As soon as Lin Sanqi got off the car, he saw this quaint antique shop.
Then he picked up his camera and took a look at the surrounding street scenes. If it weren't for the telephone poles on the road and a few brick buildings, he would have thought he had traveled back to ancient times.
At this time, the street scenes in Xi'an almost retained the style of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.
After Commander Qi arrived at the store, he gave a few instructions to the soldiers at the door, and then the door of the antique shop opened wide and all the lights inside were turned on.
"Xiao Lin, let's go in and take a look. This store has all these great treasures."
Lin Sanqi had looked through some information and knew that the variety of cultural relics in Xi'an's cultural relics stores and their high collection value were no less than those in the capital's cultural relics stores.
However, the transaction volume of Xi'an's cultural relics stores is very small, less than one-tenth of that in the capital and Huadu.
This is because the treasures in the antique shop are no longer open to ordinary domestic people. They are only open to foreign guests and only accept foreign currency.
Unfortunately, Xi'an, an ancient capital, began to decline during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and is located in the northwest, so few foreign guests come to visit.
Without foreigners, where would the foreign exchange come from?
Thinking of this, Lin Sanqi's eyes suddenly lit up. At this time, the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang, which foreigners are most interested in, seem to have not been discovered yet?
Director Liu of the Cultural Relics Bureau saw Lin Sanqi in a daze and thought he was shocked by the street scene in Xi'an, so he coughed a few times:
"Commissioner Lin, please come in. Would you like me to introduce you?"
Lin Sanqi came back to his senses and walked into the antique shop. Looking at the dazzling array of antiques on the cabinets, his eyes instantly lit up like Ultraman.
There was only one thought in my mind.
"Uh-huh, uh-huh, all of it."
Director Liu acted as a tour guide seriously. With 200,000 bottles of penicillin as a base, he naturally had no resistance.
Of course the main reason for not having any resistance is...
Commander Qi and Director Liu are not native to Xi'an, so naturally they have no local sentiments. They only know to obey orders from their superiors and insist on doing things that are beneficial to the country.
Director Liu introduced as he walked:
"Xi'an's history can be traced back to about 5,000 years ago, when my country was still in the tribal stage. Over time, this place has experienced dynasties including the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Qin Dynasty, the Western Han Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty.
Every dynasty has left its own unique historical imprint and cultural symbols here, and these are passed down through the antiques and cultural relics before our eyes. Commissioner Lin, please... "
Lin Sanqi picked up a bottle from the cabinet and asked curiously:
"Director Liu, this bottle is not right. It looks like a chicken-headed pot to me. It is definitely an antique from before the Tang Dynasty."
The antiques sold in antique shops are not sold just like that. Generally speaking, the age is no later than the Ming Dynasty, which means that antiques before the Tang and Song Dynasties are not sold.
In addition, modern antiques with special cultural value will not be sold, and they will be placed in museums as a priority.
Of course, the value of cultural relics in the 1960s is different from that in 2016, which is why Lin Sanqi was able to pick up bargains in batches.
The most famous bargain is Yuan blue and white porcelain.
This kind of porcelain, which was often sold for hundreds of millions in 2016, was generally mistakenly classified as Ming and Qing Dynasty porcelain in the 1960s, and was therefore not valued and was then sold at will in antique shops.
This is also one of the reasons why a large number of Yuan blue and white porcelains are found abroad in later generations.
Except for those that were looted by the Eight-Nation Alliance, a large portion of them were sold through formal channels.
Director Liu turned his head and took a look, then said indifferently:
"This is a Sui Dynasty wine vessel, also known as a chicken-head pot, named after its chicken-head-shaped spout. It was a popular porcelain pot from the Western Jin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty. The "chicken" element in the design continues the traditional meaning of "chicken has auspicious meanings," and incorporates symbols such as fertility, happiness, and a peaceful home."
Lin Sanqi had more questions in his mind:
"Director Liu, this kind of chicken-headed teapot should be quite valuable, right? Especially this one with a black glaze all over. I've only seen one in the National Museum."
Lin Sanqi didn't understand much else, but he knew that anything that could be displayed in the National Museum must be a precious cultural relic.
Just like the beauty pageants in ancient times, those who were selected to enter the palace and had their own exhibition stand were equivalent to concubines in the palace, not ordinary palace maids.
Of course, the National Museum is famous for its practice of “borrowing but not returning”.
Only the best antiques are favored by the National Museum, and after being borrowed for exhibition, they are generally not returned to their original place of origin.
Director Liu laughed after hearing this:
"There aren't many black-glazed chicken-headed pots left in the world, but in Shaanxi Province, they're not that precious. There are five in the Xi'an Museum's warehouse alone. Scarcity makes things valuable, so selling a few isn't a big deal."
Besides, the history of our Shaanxi Province is mainly based on the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period, and the Han and Tang Dynasties. On the contrary, the Ming and Qing Dynasties have already declined. There are not many antiques left, and they are not of high quality.
If we could only sell antiques from the Ming and Qing dynasties or the Republic of China, then our antique shop wouldn't have much to sell. So, the merchandise is also determined by each region.
However, this black-glazed chicken-headed pot doesn't seem to be very popular with foreign guests. It's been sitting here for several years and hasn't sold. Foreign guests prefer the brightly colored Tang Sancai. Has Commissioner Lin heard of Tang Sancai?
Lin Sanqi is now half a cultural relic dealer, so he has naturally heard of the famous Tang Sancai.
But he really didn't have any, because the Peking Cultural Relics Store and Huadu Cultural Relics Store that he acquired did not have antiques before the Yuan Dynasty, so he didn't have any.
"I've heard of Tang Sancai. I saw a tri-colored figurine of a foreigner leading a camel in the Palace Museum. It was very beautiful. I think it was Emperor Qianlong's favorite style."
Director Liu was happy again when he heard this:
"Commissioner Lin is right. Emperor Qianlong was famous for liking bright reds and greens, haha.
However, our Tang Sancai has glaze colors such as yellow, green, white, brown, and blue, mainly yellow, green, and white, so people call it Tang Dynasty Sancai glazed pottery, and the colors are not so gorgeous.
Come on, come on, Commissioner Lin, please come this way."
Director Liu took Lin Sanqi to the second floor, and Commander Qi signaled the soldiers to close the door tightly to prevent anyone from entering or leaving.
Lin Sanqi climbed up to the second floor and took a look at the display cabinets, and he was immediately delighted.
"Wow, I thought Tang Sancai only had camels, but there are so many varieties."
Seeing the other party's strong interest, Director Liu also smiled and introduced:
"Commissioner Lin, you see, the shapes of Tang Sancai can be roughly divided into three categories: human figures, animals, and utensils, with animals being the most common.
Among animals, horse and camel figures are the most numerous, which is related to the social environment at that time.
In ancient times, people needed war horses for combat, communication and transportation. It can be said that horses were the animals closest to people's lives at that time. Therefore, horses ranked first among animals in Tang Sancai.
The shape of the horses in Tang Sancai is different from those in previous dynasties. The overall shape of the horses in Tang Sancai is fat and round, with relatively fat buttocks and wide necks.
The characteristic of Tang Dynasty horses’ movements is that they are mainly static, but there is movement within the static, and the dynamic side is expressed through the shapes of details such as the horse’s eyes and ears.”
Lin Sanqi was like a tourist, being led by Director Liu as a tour guide. He listened and appreciated the music, and was able to discover the beauty that he could not normally find.
Director Liu pointed to another display case and introduced:
"Commissioner Lin, look at this Tang Dynasty sancai figurine. Does it look like the 'Tri-color Hu Man Leading a Camel' figurine from the Palace Museum that you mentioned?"
Lin Sanqi took out his phone and pulled out the pictures he had taken at the museum last time from his album. He compared them and nodded repeatedly.
"Similar, very similar. Aside from the size difference—yours is smaller, the one in the capital is larger—the overall style is the same. They probably came from the same kiln, right?"
Seeing Lin Sanqi take out a strange machine with realistic color photos on it, Chief Qi and Director Liu were both surprised and very curious.
But they were veteran cadres, so they naturally knew what to ask and what not to ask, so they had to pretend not to see it.
Lin Sanqi suddenly stopped and asked doubtfully:
"Is this not one piece from the Forbidden City? Is this Tang Sancai real or fake?"
Director Liu and the surrounding staff laughed when they heard this:
"Commissioner Lin, you're joking. Tang Sancai isn't a particularly precious antique. If you're lucky enough to open a tomb, you'll find tons of them. These are actually funerary objects, not for the living."
Lin Sanqi also laughed, thinking that he was really worrying too much. Antiques that are treasured in other places are also treasures in Xi'an? (End of this chapter)
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