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

"Yes," Wang Ding nodded repeatedly.

As the saying goes: hearing is false, seeing is believing, Wang Ding saw the description of the Shwedagon Pagoda in the Burmese gazetteer, he still had some disdain in his heart, to say that man-made architecture, China's Forbidden City represents the highest level of ancient architecture, but after seeing the Shwedagon Pagoda again, Wang Ding was shocked, only to know that he was a little arrogant before, this Shwedagon Pagoda is indeed worthy of the pride and pride of the Burmese people.

Wang Ding spent three dollars at the door to buy a color page introducing the Shwedagon Pagoda, which has three languages in Chinese, English and Burmese, and introduces the history of the Shwedagon Pagoda in detail, as well as many mythological stories.

The legend began with a pair of merchant brothers who met the Buddha and received eight hairs from the Buddha to be sent 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 of them for worship, something incredible happened: the light emanating from the hair penetrated heaven and hell, making it miraculous for the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak clearly.

In addition, there was a drought and thunder from the sky, the earth shook and the mountains shook, and even Mount Meru was affected, and the gems fell from the sky like rain to a depth of knees, and the trees in the Himalayas blossomed and bore fruit even when they were not in the flowering season.

These are legends, of course, but inside the Shwedagon Pagoda, the relics of the four Buddhas are indeed enshrined. Including the crutches that detained Sun Buddha. I am waiting for the water purifier of the Buddha of the Golden Silence. The robes of the Buddha and the eight hairs of the Buddha Shakyamuni, these relics are worshiped and incense by countless devout Buddhists every day.

Walk into the mountain gate and you can see the huge tower base, the tower base is 433 meters in circumference, surrounded by 64 small towers and 4 middle towers built of wood and stone, different styles, and the four entrances of the tower are guarded by stone lions. After the entrance, there is a series of steps that lead up to the platform on the hill.

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.

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.

Wang Ding and Bi Yue. The current location is to stand at the entrance to the south gate of the Golden Tower, on either side of the gate. Guarded by a pair of sphin-faced figures, Wang Ding wondered if there was any mysterious connection between the Rudao and the pyramids of Egypt, which is rumored to be built 2,500 years ago.

Under the prompting of the staff, Wang Ding 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 dressed monks barefoot walking by, although this golden pagoda is extremely luxurious, but people stand in it, Wang Ding only feels the unprecedented peace and tranquility of the state of mind, the heart of the world troubles, seems to be gone.

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

In the southeast corner of the 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, and on the left side of the ancient Bodhi tree, there is 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 temple with Chinese characteristics, and the small traders mixed with the sound of Chinese selling, giving Wang Ding the feeling of coming to the domestic antique market.

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

"It's good." Wang Ding will be very interested in the antiques here every time he goes to a place, and Wang Ding has not seen the antiques in Myanmar, so he naturally wants to know about it.

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 Wang Ding walked to a stall, the stall owner spoke enthusiastically.

He spoke pure Mandarin, and Wang Ding was surprised, "Brother, you speak Chinese well." ”

Wang Ding knew that many Burmese people could speak Chinese, but they could obviously hear the jerkiness in the language, and this middle-aged man who looked like he was in his thirties and was proficient in Mandarin showed that his identity was definitely Chinese.

The variety of items on his stall is relatively rich, in addition to the Buddha statues carved from wood, ivory bones and other things, there are also bamboo handmade vases and other things, of course, just decorations, which cannot hold water, and the production is quite exquisite, in addition to rattan products, colorful sand cages decorated with sequins, which are very Burmese characteristics.

"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......

Wang Ding 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 failure of the Allied forces in 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 as many as 70,000.

Many of the surviving Chinese soldiers stayed in Myanmar to live. Until the nineties of the last century. That dusty history has only been revealed. At that time, there was also a wave of activities to welcome the bones of the fallen heroes, and many veterans also returned to the mainland to find their roots.

The second type of people who stayed in Burma were the Kuomintang troops led by Li Mi, who were defeated from Yun#nan and other places during the Liberation War, entered Burma and entrenched themselves in the Golden Triangle region......

The Chinese who stayed in Myanmar were nothing more than these two groups of people. That's why Wang Ding asked this question, no matter what reason it was, they were all descendants of Yan and Huang.

After hearing Wang Ding's words, the stall owner was a little embarrassed and said: "My grandfather stayed in Burma during the expeditionary force, when they fought guerrilla warfare with the Japanese in the jungle, but later followed the defeated troops of the Kuomintang and fought with the Burmese Communist Party......

Almost all of the people left in Burma by the expeditionary force were veterans of a hundred battles, after fighting the Japanese. It had already settled in peace, but later the defeated Kuomintang troops fled to Burma. Out of the same spirit, many veterans took up arms again, of course, now these people are over the age of six, and large-scale wars no longer exist.

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

Wang Ding 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 Wang Ding's hand, and replied casually: "My surname is Tan, my name is Tan Guanghui, that five dollars, the kyats are five thousand, buy it with dollars, it is slightly cheaper......"

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

Wang Ding calculated in his heart, but it is more than 40 yuan RMB, which is still very cost-effective, and more importantly, this ivory carving is still old ivory, which looks solid and fine, soft and smooth in color, and the whole object is slightly yellowed in pure white, like something that has 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, has brought 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, any commercial import of ivory 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......"

Tan Guanghui is very talkative, although there are many Chinese tourists in Myanmar, but he does not often use Chinese, and he chatted with Wang Ding endlessly.

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

Wang Ding 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, Wang Ding didn't want to make this money, he mainly wanted to enrich his basement, saying that there was nothing but a few pieces of porcelain and ancient paintings. Tate was a little shabby.

"This little brother. That's a total of one hundred and thirty-eight dollars. You just give one hundred and thirty, and I'll wrap it up for you......"

Wang Ding bought a lot of things, there are more than ten of them, and the prices are not the same, Tan Guanghui took out more than ten small boxes from the big box behind him, and each of them has a corresponding ivory carving. I put them in one by one.

"Brother Tan, why don't you sell jadeite here? Isn't Myanmar producing jadeite? I see other stalls selling it......"

"Hehe, this is your first time in Myanmar, right?" Tan Guanghui asked with a smile.

"yes, what's wrong? Isn't Myanmar allowed to buy and sell jadeite? ”

Even Wang Ding is a little strange now, even if the export of wool is banned, if the Myanmar government even restricts finished jadeite, it will be a little too much, and in doing so, it will also make it impossible for their domestic jewelry companies to develop.

"It's not that they are not allowed to buy and sell, it's just that the two of them are buying jewelry and jade. Especially when it comes to jadeite, be sure to go to a regular store. And don't buy jade wool, that is, unprocessed and polished rough stones, which are all within the scope of state-controlled exports.

After purchasing, you must ask for a shopping voucher in case you go out of customs to check, those people sell, most of them are fake jadeite, that is, there is a real one, there is no invoice, and it is out of customs when you buy it, I don't want to deceive customers, so I simply don't put it......"

Tan Guanghui was very disdainful of the behavior of the stalls next to him, and showed a disapproving expression on his face.

Wang Ding and others are the first time to hear this statement, no wonder Myanmar is rich in jadeite, but there is no famous jade company, dare to be really restricted by the government, but think about it is normal, Myanmar's jadeite is estimated to be like Arab oil, as the main income of foreign exchange, naturally to be controlled by the government.

"Xie Lu Xie, you are welcome to return to China more in the future......"

Wang Ding took the ivory carvings that were put into the bag, stood up, and was about to say goodbye to this foreign countryman, when his eyes were suddenly attracted by an item in the box behind him, and the foot that stepped forward was taken back.

"Brother Tan, are the contents of your box for sale?"

Because he was squatting down just now, this stood up, Wang Ding saw clearly that in the box next to the stall owner, there was a tooth carving Buddha statue about 50 centimeters high, as thick as a child's arm, and in its clothing, it was hollowed out, the shape was elegant, and the carving was extremely exquisite.

What surprised Wang Ding is not these, but the shape of the Buddha statue, is the angry eyes of King Kong in Buddhism, as the saying goes: Bodhisattva low eyebrows, King Kong angry eyes, this Buddha carving King Kong face is vicious, holding a vajra, the whole carving is made of large materials, it can be called rare, and in its forehead, there is actually a piece of ruby, like King Kong Sky Eye, so that the whole ivory carving adds to the might.

Wang Ding saw this object for the first time, he liked it in his heart, this thing was placed in the living room of the courtyard, how majestic, it was said that such a large whole ivory carving, in addition to the fine big ivory carving boy play Buddha ornaments and sailboat ivory carvings in the chairman's memorial hall, there are really not many folk collections.

"You say this thing......

Tan Guanghui showed a hesitant look on his face, this object was captured by his grandfather from the Japanese back then, and it has always been kept as his own trophy, but the old man died a few years ago, and this thing was left to him.

Although he was going to sell it, when Wang Ding asked to buy it, he was really a little reluctant.

"Brother Tan, can you show me this ivory carving first?"

Wang Ding didn't know Tan Guanghui's thoughts, and he didn't know that Tan Guanghui was afraid of dying The old man scolded him for selling his grandfather's field and was not distressed, Wang Ding just liked this work that could be called a large ivory Buddha statue, and wanted to play with it in his hand.

"Yes, of course, you better come and take a look, this thing is not light......"

This object is not small, and the ivory carving works are relatively fragile and fragile, Tan Guanghui beckoned Wang Ding to come to his stall to see, and he was still wondering in his heart, should this thing be sold, and if so, how much should it be sold?

Wang Ding was not polite after hearing this, and directly stepped over the stall, walked to the side of the box, and took out the ivory carving that was almost as high as the box, and placed it on the ground.

In this way, the whole ivory carving ornament is completely presented in front of Wang Ding's eyes, the King Kong figure on the angry diamond ivory carving works, one foot on the ground, one foot slightly raised, the shape of the face is extremely exaggerated, the mouth is open, the nostrils are facing the sky, the eyes are looking ahead, the right hand is holding a vajra, the chest is exposed to the strong muscles, and the clothes in front of the body are fluttering, which is very beautiful.

Wang Ding has read some books about ancient Buddha carvings, this ivory carving ornament, should be a typical Sui and Tang Dynasty Buddhist statues, that is, adhering to the traditional Chinese carving exaggerated freehand style. It is also in line with the aesthetics of modern people's health and beauty of the human body.

It's just that I don't know how Lu Dao, which should be his own country, came to Myanmar, saying that in the past, only China bullied Myanmar, but Myanmar did not have the strength to burn and loot in China.

Carefully observing the subtleties, Wang Ding can see that the carver of this work has extremely profound skills, the knife is in place, the lines are simple and smooth, the details are clear and natural, and the most special thing is that the work is full of knife marks, and there is no way to polish off the carving marks, which fully embodies the characteristics of ivory.

On the one hand, it increases the strength and appeal of the work, and on the other hand, it also shows the author's full confidence in his carving skills. (To be continued......)