Please ask for the subscription support of the brothers, thank you! ――

"Sue sù you, there are many pagodas, many temples, and many monks are the three major characteristics of Myanmar Buddhist culture, and Burmese men must cut their hair at least once in their lives to become monks, which is considered to be a practice of virtue, and you just said that the driver may have been a monk, because of this." Bi Yue explained.

"Really?" Han Chong thought it was too interesting.

"Yes, Burmese Buddhists believe that building a stupa can benefit a lifetime and bring blessings to the next. According to statistics, there are more than 100,000 large and small stupas in the country. Therefore, Myanmar is also known as the "Land of Stupas"

The Shwedagon Pagoda, which was built more than 2,500 years ago, is a representative work of Myanmar pagodas, a masterpiece of Buddhist architectural art in the world, and the oldest and most expensive pagoda in the world. ”

Shwedagon Pagoda is as high as 100 meters, there are 64 small towers around it, the body of the tower is covered with gold leaf, the main tower alone has nearly 30,000 pieces of gold sheets, weighs more than 7 tons, the top of the tower is made of gold, there are 5448 diamonds and 2317 rubies inlaid with it, the whole Shwedagon Pagoda is brilliant, brilliant, magnificent.

"Well, you live up to your name, right?"

"Well, I've seen so many rare antiques, how do I think this is the most valuable antique in the world now......"

Yes, the price of those diamonds and gemstones cannot be estimated by money at all, not to mention the weight of 7 tons of gold, you know, this golden pagoda is equivalent to one thousandth of the gold reserves of the United States in the World Bank.

"Yes, that's why I told you to come to Shwedagon Pagoda, you don't think it's better to rest in the hotel here."

"Yes," Han Chong nodded repeatedly. I really can't refute Bi Yue.

As the saying goes: hearing is false, seeing is believing, when Han Chong saw a description of Shwedagon Pagoda in the Burmese gazetteer. I still have some disdain in my heart, if I want to say that man-made architecture, China's Forbidden City represents the highest level of ancient architecture, but after seeing this Shwedagon Pagoda again, Han Chong was shocked, only to know that he used to be a little arrogant, this Shwedagon Pagoda is indeed worthy of the pride and pride of the Burmese people.

First of all, this Shwedagon Pagoda is built against the mountain. It was already beautiful, and besides, Han Chong spent three dollars at the door to buy a color page introducing the Shwedagon Pagoda, which has three languages, Chinese, English and Burmese, detailing the history of the Shwedagon Pagoda, as well as many mythological stories.

There is also a legend that began with a pair of merchant brothers who met the Buddha - they received eight hairs from the Buddha and prepared to send them to Myanmar for worship. The brothers traveled to Burma and, with the help of the local king, found a sacred mountain where many of the Buddha's treasures were enshrined.

When the eight Buddha hairs were taken out of the golden box of the two people for worship. Something incredible happened: the light that emanated from the hair penetrated heaven and hell, making it clear to the blind, to hear, and to speak clearly. It's magical.

Moreover, there was a drought and thunder from the sky, the earth shook and the mountains shook, and even Mount Meru was affected, and gems fell from the sky like rain. Knee-deep trees in the Himalayas are in full bloom and bear fruit even when they are not in bloom.

These are, of course, legends. However, in the Shwedagon Pagoda, there are indeed enshrined relics of the four Buddhas, including the crutches that detain Sun Buddha, the water purifier of the Buddha Zhengjuejin, the robe of the Buddha Kasya, and the eight hairs of the Buddha Shakyamuni.

And at this moment, the little golden Buddha that was almost silent on Han Chong's body, as well as the Buddha flag, reacted again.

A golden light appeared on Han Chong's body, and the light wrapped Han Chong in a group, as if he had entered the mother's body, and then, with an initiation, Han Chong only felt that something had filled his brain.

Then, a dream appeared, Han Chong saw that it was a monk teaching a young man, the young man's face was delicate, and if he looked carefully, he was still very similar to himself when he was young, but when the monk waved his sleeves and left, the young man's appearance changed in a few pictures, he became a snake body, and his head became different, it was a lion, how, how did it look a bit like Fuxi...

Han Chong returned to reality, and when he walked into the mountain gate, he could see the huge tower base, the tower base has a circumference of 433 meters, surrounded by small towers made of wood and stone, different styles and 4 middle towers, the tower has four entrances are guarded by stone lions, and after the entrance, there is a series of steps that go straight to the platform on the mountain.

There are more than 15,000 gold and silver bells hanging around the tower, and the wind blows the bells, which is crisp and pleasant, and the sound spreads in all directions. 、、

There are gates in the south, east, and west of the Shwedagon Pagoda, and there are a pair of tall stone lions in front of the door, just like the gatekeeper lions that are often seen in front of Chinese temples.

Looking at this lion and thinking about it, Han Chong always felt that it was not a coincidence.

Of course, Han Chong couldn't detect any changes in his body at the moment, what had entered his body.

There are promenade-like stone steps to the top of the tower, and the stairs are lined with stalls with carved Buddha statues and human figures of wood, bamboo, bone, ivory, etc., incense, candles, flowers, and various Burmese snacks for Buddha.

Han Chong and Bi Yue, the current position is standing at the entrance of the south gate of the Golden Pagoda, on both sides of the gate, there is a pair of sphin-faced statues guarding, Han Chong does not know whether this is rumored to be a building 2,500 years ago, and the pyramids of Egypt, whether there is any mysterious connection.

Under the prompting of the staff, Han Chong and Bi Yue took off their shoes and entered the Shwedagon Pagoda, on the top of a series of steps, there is a statue of the Buddha, and the bottom of the tower is made of bricks, and covered with gold nuggets, these are real gold bricks made of pure gold, donated by Buddhists from all walks of life in Myanmar, and the niche on the foreshadowing in the tower is enshrined with jade Buddha statues of different forms.

Walking in the golden pagoda, from time to time there are monks dressed barefoot walking by, although this golden pagoda is extremely luxurious, but people stand in it, Han Chong only feels the unprecedented peace and tranquility in his mood, and the troubles of the world in his heart seem to be gone.

After walking around the Shwedagon Pagoda, Han Chong and Bi Yue visited several relics of the Buddha Lord, which was already shining in the sun at this time, but after getting used to it, it would not feel so hot.

In the southeast corner of Shwedagon Pagoda, there is an ancient Bodhi tree, which is said to have been transplanted from the sacred tree garden of the Vajra throne of Shakyamuni in India, on the left side of the ancient Bodhi tree. There is also a Chinese temple called "Fuhui Palace" built by overseas Chinese donations during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty.

It is much more lively here, many vendors are selling souvenirs and some antique coins on the ground, the high temples with Chinese characteristics, and the sound of small traders mixed with Chinese selling, giving Han Chong the feeling of coming to the domestic antique market.

"Han Chong, this should be the antique market here, let's take a look."

"Okay." Han Chong is very interested in antiques here whenever he goes to a place, and Han Chong has never seen antiques in Myanmar. Naturally, I want to know.

However, the stalls here are not quite the same as those in China, most of the stalls are carved with figures or Buddha statues, and the materials are nothing more than ivory and wood.

"Come and take a look at me, they are all authentic ivory, bamboo, and old wood root carvings, like fake ......"

When Han Chong walked to a stall, the stall owner accosted him enthusiastically.

He spoke pure Mandarin, which surprised Han Chong, "Brother, you speak Chinese well." ”

Han Chong knew that many Burmese people could speak Chinese. But it is obvious that he can hear the jerkiness in the language, and this middle-aged man who looks like he is in his thirties and is proficient in Mandarin shows that his identity is definitely Chinese.

The variety of items on his stall. Relatively speaking, it is relatively rich, in addition to those Buddha statues carved from wood, ivory, bones and other things, there are also bamboo handmade vases and other things, of course. It's just an ornament, it can't hold water, and the zuò is quite exquisite. In addition, there are rattan products and brightly colored sand cages decorated with sequins, which are very characteristic of Myanmar.

"It's okay, I'm Chinese."

"You're Chinese, huh?"

The stall owner replied: "Yes, it has been more than half a century since my grandfather's generation came to Myanmar, but the year before last, I returned to my motherland to recognize my relatives......

Han Chong couldn't help but be in awe when he heard this, and asked, "Your grandfather stayed in Burma when the Chinese Expeditionary Force was back then?" ”

There are quite a few Chinese people living in Myanmar, and they are all soldiers.

During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, China sent two expeditionary forces with a total strength of 260,000 troops to fight in Burma, but due to the Allied forces' incorrect command and poor coordination, the first expedition ended in failure, and the number of people who were captured, blown up, starved to death, and killed or missing by infectious diseases reached 70,000.

There were many surviving Chinese soldiers who stayed in Myanmar to live, and it was not until the nineties of the last century that the dusty history was re-revealed.

The second type of people who stayed in Myanmar were the troops who were defeated from Yunbian and other places during the Liberation War, entered Myanmar and entrenched themselves in the Golden Triangle region......

The Chinese who stayed in Myanmar were nothing more than these two groups of people, so Han Chong asked this question, no matter what the reason was, they were all descendants of Yan and Huang.

After hearing Han Chong's words, the stall owner was a little embarrassed and said: "My grandfather stayed in Burma during the expeditionary force, and at that time they fought guerrilla warfare with Yue himself in the jungle, but later followed the defeated troops and fought with the Burmese Communist Party......

Almost all of these people who stayed in Burma were veterans of a hundred battles, and after fighting with him, he had already settled down, but later the defeated soldiers fled to Burma, and many veterans took up arms again.

"What is this big brother called? How's your business here? What is the price of this ivory figure? ”

Han Chong squatted down, just because the other party is Chinese, then he has to help, and it won't cost a few dollars to buy some small things......

The stall owner glanced at the ivory carving in Han Chong's hand, and replied casually: "My surname is Fan, my name is Fan Xiaowu, this thing is five dollars, and the kyats are five thousand, buy it with dollars, it's a little cheaper......"

In Myanmar, the US dollar is a hard currency, and one US dollar can be exchanged for 800 kyats.

Han Chong calculated in his heart, but it was more than forty yuan rm, which was still very cost-effective, and more importantly, this ivory carving was still old ivory, which looked solid and fine, soft and smooth in color, and the whole object was slightly yellowish in pure white, like something that had been around for years.

Ivory this thing, although it is described as white gold, but its color, but mostly yellow, ivory is divided into African ivory and Asian ivory, African male and female elephants are born ivory, the ivory is mostly light yellow, fine texture, good luster, high hardness, the color of Asian ivory is relatively white, and it will be yellowish after a long time, so look at the old ivory carving, generally distinguish from the color.

There are also some collectors who like its white color, so they will soak it in okara and then rub it to turn white naturally. After bleaching, it also has an oily white luster, the feel is moist and delicate, and it can also be called the top grade, while most of the counterfeit imitations made of bone are bleached, which appear dry and rough after bleaching, and the white of plastic products is dull, unnatural and dull.

Since the 80s of the 20th century, the ivory trade has been banned internationally, including China, for the sake of protecting the elephant population. This makes the domestic ivory carving market, which is completely dependent on imported ivory raw materials, bring a great impact, after China stopped directly importing ivory from Africa on June 1, 1990, and completely banned the international trade of ivory and its products in 1991, the import of ivory by any commercial surname will not be approved. The ban on ivory raw materials has led to the upsurge of ivory collections, and ivory carvings have continued to appreciate in the ban on swan songs.

With the ban on ivory trade, coupled with the urgency of raw materials for ivory products, the number of ivory carving handicrafts is also rare, with the consumption of the market, the surviving ivory carving products will become more and more rare. As a result, the price of ivory handicrafts has skyrocketed by 100% for a period of time, and ivory carvings are highly sought after by collectors.

Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and other places are considered the homeland of Asian elephants, so ivory products are still very common here.

"I think you're doing a good business, huh?"

"Business is okay, make money for eating, I heard that the country is developing well now, and I still want to go back if I have the opportunity......"

Fan Xiaowu is very talkative, although there are many Chinese tourists in Myanmar, but he does not often use Chinese, and he chatted with Han Chong endlessly.

"Well, this ...... There are still a few of these, I want them, Brother Fan, how much is it worth? ”

Han Chong picked out a few ivory carved objects on the stall, this thing is now very popular among domestic collectors, the value is more than 1,000 yuan, if it is the ivory miniature carving and royal utensils in the Song and Ming dynasties, the value is even more than tens of millions of yuan, it can be called a priceless treasure, extremely rare.

However, Han Chong didn't want to make this money, he mainly wanted to enrich his collection. (To be continued......)