As the blackout curtain was slowly lifted by two museum staff, Gu Kaizhi's "Female Historian" Tang Dynasty facsimile, the earliest surviving Chinese silk painting, was finally presented in front of everyone's eyes.

It is a huge painting on silk, 348 centimeters long and 25 centimeters high, quietly laid flat in a long bulletproof glass display case, blooming with the light of civilization.

To be precise, what appeared in front of Ye Tian and them at this time was only a part of the entire picture scroll of "The Female Historian", and it was also the most important part of the original work.

There are two other sections of the scroll, which are stored in two other bulletproof glass display cases not far from each other, which are still hidden by black blackout curtains, and the real face is not visible for the time being.

The second part is the addition of later generations, about 329 cm long and 25 cm high, and the third part is the Songquan bamboo stone painted by Zou Yigui in the Qianlong period, which is 74 cm long and 24.8 cm high.

Because the age is too old, the picture of the original part of the "Female Historian" in the display cabinet is not very clear, it has long been yellowed, some places have faded, and there is still the phenomenon of slag in some places, which is very fragile.

However, as an ancient painting on silk with a long history of more than 1,000 years, the preservation of the "Female Historian" is already very good.

It is a breathtaking miracle that this masterpiece in the history of Chinese painting has survived a long millennium of time.

In this painting, Gu Kaizhi, a famous painter of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, used his superb painting techniques to perfectly express the twelve female deeds recorded in the "Women's History" written by Zhang Hua, a famous politician and writer in the Western Jin Dynasty.

Although this work contains the moral creed that women should abide by, Gu Kaizhi's depiction of the daily life of upper-class women, such as dressing up, truly reproduces the delicate and reserved nature of ancient aristocratic women.

Under the painter's brush, the posture, manners, costumes and other aspects of every aristocratic woman and even the maid in the painting are very consistent with their identity and personality.

"The Female Historian" perfectly creates a series of images of court women with different identities, and to a certain extent, faithfully reflects the life scenes of women in the era in which Gu Kaizhi lived.

Through this priceless and famous painting, people can get a glimpse of the court life of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and even a corner of the social and economic development, which is like a history book.

Looking at the "Female History Atlas" that was flat in the bulletproof glass display case and illuminated by the dim light, Ye Tian's excited eyes shone brightly, and in a blink of an eye, he was already intoxicated and admired it selflessly.

However, David, Prince William and others, who are also standing in front of this showcase, can understand this thousand-year-old famous painting from ancient China!

For them, this thousand-year-old painting is too old, even a little broken, and they don't know what the specific meaning of the painting is.

However, each of them knows very well that this thousand-year-old painting, which they can't understand at all, must be priceless, otherwise it would not become the treasure of the Chinese Pavilion of the British Museum, let alone make Ye Tian so worried!

After looking at this thousand-year-old painting a few times, David whispered curiously:

"Steven, tell us about this thousand-year-old painting that makes you feel worried, and let's get to know about it."

As soon as his words fell, Prince William next to him said:

"Yes, Steven, tell us about this ancient painting, I'd love to know about it too"

With their words, Ye Tian was suddenly awakened.

At the same time, everyone at the scene turned their heads to look, and most of them were full of curiosity, looking forward to hearing Ye Tian's professional and wonderful explanation.

As for those guys in the British Museum, in addition to curiosity, there was also a bit of sophistication in their eyes, and they wanted to see Ye Tian's understanding of this thousand-year-old painting.

Ye Tian turned his head to look at David and Prince William, and then glanced at everyone at the scene, before nodding with a smile and saying:

"David, His Royal Highness the Prince, since you want to know about this thousand-year-old painting from China, then I will explain it to you, to be honest, I still can't believe that I can win this thousand-year-old painting.

"The Female History of Zhentu", from the hand of Gu Kaizhi, a famous painter of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in ancient China 1,600 years ago, is one of his most famous works, but unfortunately the original has been lost, and the painting in front of him is a copy of the Tang Dynasty.

Even so, this copy of the Tang Dynasty is more than 1,000 years old, and it is the most outstanding of all the facsimiles of the Female Historian, and it is the earliest surviving Chinese silk painting."

"Wow! It's a miracle that a painting from more than a thousand years ago has survived to the present day and looks basically intact!"

Prince William said with emotion, and the other people who saw this painting for the first time also had shocked expressions.

After a pause, Ye Tian continued:

Painted on silk and silk, this "Female Historian" is an illustrated picture, and the content of the painting is from the outstanding work "Female History" by Zhang Hua, a famous writer in the Western Jin Dynasty in ancient China.

There are 12 sections in the original text of "The History of Women", and this painting is also divided into 12 sections, only 9 of which are still alive, and the remaining three have unfortunately been lost in the long history, leaving a huge regret.

Not long after its completion, the painting became a priceless treasure and was highly regarded by Chinese rulers and literati.

In the later Sui and Tang dynasties, this famous painting has been collected in the inner palace of the imperial court, and the seal of the Hongwen Pavilion left on the painting and the seals of several other Tang Dynasty courts are the best illustration of this.

In addition, in the ancient book "Taizong Record" during the Tang Dynasty, there is also a clear record of Gu Kaizhi's famous painting, and at the end of the Tang Dynasty, due to the war, this "Female History Atlas" fell to the people.

In the Song Dynasty, during the reign of Song Hui Zongzhenghe, this famous painting was included in the inner house, and then followed the Song Dynasty royal family to the south, and continued to be collected in the Southern Song Dynasty court inner house.

Later, this famous painting fell into the hands of Jia Rudao, the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, and in the sixteenth century, it fell into the hands of Yan Song, the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, which is also very clearly recorded in the ancient book "Tianshui Iceberg Record".

Next, this thousand-year-old painting circulated among many famous ministers and literati in the Ming Dynasty, and changed hands many times, and after entering the Qing Dynasty, the fate of this famous painting remained the same, and it was still circulating among many famous literati.

During this period, there were many more private seals on the paintings, and in some ancient books, there were also very clear written records, until the Qianlong period, "The Female History of Zhentu" was included in the palace house.

After receiving this famous painting, Emperor Qianlong regarded it as a treasure and loved it, he left many seals on this painting, and even painted an orchid on the back of this famous painting."

"Oh my God! This painting has been collected by so many people, and there are so many emperors among them, no wonder it is so valuable!

David let out a low exclamation, and so did the others.

Ye Tian glanced at these guys again, and then continued to say aloud:

On this famous painting, Emperor Qianlong is the person who left the most seals, which shows that he loves it very much, of course, Emperor Qianlong's behavior is not advisable, especially the orchid he painted.

In 1900, after the Eight-Nation Coalition invaded Beijing, they set fire to the Old Summer Palace, the "Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens," and ransacked it.

In that catastrophe, the famous painting "The Female Historian" was stolen by someone taking advantage of the chaos, and the person who stole the famous painting was Captain Johnson of the British Army stationed near the Old Summer Palace at that time.

However, Johnson's family has sophisibly argued that "The Female Historian" was given to him by a Chinese noblewoman to thank Johnson for saving his life, and it is obvious that this is nonsense to cover up!"

Speaking of this, Ye Tian deliberately glanced at Prince William to see how the second heir to the British king would react.

Prince William's face flushed slightly, and in a blink of an eye he returned to normal, apparently not taking to heart the havoc and despicable banditry committed by the British more than a hundred years ago.

Perhaps under their so-called gentlemanly demeanor and gentle aristocratic temperament, there is still a robber's heart hidden.

Without the slightest pause, Ye Tianqing's voice continued to come out and reach the ears of everyone on the scene.

When Johnson returned to England, he did not realize the value of the Female Historian until he brought it to the British Museum and asked the curator to value the jade buckle on the painting, which attracted the attention of the curator.

Realizing the great value of this famous painting, two curators from the British Museum immediately stepped in and took the painting for £25.

Since then, this famous painting has been in the British Museum, and has become the treasure of the Chinese Pavilion of the British Museum, until three days ago, this famous painting became my possession again.

However, it is a pity and a great pity that after receiving this famous painting from the British Museum, due to the lack of knowledge of Chinese painting and calligraphy, it actually framed it in the same way as Japanese painting.

What's even more infuriating is that the British Museum actually cut this famous painting that has lasted for thousands of years and has been handed down to the present day into three sections, one of which is in front of everyone's eyes, and the other two are placed in the other two display cases.

As a result, the inscriptions left by many literati and artists in the Ming and Qing dynasties on this painting have been cruelly and ruthlessly cut, and the cut parts have been lost, forming a historical fault line, which can no longer be verified."

Speaking of this, Ye Tian couldn't help but look at Fisher, the director of the British Museum, and several other high-level officials of the British Museum, and a trace of hatred quickly flashed in his eyes.

As for the Brits, their faces turned red, and they were a little embarrassed. 2k reading web