tian thanked him repeatedly, and Jiang Lao smiled and said, "Why thank you? You let me see such a special Kharosthi coin, so I should thank you."
Qin Tian pulled out a photo of the restored gilded plate and asked, "One more thing. The Han gilded plate in this photo may be a cultural relic from the same period as the bronze coins. What do you think?"
Elder Jiang took the photo and examined it. He praised it, "It's a good thing, but it's clearly a Han Dynasty artifact and has nothing to do with Niya. Could it be that you think it's related to Niya in some way?"
Qin Tian remained silent. While it was certainly true from the outside, Qin Yunjie had already trodden that same old path. To break through, he had to explore new paths. Or, perhaps, she still had to traverse the path he had taken. Tong Zhongyuan once said that he had blind spots when viewing familiar scenes, and that someone else could see different information.
She subconsciously glanced at Tong Zhongyuan, who was turning a page on a wooden slip with two lines of words on it.
I present this jade to you, and wish you all the best.
Her heart skipped a beat. Those words had hung in her home for over 30 years, like a blind spot, oblivious to her for a time. Later, she used her mother's inscription as seal carving practice. As she grasped the carving knife, stroke by stroke, she carved "Xing Wu Xiang Wang" into the wooden tablet. Only then did she understand the profound meaning of deep longing. Seal carving deeply carves not only the words, but also one's own heart. On this wooden tablet, Feng and Chunjun's names could be together. Back then, she had someone she loved, but she dared not carve his name, fearing that every stroke would inscribe upon her longing, every stroke a testament to her unrepentant love. Three years later, this one-person love story came to an end. Her long, lingering secret love had faded, her one-man show of hesitation and heartache had concluded. The morning sun rose as usual, bringing a long-awaited peace to her heart. She knew she would never again allow herself to be trapped in a hopeless relationship. This experience was her first and last. From now on, the only love she could envision was an ordinary life with an ordinary but upright man. Her world was too small, and she poured all her adventurous spirit into the relics, which guided her on her voyages again and again. The body left behind on the isolated island was just an ordinary, timid and weak person.
Years later, she finds someone else in her heart, yet she's no longer the same person she was back then. Just like Feng and Chun, this love letter from 2,000 years ago proved to be just an ordinary greeting. It wasn't Feng or Chun who was moved, but the person who read it.
Professor Jiang happened to see this page and sighed, "They say it's a catalog, but in reality, most of the artifacts unearthed in Niya are not in China. This wooden slip caused a sensation during the Republican era. Someone once came to the Niya Cultural Museum and asked me where to see the artifacts of Zhiwen Chunjun. Where are they? In the UK."
Qin Tian choked and glanced at Tong Zhongyuan. Tong Zhongyuan looked calm and asked with interest, "Where in England?"
"The British Library," Mr. Jiang replied, sighing, "I can't see it, but you guys are still young and still have a chance to go and see it."
Qin Tian seemed outgoing and impulsive, but in reality, he was a true idiot. She felt embarrassed for Tong Zhongyuan and wanted to change the subject immediately. Tong Zhongyuan, however, was completely oblivious and asked, "Was this unearthed during the Republic of China?"
Mr. Jiang hadn't talked so much with young people for a long time. He pointed at the line of words and asked him with interest.
"I present this jade pendant to Chun Jun, hoping he will not forget me. What do you think this greeting means?"
Tong Zhongyuan pondered and said, "It must be a sign of longing. This man named Feng gave Chun the beautiful jade so that she would not forget him."
"That's right. So when this wooden slip was unearthed, it was hailed by the literary world of the time as a love letter from two thousand years ago. Zhou Zuoren even wrote a poem about it. 'I offer you this precious jade slip to you, Spring. I send you my whole life in this desolate and cold frontier.'"
Tong Zhongyuan remained silent. When he saw the 14 characters carved by Qin Tian's mother at her home, he hadn't paid much attention. Perhaps it was because Niya was where they were found, or perhaps it was the traces of wind erosion on the wooden slips, but seeing these words again gave him a feeling of reunion after a long absence.
"Of course, this statement is controversial now," Mr. Jiang continued.
"What's the point of dispute?" Tong Zhongyuan asked.
Qin Tian replied, "In fact, a batch of bamboo slips were unearthed after that, and most of them were greetings to Chunjun. This proves that Chunjun was a married woman of high status. Many people presented her with beautiful jade, and "Thank you for not forgetting me" was just a polite greeting."
Tong Zhongyuan disagreed: "This can't be considered controversial. Can married people not have admirers?"
Elder Jiang laughed heartily and said approvingly, "This dispute is really about whether it's the wind that moves or the flag that moves, the difference between idealism and realism. It seems the child is an idealist."
Qin Tian was speechless. What idealism? Where did he get his ideals from? He was more realistic than anyone else. She muttered in dissatisfaction, "Face features are more correct than three views."
Turning around, she saw Tong Zhongyuan looking at her with a smile, and whispered, "I'll take it as a compliment."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
