introduction
In the vast history of the mainland, many precious cultural relics have been born, which play an extremely important role in the study of ancient culture in the world and are one of the indispensable evidences for people to look back at history. Before the Qin and Han dynasties, most of the cultural relics of the dynasties were cast in bronze, and the appearance of bronzes was not accidental. During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, due to the small number of iron ore in the central plains of the mainland, smelting was more difficult, so bronze appeared as a general metal material, so the mainland has had superb bronze smelting technology since ancient times.
Nowadays, many ancient bronzes have gradually been excavated and become famous all over the world, including a well-made bronze ware with engraved characters, which has been paid great attention to since the day it was cast. However, after the Song Dynasty, the bronze vessel was lost to the people and never appeared in official documents again. According to some information, this bronze ware was once used by a civilian couple as a pancake pan to spread pancakes, which is really laughable. It wasn't until 2010 that the treasure actually appeared, when it was accidentally auctioned at a small auction by a Chinese living in the United States, and experts said after identifying the object that it was worth as much as 200 million yuan.
▲ The armor plate stored in the museum
01
A bronze vessel with such a ups and downs is called a xijia plate. It was cast during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou and has a history of more than 3,000 years. From the appearance point of view, the production process of the bronze ware is very sophisticated, and the materials, styles, details and engraved inscriptions are rare treasures. Xijia pan has a typical Shang Zhou period style, with many characteristics of that era, if it has been properly preserved after excavation, its current value must be much higher than 200 million yuan.
▲Restoration of painting of the pancake
02
The artifact was excavated during the Song Dynasty and has been preserved in shaoxing neifu during the Southern Song Dynasty, when the cultural relics protection technology was not developed, so the Xijia plate was not properly preserved after it was excavated. In the middle and late period of the Southern Song Dynasty, the country was constantly in turmoil, and the Xijia Pan also lived a life of upheaval and displacement. According to the records, after this piece of literature was passed on by the people, it was accidentally obtained by an ordinary couple. The couple did not understand this large copper plate at all, and the text on it could not be understood at all. At that time, the couple was thinking of buying a handy bread tool, such a large copper plate fully met the requirements of the two people, they directly removed the foot of the plate, and the cake was burned by Mei Zizi, so the cultural relics of more than 3,000 years of history became a cake pot.
▲A recent photo of the armor plate
Fortunately, the knowledgeable people bought this precious cultural relic from the husband and wife, and the nail plate ended the daily smoke and fire life. Soon after this person bought back the jia plate, he sold it to others, and after several turns, the jia plate was no longer found. As a precious treasure in the history of the mainland, after the Song Dynasty, there have been relevant cultural relics enthusiasts and experts who are tirelessly looking for its traces. When the experts heard that this document had landed in Japan, they immediately went to Chongyang to japan to explore his traces.
▲ Expert identification of the old photo of the nail plate
Unfortunately, the appearance of the koji plate in Japan is a real fake, and this result is a big disappointment to everyone. Later, the experts heard that the treasure appeared in a university museum in Hong Kong, and they immediately went to Hong Kong, and after identification, it was shown that the Hong Kong armor plate was also a fake. It wasn't until 2010, at a small auction, that the plate appeared. With the deeds of the previous times, many cultural relics enthusiasts who are obsessed with this object have become tigers, believing that this piece of armor plate is fake, and after careful identification, a patriotic Chinese living in the United States here believes that this plate should belong to the real thing.
▲Old photo of the 2010 auction
Therefore, he auctioned the cultural relics back for 200 million yuan and brought it back to the arms of the motherland. After careful appraisal by experts, it is believed that this piece of armor plate is indeed genuine, but unfortunately, the artifact has been mutilated and has lost its foot that represents the meaning of the ding. Even so, the research value and collection value of the armor plate are still quite high. As a precious cultural relic from the late Western Zhou Dynasty, the Xijia plate is engraved with 133 characters, and the content of the inscription is of great positive significance for us to study the wars between the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Gers, and the tribute relationship with the Southern Huaiyi.
epilogue
In fact, there are many cultural relics in the history of the mainland that are as valuable as the Xijia Plate, and they are all important bases for us to study the ancient culture of the mainland. Due to the war, many precious cultural relics have been lost overseas and are not known; I hope that in the future, these cultural relics that have been lost abroad can return to the embrace of the motherland like a jiapan and get the most proper preservation and inheritance.
Resources:
Commentary on ancient artifacts of Shaoxing Inner Province