This brocade box was not big and was also made of golden nanmu. Yang Jing only opened the box and took a look at the things inside, then immediately threw the box into the storage space.
Because there was nothing in the box except a piece of paper that looked like raw rice paper.
It was precisely because there was a piece of paper in the box that Yang Jing threw the box into the storage space in a panic. The things here have been stored for more than a thousand years. Who knows if the paper inside will change after the box is opened?
The most important thing is that even with just a glance, Yang Jing could tell that this piece of paper was much older than the paper used for the hand-copied Buddhist scriptures discovered before.
Those hand-copied Buddhist scriptures were all written on hard yellow paper. If the hard yellow paper was well preserved, it would definitely last for a thousand years. However, the paper I just saw in the brocade box was obviously not written on hard yellow paper. It looked more like the earlier Cai Lun paper.
After throwing the box and the paper into the storage space, Yang Jing felt relieved. His consciousness immediately entered the storage space. He used his consciousness to open the brocade box again and gently opened the paper.
"Fortunately, the paper is well preserved. At least it didn't turn into ashes if touched..." Yang Jing felt relieved. But when he saw the words revealed after the paper was opened, his heart, which had just fallen back to its original place, began to beat violently again uncontrollably.
"In the ninth year of Yonghe, in the year of Guichou, at the beginning of late spring, we met at the Lanting Pavilion in Shanyin, Kuaiji..."
After just reading a dozen words, Yang Jing felt his head buzzing!
"Is this, is this the Preface to the Lanting Poems?"
No wonder Yang Jing thought this way, it was because the dozen or so words he just saw were too familiar.
On the third day of the third month in the ninth year of the Yonghe reign of the Jin Dynasty, Wang Xizhi, then the Internal History of Kuaiji, and his friends Xie An, Sun Chuo and 41 others gathered at the Lanting Pavilion in Shanyin, Kuaiji, drinking and writing poems. Wang Xizhi compiled these poems into a collection and wrote a preface to record the event of the wine flowing and the winding water, and to express his inner feelings aroused by it. This preface is the "Preface to the Lanting Collection", which Wang Xizhi wrote personally.
And the beginning of these dozen words is exactly the beginning part of the famous "Preface to the Lanting Poetry Anthology".
Yang Jing took a deep breath and tried hard to empty himself and calm himself down before he continued to read with his mind. As a result, the full text had 28 lines and 324 words, which was exactly the same as the "Preface to the Lanting Poetry Collection".
The most important thing is that Yang Jing only saw a small number of appreciation seals on this piece of paper that was suspected to be Wang Xizhi's authentic work, unlike the later copies and imitations that were handed down from generation to generation, which were full of appreciation seals.
Could this really be an authentic work of Wang Xizhi?
You should know that after Wang Xizhi wrote "Preface to the Lanting Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion", the original copy had been kept in the family until the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, when it was taken into the hands of Li Er. After Li Er's death, he selfishly buried the original copy of "Preface to the Lanting Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion" with himself.
If Li Er really buried the original copy of "Lanting Xu" with him, then it would explain why there are so few appreciation seals on this copy of "Lanting Xu".
This "Preface to the Lanting Collection" has not been troubled by those collectors in later generations!
Yang Jing suppressed his inner excitement and asked Shengjie to appraise the "Lanting Preface". The answer given by Shengjie made Yang Jing unable to control himself anymore. Even with a mask on, he shouted excitedly twice.
"Preface to the Lanting Poems, Wang Xizhi, 353."
This "Lanting Preface" is actually an authentic work of Wang Xizhi!
Yang Jing couldn't help but be excited, because the reputation of "Preface to the Lanting Poems" was really too great.
To put it bluntly, in some respects, this piece of calligraphy, which is praised as "the best running script in the world", is even more famous than the imperial seal.
Of course, in terms of preciousness, ten copies of "Lanting Xu" are not as valuable as a piece of imperial seal. The imperial seal is a national treasure that carries the history of China for thousands of years, while "Lanting Xu" is just a piece of calligraphy. The two are not on the same level at all.
In the words of Shengjie, the imperial seal is a top-grade item, while the "Preface to the Lanting Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion" can only be considered a second-grade item at best, and is even inferior to such treasures as the "Yongle Encyclopedia" and the "Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature".
However, the imperial seal has been missing for thousands of years, and the original copy of the Yongle Encyclopedia has also been missing for hundreds of years. All that remain are some copies, and they are all incomplete. Modern people have no confidence in being able to find these treasures.
Although the original copy of "Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion" disappeared long ago, even longer than the time when the imperial seal was lost, this calligraphy copy has been circulated among the people in copies and imitations. In modern times, it has been collected in museums for people to appreciate. Therefore, in terms of fame in certain aspects, "Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion" is extremely famous.
Now, the original copy of "Lanting Xu" suddenly appeared in front of Yang Jing. How could Yang Jing not be happy? In addition, his several masters, especially his second master Xiao Lao, were also famous calligraphers. Influenced by Xiao Lao, Yang Jing also loved calligraphy and painting very much.
Now that the authentic copy of "Preface to the Lanting Poems" has appeared, Yang Jing is of course excited.
But how did this "Lanting Xu" appear here? Wasn't this calligraphy buried with Emperor Li II in Zhaoling?
When talking about Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, most people would first think of his outstanding political achievements. But in fact, in addition to being a great emperor, Li Er was also a calligraphy enthusiast, especially Wang Xizhi's calligraphy. The works of other calligraphers pale in comparison in Li Er's eyes, and his fascination and obsession with Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is no less than that of today's star chasers and enthusiasts.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
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