Shi Tao and another master of painting in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Bada Shanren, are related by blood, because both of them are descendants of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, although they are a little far apart.

Shi Tao's name is Zhu Ruoji, and the name of the Bada Mountain Man is Zhu Qi. Zhu Qi is a descendant of Zhu Yuanzhang, who is a serious child, and is the ninth grandson of Zhu Quan, the seventeenth son of Zhu Yuanzhang. And Zhu Ruoji is Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew.

If you go by generation, Shi Tao is several generations younger than the Bada Shanren, and his great-grandchildren are about the same. However, Bada Shanren is only a dozen years older than Shi Tao, and the two have been friends, exchanged letters, and collaborated together, such as the famous "Orchid Bamboo Picture".

Yu Yao looked at this picture of the frost tree in the autumn mountains, and did not speak for a while, but his heart was shaken. This is just holding Huang, it's really amazing!

This painting, judging from the brushwork and composition, has both form and spirit, and the ink method is dripping, which is more like Shi Tao's handwriting in his later years.

Shi Tao is the best at using ink, the ink color can produce "gas", the realm is very good, if you want to imitate, this alone is also difficult to do.

Then there is his style, which is full of "change" factors, even if it is the same painting, it is often changeable.

This has something to do with his upbringing, although he is a descendant of the royal family, but when Ming died, he was only three years old. Although he later became a monk, Kangxi Nantour, as a descendant of the Ming Dynasty royal family, and a monk who had already become a monk, he still took over twice and shouted long live.

Qinggao is not willing to be lonely, and his life is contradictory and sad. However, it is also this situation, coupled with his talent, that has created his achievements in painting, the changeable dynamics, and the special tension of tossing and turning, which is what makes him brilliant and unique.

Lonely and strange artists are often accompanied by mental abnormalities, and the same is true of Shi Tao's "relative" Bada Shanren. Bada Shanren is not the same as Shi Tao, when he died in the Ming Dynasty, he was already an adult, and then he cut his hair and became a monk, and he was displaced, and then converted to Taoism. In the midst of ups and downs, he was mentally disturbed for a time, and then isolated from the world.

The Bada Mountain people use very little ink, the pen is concise, and the rhyme is infinite in the sparseness. The most well-known is the eyes of the creatures in the pen, whether it is fish or birds, often with white eyes, in fact, what is shown in this is not his lonely soul with nowhere to place?

"There are no ink spots and many tears, and the mountains and rivers are still the old mountains and rivers."

Shi Tao, on the other hand, is relatively smooth compared to the Bada Shanren, but the inner contradictions have never been unified, and his paintings are another kind of rhyme.

Shi Tao's supporters, from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China to the present, have never been broken, and there are many calligraphy and painting masters.

At this time, seeing that Yu Yao pondered repeatedly but didn't speak, he couldn't help but get up and speak: "What are you thinking about?

"You're in a hurry. Yu Yao left the counter, returned to the Eight Immortals table and sat down, lit a cigarette, and curled in the smoke:

"This is not Shi Tao's real work!"

Only then did Zhihuang's eyes change, but he sneered again, "It doesn't matter what conclusion you make, the key is to point out the evidence! Otherwise, Huangkou Xiaoer can also say it!"

"That's nature. Yu Yao raised his hand, "Sit down, you've already lost." And you know it's not Shi Tao's real work. ”

Only then did he snort and did not sit down.

Yu Yao continued, "With all due respect, this painting, from the brushwork and ink color to the inscription, I can't see any difference from Shi Tao's authentic handwriting. ”

Cai Zhihuang frowned slightly, but he still didn't look at Yu Yao squarely.

"Let's talk about framing. I can see this, the shaft head and the old silk used should be things from the early Qing Dynasty, but the mounting work is the ······ of the Republic of China."

Only then did Zhihuang interrupt, "The framing and the original painting may not be of the same age, and it is normal for the ancient painting to be reframed!"

"That's right! This can't be used to deny that it's Shi Tao's real handiwork, I'm just a little bit clear. That's all that's left for here!"

When Yu Yao said this, Cai Pengxi couldn't help but go back to the Eight Immortals table and sit down, he silently lit a cigarette, did not speak, and was ready to listen carefully.

Cai Zhihuang's face finally changed significantly, although he still didn't sit down, his feet moved, and he turned to face Yu Yao.

Yu Yao cleared his throat, "This paper is rice paper from the Republic of China period! Although it is very well aged and has no flaws, there is still a difference between the clouds and filaments in the rice paper in the early Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. ”

Only then did Cai Pengxi understand that Yu Yao was holding a strong flashlight and a magnifying glass just now, but he repeatedly looked at the blank space in the heart of the painting, not the pen and ink, it turned out that he was not looking at the painting, but at the paper!

"You know all this?!" Cai Zhihuang couldn't help but exclaim.

"It's easy to understand this. The key lies not in understanding, but in the fact that although there are differences, the differences are very subtle! If you understand them, you may not be able to see them! In fact, the ratio of raw materials for the manufacture of rice paper, green sandalwood bark, and sand field straw has basically not changed, and the papermaking technology is also relatively stable; fortunately, there was a gap of nearly 300 years between the early Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China!

"What is the difference?" after Cai Pengxi asked, he suddenly felt speechless, and couldn't help but smile embarrassedly.

No one can easily pass on such a profound identification secret.

It is not difficult for those who will know, but it will not be for those who are difficult. Not to mention the subtle differences between the clouds and filaments in the rice paper that Yu Yao said, for people who don't understand rice paper and calligraphy and painting, even rice paper and calligraphy and painting paper may not be able to distinguish clearly.

There are one or two hundred and one knives (100 sheets) of so-called "rice paper" on the market, but in fact, it is nothing more than calligraphy and painting paper. How can real rice paper be so cheap?

Especially the old rice paper, not to mention the old one, the old rice paper in the early eighties, a knife and four feet of red star special clean skin, the market price has reached twenty or thirty thousand.

The so-called paper longevity for thousands of years, the older the rice paper, the more conducive to writing and painting.

Yu Yao also smiled, "The old gentleman doesn't have to be like this, it doesn't hurt to talk about it, because it's all conventional things, and you have to rely on your eyesight in the end." The dense cloud filaments in the rice paper are actually green sandalwood skin fibers, and the tendons of straw can also be found in them. In the early Qing Dynasty, the amount and distribution of tendons in the green sandalwood skin fiber were slightly different from those in the Republic of China. But how is it different, or that sentence, too subtle!"

"It's a piece of paper, it's wonderful!" Cai Pengxi stroked his palms more than once, "Old decay admires, admires!"

Cai Zhihuang did not express his position.

Cai Pengxi then looked directly at Cai Zhihuang, "Manly man, how can you be silent at this time? Isn't that right? Is it an imitation of the Republic of China?"

"Yes!" Huang suddenly sat down on the chair like a deflated ball.

Yu Yao extinguished the cigarette butt, stood up, walked to the counter again, and pointed to the painting, "What I said, it must be done!"

"Huh?" Cai Pengxi and Cai Zhihuang looked at Yu Yao in unison.

"Although it is an imitation, I have opened my mouth, and I can't say that the author counts me as losing! During the Republic of China, there was only one person who could have such an earth-shattering imitation skill!"