Took the bronze mirror from Wang Deshun's hand, it was very big!

The engineering team, even a tape measure is placed on the desk: Zhang Nan took it and measured it, with a diameter of 22 cm!

It's still heavy!

Most of the bronze mirrors of the Three Kingdoms period are relatively thin, not as thick as the Han mirrors, but this copper mirror is about 0.6 cm thick, which is very thick!

The whole mirror is pitch black, basically no green embroidery, and it looks like a sense of history at a glance. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Moreover, the line cleaning on the back of this mirror is obviously a "head mold mirror": the copper mirror is a daily commodity, which needs to be cast in large quantities, and a mold will be used many times, and it will not be a mold like those bronze ritual vessels.

Therefore, playing with a copper mirror, in addition to paying attention to the general meaning of the appearance, whether the head mirror is also an important benchmark to measure the value of a copper mirror!

The so-called head mirror is also very easy to understand, that is, the first cast copper mirror, the texture is particularly clear, the value is far more than the two-mold three-mode mirror - generally speaking, the shape of the copper mirror is completely consistent, due to the different clarity, the transaction price in the auction market will be more than 10 times!

"Allen, this is the ancient Chinese bronze mirror, it's so beautiful!"

Nicole was also fascinated by the pattern on the back of the mirror, "It looks like a character on it, right?"

"Yes, it's still a story, it's a portrait mirror. ”

There is no popular inscription on this bronze mirror in the Three Kingdoms period, it may have been cast in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and it may have been the family heirloom of the owner of the tomb.

Of course, it may also be cast during the Wu period, which no one can understand, but what is certain is that this bronze mirror can belong to the category of portrait mirrors of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Zhang Nan pointed to the high-relief figure on the back: "The portrait mirror of the Eastern Han Dynasty ranks one of the three pinnacles in the history of the development of ancient Chinese bronze mirror art, and its brilliant artistic achievements are comparable to the high-relief craftsmanship of the prosperous Tang Dynasty."

Moreover, the portrait mirrors of the Eastern Han Dynasty are not only exquisitely crafted, but also generally contain profound cultural connotations, which are difficult to compare with other types of bronze mirrors..."

The two American women had never seen a Chinese bronze mirror before, so it was not surprising to see this exquisite bronze mirror from at least 1,700 years ago.

There were also bronze mirrors in the ancient Western world, but West Asia, ancient Egypt, ancient Rome and ancient Greece were popular at that time with round plate handle mirrors, while China has always used round plate button mirrors, which formed two different categories of copper mirror systems of two different regional civilizations in ancient times.

To put it bluntly, the mirrors of Westerners generally have handles, while the bronze mirrors of China are made with buttons.

It was not until the Song Dynasty that bronze mirrors with handles appeared in China - but they obviously did not conform to the aesthetics of the Chinese people.

If the bronze mirror is connected to a copper handle, how awkward it is!

Moreover, although the bronze mirror decoration in ancient times in the West also has its characteristics, if you talk about the degree of craftsmanship, the Chinese bronze mirror can throw them a few streets away - it is no wonder that Nicole and Jenny were amazed at the exquisiteness of this bronze mirror.

It is not surprising that the top bronze mirrors after the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty can be unearthed in Yan County, because there are historical reasons for this.

Because of the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the north has been in war for many years, and the mirror-making process has declined, but in the south of China, the society is relatively stable, and the Huiji next door to Yan County has been the top mirror-making center in China from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the two Jin and Northern Dynasties.

It is not surprising that there are top-level bronze mirrors from the Three Kingdoms period of the Eastern Han Dynasty unearthed in Yan County, and it is said that there are many in the treasury of the Cultural Management Committee.

Zhang Nan looked carefully at the back of the bronze mirror again, and said to the two women: "This portrait story mirror tells a famous historical story in Chinese history almost 2,500 years ago..."

What's the story?

Wu Yue fights for hegemony, this is the portrait mirror of Wu Zixu,

The back of the bronze mirror is divided into four groups with four milk dings, depicting the historical event that King Yue and Fan Li plotted against Wu in the late Spring and Autumn Period, and dedicated eight beauties such as Xi Shi and Zheng Dan to King Wu, and finally forced Wu Zixu to kill himself angrily.

The mirror surface rotates clockwise, high relief process, and the four areas are: Yue Wang and Fan Li→ Yue's two daughters→ Wu Wang→ Wu Zixu.

The picture is in the form of a narrative painting of the Han Dynasty, depicting the scene of Wu Zixu being loyal and daring to admonish, but finally committed suicide by King Wu with a sword.

There are three ornaments in the outer ring, the picture width is coherent and connected, echoing each other, the skillful craftsmanship portrays the posture and expression of the characters to the fullest, and the casting is extremely exquisite, which can be described as the boutique in the portrait mirror of the Eastern Han Dynasty!

However, the Chinese people can understand the story when they mention it, but Nicole and Jenny can't: what Spring and Autumn Warring States still know for a few months, and Wu Yue's struggle for hegemony is really a bit too profound for them.

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand, let's go back and study it slowly. ”

This is quite interesting, but Nicole and Jenny don't know yet: a few people who can understand English will be treated as if their ears are not brought - people will associate it, there are Xi Shi and Zheng Dan on the mirror, and the boss here is also accompanied by two women.

Ha ha...

Slowly studying...

Jenny also took the bronze mirror and looked at it carefully, and found that the front of the mirror could still reflect the figure of a person!

It feels even more incredible: Zhang Nan said that it was dug out of the soil, with a history of more than 1,700 years, even if the mirror is already dark, but it can still show portraits!

"Isn't the copper rusty green embroidery, why is it black?"

Jenny expressed the doubts in her heart, Zhang Nan smiled and said: "This is 'black lacquer ancient', in the unearthed ancient Chinese bronze mirror, only this kind of copper mirror has a black and shiny surface, with a smooth and crystalline jade texture, this kind of copper mirror is called 'black lacquer ancient' copper mirror."

This type of copper mirror has excellent corrosion resistance and is particularly popular with collectors. If the black lacquer bronze mirror is played with for a long time, it will make the surface as bright as a mirror, and it will be called 'heirloom ancient' at that time.

As long as there is a copper mirror with this characteristic pulp, it is now a 100% authentic antique copper mirror, and the counterfeiting process will not be able to achieve this dark and shiny effect. ”

Nicole was also listening, and said, "You haven't said how it turned black." ”

"It's hard to say, the black lacquer bronze mirror is generally very little patina, over the years scholars on the black lacquer ancient genesis of the study, basically two views: one is artificial treatment, the second is natural corrosion.

The focus of controversy among scholars today is whether the high tin corrosion resistant layer on the surface of the black lacquered bronze mirror is artificially tin plated or produced by humic acid under natural conditions.

I'm biased towards the latter. ”

Jenny "giggled" when she heard Zhang Nan's analysis.

"Laughing at what?"

"Alan, scholar!"

Yes, putting gold on his face is despised.

"Which scholar has so much of my collection?

"Are you a rich man, scholar?"

Nicole also "hehe"...

Forget it, don't continue to study on this issue, otherwise it will be endless.

I took my things and prepared to leave the engineering company, because I didn't have much to do today, and I didn't bother to go back to the top of the mountain.

made a phone call to the top, Zhang Nan planned to eat outside, not to go to the Yanxi Hotel, and take the two beauties to a food mecca in the old bottom of Yanxian County: Dongfeng Hotel!

It is a special place to eat, although the food of Dongfeng Hotel may not be as fashionable as the Yanxi Hotel, but you can eat the most authentic local taste of Yanxian County.

And a few years later, when the city developed, the street where the hotel was located was demolished, and the Dongfeng Hotel could only remain in the memory of the people of Yan County.

What's worse is that with the disappearance of Dongfeng Restaurant, some of the local dishes of Yanxian County, which are extremely time-consuming to make, have also disappeared, which has to be said to be the loss of history and culture, and the sorrow of foodies.

"Let the guys above come down when they have time and taste the most authentic craftsmanship of the old chefs in Yan County. ”

That is the collective memory of a whole generation of Yanxian people about food: as long as Dongfeng Hotel is mentioned, the color and aroma of the food will deeply tease Zhang Nan's taste buds!

There are some dishes there, maybe even Tang Gui has never heard of them!

Ordinary people will not go to the Yanxi Hotel to eat, this Dongfeng Hotel is now the most high-grade place to invite guests to eat, known as the "International Hotel of Yanxian County"!

And Dongfeng Hotel has a characteristic: it has more female chefs than male chefs, and they have basically worked in this restaurant all their lives, and they have never moved their nests until they retired.

Some people say that the best cook must be a man, but this does not work in Dongfeng Hotel.

......

The food is very earthy, very authentic, and the people who eat today are very fashionable, and this is probably the most foreigner reception in the history of Dongfeng Hotel - there will be no private room, there are a few screens hanging with curtains in the hall on the second floor, this trip let the diners of Yan County take a good look at the diorama!

Three tables, 100 yuan per table, this is already the top side dish at present: 20 years ago, the most expensive table was 12 yuan!

Although the dishes are earthy, there is no taste, at least a group of Chinese and foreign men directly gave a few tables of dishes to the "CD".

Tang Gui and Andy Lu didn't eat peacefully, and they continued to study the recipes of each dish when they ate.

After eating most of the meal, he simply asked Guan Xingquan to accompany him to the kitchen: as soon as I heard that one was a chef from the army and the other was a Chinese chef in the United States, the chefs of Dongfeng Hotel really knew everything about the two of them about a few local dishes.

During the meal, Nicole also asked, "Alan, are these your traditional dishes from snacks to big ones?"

"How can you, then how can you eat like this every day, you will go bankrupt! It's really a time when you are greedy, and a person will be satisfied with one dish..."

The meal is almost one o'clock, and the wine and food are full!

In the afternoon, Zhang Nan found some fun for himself: go to the Yan County Cultural Management Committee!

The construction of the Yue Opera Museum in Yan County is about to start, and Zhang Nan, as a full donor, can of course ask about the situation of the relevant units: the beautiful name of care and care - the current office conditions of the Cultural Management Committee are rotten, and there will be six or seven offices in the Yue Opera Museum in the future for the Cultural Management Committee, and the entire exhibition hall will also belong to the Cultural Management Committee, which will become an exhibition area of historical relics.

However, this is not really going to ask Director Zhang Heng what hope he wants, Zhang Nan is worried about the treasury of the Cultural Management Committee.

Not for money, just for fun!

Without its own intervention, the Yue Opera Museum would have been completed in 1990 – and it is estimated that a large number of things would have been disposed of when the Cultural Affairs Commission moved.

Zhang Nan didn't know what was before, but he knew that in the 90s, the Cultural Management Association sold a lot of good old jade.

Even if you don't think of those things as treasures now, it's nice to be able to flip them over.