In order to show that he was truly wealthy and not a swindler who bid randomly, the wealthy businessman from the capital stayed in Meng's Embroidery Shop and waited for his servant to deliver the banknotes. Meng Zhong poured him a cup of tea, chatted with him, and asked about his background in a subtle way.
Outside the store, some ordinary people have begun to disperse. They seldom see such a huge embroidery, so they gather around to join in the fun. But if you stop them and ask them what is so good about this embroidery, they will not be able to answer. Artistic style and aesthetic sentiment are too abstract for them to understand. In their eyes, this embroidery is just a picture of horses. Several horses embroidered with black silk threads, like an ink painting, are galloping on the road. It looks very imposing at first glance, but it is just like that after another look.
However, many scholars of letters and literary men still gathered in front of the door for a long time, reciting poems like "A steed is worth a thousand gold coins, a famous king returns from a long journey. Wind and smoke leave the desert, clouds and lightning go to the imperial capital..." They looked a little weird and quite funny.
"I heard a long time ago that Miss Meng's embroidery works are completely comparable to the paintings of Wu the Painting Master. At that time, I thought it was flattery and exaggeration. Today, after seeing it, I realized that I was too ignorant. Miss Meng's embroidery skills can be said to be the best in the world, and there is no one better." The wealthy businessman in the capital looked at those intoxicated literati and poets, and then gave Meng Zhong a thumbs up.
Meng Zhong waved his hand and smiled. Just as he was about to say a few humble words, he heard a loud shout from outside the door, as if something big had happened. The two of them immediately went out to check.
Because her embroidery paintings were sold at a high price of nearly ten thousand taels of silver, and also shocked so many literati and received the best evaluation in the world, Meng Si was in a good mood at the moment, so she pushed open the window with a smile, wanting to see who was shocked by her embroidery paintings again. However, the next moment, the expression on her face froze, and a deep sense of fear and powerlessness emerged uncontrollably from the depths of her heart.
I saw that the Danyan Embroidery Shop opposite also hung a huge embroidery that was ten feet wide and ten feet high. On the black background was a ferocious beast that looked like a lion but not a lion, and a horse but not a horse, with scales and mane, with its eyes wide open and roaring. It spews flames from its mouth, lotuses grow on its four feet, and its body is covered with golden threads. Its appearance is so stunning that one dares not look at it closely. And above this ferocious and terrifying beast, there sat a Bodhisattva dressed in white gauze, twisting a willow branch in one hand and holding a jade bottle in the other, her eyelids slightly closed, the corners of her lips slightly raised, as if she was smiling but not smiling, as if she was crying but not crying, with an expression of sadness or joy.
"This is the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and his mount, the golden-haired lion!" The passerby looked up at the embroidery with a look of horror.
They were all frightened by this lifelike beast. Flames were burning in its dark red eyes, as if it was ready to devour someone. Its bloody mouth was roaring, and its sharp teeth were standing upright, which was frightening. The mane on its neck was dense and thick, floating in wisps, as if they could touch the fluffy and soft touch by reaching out. The scales covering its body gradually changed from pure black to a strong red, with gold threads mixed in, faintly flashing. The gold and red colors had turned into real flames when they extended to the tail. Its four claws like steel blades stepped on four blooming lotus flowers, and a ball of blazing flames spewed out from its mouth and nose.
This beast is so ferocious and fierce, as if it has the power to destroy the world. Just one look at it can make one's legs go weak and one's heart and liver burst. But on its back, there sat a Bodhisattva with a serene face and a kind expression. The Bodhisattva's robes fluttered in the air, as if bringing a breeze that extinguished the flames all over the beast's body, making the frightened passers-by feel safe immediately. This is probably what is meant by great compassion and the ability to subdue demons and monsters, right?
This embroidery painting is divided into two halves, the lower half is a ferocious beast, and the upper half is a Bodhisattva; the lower half is evil, and the upper half is compassion; the lower half is flames, and the upper half is a breeze. Two completely different images and styles are strangely and perfectly integrated together, forming a masterpiece with rich colors, distinctive style and godly needlework.
"This, this is Bodhisattva Guanyin and his mount, the golden-haired lion!" Someone shouted in a trembling voice, and then several Buddhist believers knelt down devoutly, muttering to themselves with expressions of extreme excitement.
Before this, their knowledge of Guanyin Bodhisattva and Golden-haired Lion was limited to the Buddha statues in temples or the mythological stories passed down from generation to generation. No one in the world knows what Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and the Golden-haired Lion look like exactly. But now, looking at this embroidery, they understood: it turns out that Avalokitesvara is so compassionate and so holy; it turns out that the golden-haired beast is a zombie transformed from a human, so hideous and so ferocious.
Those characters and beasts that only existed in myths seemed to break through the clouds and come into reality, bringing them extraordinary shock.
Someone else asked in amazement, "Is Bodhisattva Guanyin alive? No matter where I stand, his eyes are always looking at me. It's as if he can see me!"
"Really, that's true!" Many people echoed. They had long discovered that there was a faint spiritual light flowing from the slightly closed eyes of Guanyin Bodhisattva. No matter from which angle one looked at it, his line of sight could meet the viewer's line of sight. It was simply divine!
More and more believers were kneeling on the roadside and kowtowing. Even the literati and scholars stood quietly in the corner with solemn expressions. They didn't dare to comment on such a magical work at all, because the beasts and figures on the embroidery were too real, as if they would fly into the sky and overlook the sky in the next moment.
Zhuque Street is a famous embroidery street in Lin'an Prefecture. Both sides of the street are lined with embroidery shops and cloth shops of all sizes, and also gather here most of the embroiderers and cloth merchants in Lin'an Prefecture. As the saying goes, "the layman sees the excitement, the expert sees the details." We are all experts in this field, so naturally we see something different besides the lifelike embroidery paintings.
The face of Bodhisattva Guanyin is lifelike. When the eyelids are slightly closed, some fine lines appear at the corners of the eyes, and when the corners of the mouth are upturned, some dimples appear on the cheeks, all of which are exactly the same as the texture of real person's skin. To be able to achieve this level of embroidery thread, it is necessary to use the face-opening needlework of Lady Fang; the mane of the golden-haired lion is fluffy and soft, with each strand distinct, just like the real thing. This is clearly the fluffy hair needlework method that was created by Lady Su and has been lost; there is a faint halo shining above the head of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, and the embroidery threads are even, dense, and smooth like a mirror. This is the result of the use of scattered needles; the golden-haired lion is covered with scales, with an uneven texture and natural color smudges, which are the techniques of slashing needles and embroidering gold. In addition, the blooming lotus and the blazing flames use the techniques of needle mixing, needle application, and needle rotation respectively...
This embroidery work encompasses almost all the embroidery techniques known in the world. It uses bold and warm colors, the characters are lifelike, and the composition is compact with some blank spaces. Among the top embroiderers or painters of the time, no one's work can compare with it. Against its backdrop, the black and white painting of a horse seemed so dull and ordinary. Compared with Lin Dan's miraculous embroidery skills, Meng Si's embroidery skills seem extremely mediocre.
"Face-opening needle method, fluffing needle method, Ye's needle method... I counted carefully and found out thirty or forty needle methods! Can you tell me quickly, did I see it wrong?" An embroiderer pulled her companion aside and asked.
"I was confused too! I thought I was seeing things!"
"We were not mistaken, so it is true?" The two looked at each other with shocked expressions.
"Incredible, really incredible! Lin Dafu gave birth to a good daughter! With such extraordinary embroidery skills, the Lin family will be able to restore its former prosperity sooner or later!" Several cloth shop owners gathered together and whispered, and secretly made up their minds that they would never make things difficult for Lin Dan again.
Meng Si was already stunned. After a long while, he staggered downstairs, ran closer, looked up at the embroidery, and then identified the needlework used by Lin Dan one by one. His face became paler and paler until it completely lost its color. The fear in her eyes was almost solidified. Looking at the embroidery was like looking at a mountain, and her heart was filled with an insurmountable feeling of powerlessness.
Meng Zhong pulled his sister behind him and wanted to say a few words to comfort her, or to belittle Lin Dan, but when he opened his mouth, he found that he could not find the words. Even the blindest person could see that Lin Dan's painting and embroidery skills had far surpassed Meng Si's. When Meng Si was still copying other people's paintings, Lin Dan was already able to create independently. When Meng Si was still studying the Meng family's inherited embroidery techniques, Lin Dan had already mastered even the lost embroidery techniques.
Two embroidered paintings are hung face to face, one is ignored, while the other is crowded with viewers; one can only be understood by scholars, while the other is praised by everyone. Is there any need to say which one is better?
Seeing his sister with red eyes and almost fainting, Meng Zhong hated himself deeply for hanging up her embroidery. If it hadn't been exposed, my sister wouldn't have suffered this kind of blow. How is the current situation different from publicly executing her? Her painting and embroidery skills were compared with Lin Dan's by passers-by, and then criticized as worthless. From now on, will she still be able to pick up the embroidery needle? Do you still have the confidence to sit in front of the embroidery frame and embroider? What will happen to Meng's Embroidery Shop without her as a living signboard?
Meng Zhong thought a lot for a while, but before he could come up with an idea, the wealthy businessman from Beijing who had bought Meng Si's embroidery painting laughed and said, "Boss Meng, I won't buy your embroidery painting. You can keep it." He rushed to the other side and shouted loudly, "Shopkeeper, I'll pay eight thousand taels of silver for this painting of Guanyin Bodhisattva!"
After hearing his bidding, everyone came to their senses and burst into an uproar. Who wouldn’t want to take home and collect such a work that is filled with the Buddha’s light and spirituality? It is said that the more realistic a portrait is, the more spiritual it is. Even the eyeballs of this statue of Avalokitesvara are moving, and the golden-haired lion under its seat is shaking its mane as if it is coming alive. If you hang it at home and worship it well, it will surely produce spiritual charm!
If you buy a picture of a galloping horse, you will just put it aside. But if you buy this picture, it will become a treasure to protect your house. It can be passed down from generation to generation, and it will become more and more magical as it is passed down! Buy it, you must buy it!
The ladies who had just been watching the fun could no longer sit still. They ran out of the Danyan Embroidery Shop and started bidding: "Eight thousand taels is nothing. I'll bid ten thousand taels!"
"I'll give you 11,000 taels!"
"I'll give you twelve thousand taels!"
“…”
Du Ruyan was stunned. Lin Danqing couldn't help rubbing his hands together, trying to suppress his inner excitement.
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