Chapter 84 Famous Celebrities
(Sorry, yesterday's chapter wasn't very smooth, so I've revised it. I've moved the calligraphy content to the beginning and the drawing content to the end.)
text:
Lin Sicheng stared intently, reading almost every single word.
The more I look at it, the more it resembles it... but how could it be?
Zhao Mengfu was an eleventh-generation descendant of Zhao Kuangyin. After the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, he surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty. He was poorly regarded by later generations and was called a "book slave" and a "sycophant".
Even so, Zhao Mengfu is still ranked among the top ten calligraphers of ancient times. Therefore, his works are no longer worthy of being described as "precious".
Let's count again: including museums at home and abroad, as well as private collections, fewer than twenty pieces have been confirmed as genuine.
Conversely, if asked to judge the difference between this one and the one in the National Palace Museum in Taipei based on handwriting alone, Lin Sicheng would not be able to tell.
Because resemblance is only one aspect; it also depends on the brushstrokes, the artistic conception, the rules, and the strength of the strokes.
In layman's terms: even if it's a forgery, it's a forgery by a master whose brushwork is no less than that of Zhao Mengfu. Moreover, it's guaranteed that the artist held the original in the National Palace Museum in Taipei and copied it no less than a hundred times before putting pen to paper.
Therefore, this is quite absurd: after the Yuan Dynasty, how many calligraphers could rival Zhao Mengfu in skill?
The more he looked, the more confused he became, so Lin Sicheng simply skipped the text and started looking at the paper of the painting.
The paper shows obvious signs of oxidation and fading, but it is still clear that it is a high-quality mulberry bark paper from the Yuan Dynasty: the color is still bright and the paper is still smooth.
Shining a strong flashlight on it reveals gold foil hidden between the lines, as well as faint gold-leaf dragon and cloud patterns.
Mulberry bark as the base, dyed yellow as the background, cloud and dragon patterns as the motif, sprinkled with gold for added luster?
Lin Sicheng was stunned and exclaimed, "Ha!": Mingren Hall paper?
This name only came into use during the Qianlong era, referring to the Mingren Hall in the Yuan Dynasty palace where this type of paper was first produced.
Whether they are genuine Yuan dynasty pieces or Qing dynasty imitations, they all serve only three purposes: writing imperial edicts, providing the emperor with painting, calligraphy, and copying Buddhist scriptures, and serving as the emperor's painting, calligraphy, and copying Buddhist scriptures...
But that's secondary; the key point is that this thing is long extinct.
To date, only the Palace Museum possesses a single sheet: a Qianlong-era imitation of the Ming Ren Hall painted with gold ruyi cloud patterns on a waxed paper.
That's right, there's only one of its kind in the whole world. There are no other copies, whether it's a painting, calligraphy, Buddhist scriptures, or even imperial edicts. This one in the Palace Museum is a genuine, unique, and one-of-a-kind piece.
Moreover, this was a replica made during the Qianlong era, an authentic Yuan Dynasty paper from the Mingren Hall, which even the Qianlong Emperor had never seen before.
But here, a picture suddenly appeared?
Add to that the handwriting, the mounting... Haha, an imperial edict from the Yuan Dynasty, a genuine work by Zhao Mengfu... Believe it or not, it could be a prized possession of a provincial museum.
The weird thing is, the more he looked at it, the more real it seemed...
But the logic doesn't hold up: if it were genuine, Mr. Ma wouldn't need to deny it here.
If it's genuine, Poly Auction would definitely have already started advertising: a special sale of Zhao Mengfu's "Heart Sutra in Sanskrit Seed Syllables," commissioned by the Yuan Dynasty imperial court...
Even though it's only 2007, the starting bid is at least tens of millions. If the price drops below 100 million ten years from now, Lin Sicheng would be willing to kowtow a hundred times.
So, something must be wrong.
He held a powerful flashlight in one hand and a magnifying glass in the other, examining the object almost inch by inch.
First, the color: dyed with yellow bark and calendered on the surface. Then look at the edge of the paper: it is more than twice as thick as ordinary paper.
Yuan Dynasty, Wang Yun's "Autumn Stream Collection": Yellow in color and thick as a board, with burnished finish on both sides... Does that match up?
Lin Sicheng shone the flashlight at an angle:
Gold leaf is scattered like stars, beneath which clouds and dragons are faintly visible... Yuan Dynasty's "Zhizhengzhi Ji" Volume 3 "Neifu Paper": Decorated with gold-leaf cloud and dragon patterns, sprinkled with gold... And it matches up again?
Wait, something's not right... Where does it fit?
The Imperial Paper records that "gold was sprinkled between the dragon patterns," but this one has "gold foil on top and dragon patterns below"?
With a sudden burst of energy, Lin Sicheng shone his flashlight to the side. Instantly, a flash of light appeared before his eyes.
It's not the golden sheen of gold leaf and gold-painted dragon patterns, but rather the light reflected back from the glass when the lamplight shines on it.
The question is, where did it come from?
Using a high-powered microscope, Lin Sicheng examined the side again. Then, his eyes slowly widened: it seemed as if there was a membrane between the gold foil and the cloud pattern?
Extremely thin, almost imperceptible, minuscule...
Lin Sicheng's eyelids twitched, and as if struck by a sudden realization, he understood: the paper was a fake!
It's definitely a fake.
Genuine Yuan Dynasty imperial paper would always have the dragon pattern on the same layer as the gold foil; there would never be a separation between the foil and the pattern.
If separated, it must be imitation paper.
To put it simply, the Imperial Paper had an extremely high technical threshold: in order to adhere the gold leaf to the paper, wax had to be applied to the plain paper. However, the wax was water-resistant, and to avoid reducing the ink's adhesion, the paper surface had to be repeatedly calendered with jade to allow the wax to integrate into the paper.
However, counterfeiters lack the technology to both adhere the gold leaf to the wax film and prevent it from being waterproof. In short, they can't paint the dragon pattern on it.
With no other option, we had to find another way: first, we outlined the dragon pattern on plain paper, then applied wax, then sprinkled gold leaf, and finally burnished it.
This process creates a wax film between the foil and the texture of the paper.
Looking at the paper color: the edges are brownish, and the fibers are broken in a flocculent manner... I would roughly estimate that it is about four to five hundred years old, around the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty.
In this way, it is as if the Ming Dynasty imitators used Ming Dynasty imitation paper from the Imperial Palace to imitate Zhao Mengfu's authentic work, and then put it on the mounting of the Yuan Dynasty.
In fact, the handwriting was imitated to a degree of 90% accuracy?
Let alone in ancient times, even now, how many appraisers could tell the difference just by looking at it?
But Bao Li can.
Lin Sicheng really wanted to raise a big finger: There are always heavens beyond heavens, and people beyond people.
That's why Paul doesn't accept it, because if this thing is auctioned off as a fake, it will almost certainly be sold as a genuine work by Zhao Mengfu.
Even if Teacher Ma were to hang herself here, Bao Li would never ruin her own reputation.
But then another question arises: why does Ye Anning still insist on this?
Because of words!
As the saying goes, it's easy to draw the skin of a tiger but difficult to draw its bones; this refers to the art of imitation.
Forgeries of calligraphy can be considered expert work if they can imitate the original characters to a degree of 50% similarity, and master work if they can imitate them to a degree of 70% similarity.
But no matter how high the quality, it's only similar in appearance; it's just imitation of the skin.
This one is different: whether it is the brushstrokes, the brushwork, the strength of the strokes, or the inner meaning, it is actually 80 or 90% imitated.
If the original author were to rewrite it, it would probably be to this standard. This also demonstrates that the forger's calligraphic skill is in no way inferior to Zhao Mengfu's.
More importantly, even in imitations, they managed to replicate the originals with their own set of rules. How many masters like this were there from the Yuan to the Ming dynasties?
That's why Ye Anning felt unwilling.
Lin Sicheng was not willing to give up: such masters could not possibly exist with more than two hands. With just a little effort, they could break through that thin layer of paper.
He closed his eyes and recalled the Ming Dynasty calligraphers he remembered.
He was skilled in Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy, and his brushstrokes were vigorous and full of spirit.
It inherits the elegant style of Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy, and also incorporates the vigor of Tang dynasty calligraphy and the simplicity of Jin dynasty calligraphy.
Moreover, it possesses a unique spirit and has formed its own distinct style...
"Ding!" It was as if a light had lit up in my mind: Yu He, Lu Shen, Jin Cong, Shen Du... and even Wen Zhengming and Dong Qichang?
Lin Sicheng suddenly opened his eyes.
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