For China people who care about the auction of animal heads, I'm afraid some people will feel "lonely".
Throughout the Yuanmingyuan 12 bronze animal heads auction, we can see that this is a very successful commercial speculation. Behind-the-scenes manipulators skillfully used the well-known historical resources in the late Qing Dynasty, made the best use of the impetuousness of China media, and fully mobilized the almost paranoid patriotic enthusiasm of Chinese people after the reform and opening up, thus perfectly hunting huge commercial interests.
Obviously, Christie's and Sotheby's have benefited the most from one auction dispute after another. There is nothing new and special about these two auction houses. They just create troubles, detonate news points, and then provoke a war of words and a "money fight" to enjoy the "benefits of fishermen." Comparing the two "campaigns" conducted by Japanese and China auction houses since 1980s, it is not difficult to find that the methods they used in the two countries are almost the same, and they are almost full-page plagiarism, only slightly adjusting their emotional teasing skills.
After World War II, Japan, as a defeated country, lost its political reputation and right to speak in international affairs. The Japanese, who have always had the mentality of "small country with few people", rely on the perseverance of the nation, shoulder the burden of historical trial and make great efforts to govern the country. It took only about 30 years to successfully realize the second economic take-off.
By the end of 1980s, due to the appearance of bubble economy, hot money flooded. At this time, Christie's and Sotheby's quickly seized the opportunity and staged a series of art auction dramas in front of Japanese entrepreneurs, which made people dazzled and eager to try.
Therefore, investing in art will soon become a new choice for the rich in Japan. In the form of public auction, the Japanese have repeatedly frustrated western buyers, effectively vented their pent-up national pride since World War II, and spent billions of yen to buy back a Picasso painting from London, which can actually make Yamato people revel for several days. Investors are often regarded as "national heroes".
In China, the reform and opening up after the "Cultural Revolution" generally benefited Chinese people, and some people quickly became tens of millions and billionaires, forming a new rich class centered on Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Shanxi. These people have personal self-esteem beyond the intellectual elite and are often easily influenced by public opinion on investment issues.
Because of this, after the Japanese bubble economy burst, Christie's and Sotheby's quickly shifted the focus of the Asian art market to China. On the one hand, they set up several high-priced cultural relics benchmarks, such as "Yuan Qinghua Guiguzi painted a pot down the mountain", which made the rich in China fascinated by the huge profits of art investment. On the other hand, they kept selling cultural relics plundered by western powers in previous wars of aggression against China to China, and used their passionate stories to stimulate the "patriotic enthusiasm" of the rich in China, thus easily controlling the art investment direction of the rich. The lost cultural relics in China, such as the animal head of Yuanmingyuan, have become cash machines for auction houses and speculators.
Auction of Yuanmingyuan cultural relics is essentially a carnival for westerners! Christie's and Sotheby's successfully kidnapped the national sentiment and patriotic enthusiasm of China people and took away the huge hard-earned money of China people.
Marx once said that history is always strikingly similar. The first tragedy appeared, and the second farce often appeared. Those who "later ruled Shu" had to ponder over the reason why the farce was repeated.
(Reference:
Who is auctioning China? Wu Shu, Shaanxi People's Publishing House, 20 10).
But I looked at my hometown, and the twilight was getting thicker, and the mist of sadness was filled on the river waves.
The Journey of Yuanmingyuan Cultural Relics Scattered to the End of the World
Compile | Liu
How many cultural relics have been lost in Yuanmingyuan since/kloc-0 was burned by the British and French allied forces in 860 is still a historical mystery.
Wang Daocheng, an expert in Yuanmingyuan, found that the imperial gardens such as the Summer Palace kept a "display list", which recorded the furnishings of different buildings such as Qin Zheng Hall (now Renshou Hall) and Foxiang Pavilion in detail, accurate to every floor and even every table. However, the display list of Yuanmingyuan has not been preserved, which may have been destroyed by the war, thus losing the basis for accurately investigating the lost cultural relics in Yuanmingyuan.
According to the statistics of UNESCO, there are16400 pieces of China cultural relics in more than 200 museums in 47 countries around the world, while experts in China estimate that the number of cultural relics scattered in the hands of private collectors is about 10 times! The cultural relics of Yuanmingyuan are undoubtedly an important part of it. Chen Mingjie, director of the Yuanmingyuan Management Office, once said: Since 1860, Yuanmingyuan cultural relics have been burned in the "burning Yuanmingyuan" and have been continuously lost through various channels, most of which have been lost overseas, especially in European countries such as Britain and France, and many in the United States and Japan. Because the inventory of Yuanmingyuan was destroyed in the fire, it was impossible to verify how many cultural relics there were at that time. According to the current information, there are at least 6.5438+0.5 million pieces of Yuanmingyuan cultural relics scattered at home and abroad.
As a royal garden combining Chinese and western styles, Yuanmingyuan, which was built 300 years ago, has experienced too many vicissitudes. Its humiliating experience is actually the historical epitome of China. The invasion of western powers tore open the wound of Yuanmingyuan. 300 years later, when we tried to find and touch these wounds, we found that the real cure was still far away. Countless China national treasures lost overseas can only sing history in a foreign land. Just like the cultural relics looted from Yuanmingyuan, it is easy to feel sad when you see the treasures originating in China in a foreign country.
1905, Kang Youwei saw the jade seal, jade seal, jade bottle and other cultural relics lost in Yuanmingyuan in the French Museum. He couldn't help but write sadly in Fran's The Journey to the West: Once the essence of China accumulates over time, it will be very painful!
The China Pavilion in Fontainebleau Palace is all the treasures of Yuanmingyuan.
France Fontainebleau Palace is located on the left bank of the Seine River, only 60 kilometers away from the capital Paris. Fontainebleau means "beautiful blue spring" and is named after an octagonal Koizumi. The springs in this area are crystal clear. 1 137, French king Louis VI built this magnificent castle by the spring for hunting.
In this famous palace, there is a China Pavilion. There are two stone lions in front of the pavilion. There are more than 0/000 pieces of cultural relics in the museum, and 320 pieces are on display, all of which were plundered from Yuanmingyuan in 1860.
After the British and French allied forces looted the Yuanmingyuan, General Meng Daobang, commander of the French Chinese Expeditionary Force, presented a string of beads of the Qing emperor and two strings of beads of the empress to Eugénie, the queen of Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte. But the queen was not happy about it, because she had heard that the pockets of these "expeditionary" officers in China were full of gold and silver jewelry, so montauban decided to give her three more cars (a total of seven cars) as gifts. It was on this basis that Queen Eugénie built the magnificent China Pavilion.
A huge stupa, about 2 meters high, is placed in the most conspicuous position of the China Pavilion, which is basically similar to the existing stupa in the Forbidden City. This tower is bronzed and gilded with emeralds, which is rare in the world. According to historical records, Fan Xianglou has two golden pagodas, the Hanjing Hall in Changchun Garden of Yuanmingyuan, and one of them is similar to the Golden Pagoda in Yaohuilou Buddha Hall of the Forbidden City.
At the top of the pagoda are the sun, the moon, the umbrella and the three treasures, which represent the most ideal paradise in Buddhism. The sun and the moon are inlaid with huge emeralds. There is a niche in the middle semicircle, and there is a statue of Sakyamuni in the niche, which is natural in shape and exquisite in manufacturing art, and there is a model of King Kong Tota in Xumi Mountain below, which is a typical Tibetan Buddhist pagoda style.
There are a pair of bronze carved dragons on the left and right sides of the Golden Pagoda, which are the same in shape as those placed in front of the emperor's throne in the Forbidden City and Summer Resort, and also like those placed in front of the emperor's throne in the Guangming Hall of Zheng Da in Yuanmingyuan.
There are a pair of gilded chimes and a cloisonne unicorn in front of the golden pagoda. The gilded chimes are two of the sixteen chimes in Anyou Palace in Yuanmingyuan, but the other fourteen chimes are lost somewhere. Cloisonne Kirin is round and lifelike, with long ears and short limbs and lovely shape. It was favored by Queen Eugénie, who once put the unicorn in her old palace room.
Three huge "reeling" products occupied the whole ceiling space during the Qianlong period. The three patterns seem to be the same, but they are slightly different. They are all the same contents of Tibetan Buddhism, namely, the Buddha III and his disciples eighteen arhats and four donkey kong. From the content, these three masterpieces should belong to the larger Buddhist temples or temples in Yuanmingyuan.
There is a huge cloisonne chandelier hanging on the ceiling of the museum, and there is a huge cloisonne square box below. According to analysis, it should be an object for placing ice cubes and fruits in the Qingyan Hall of Kyushu in Yuanmingyuan. There are five huge cloisonne offerings between cabinets in the museum, with incense burners in the middle and candlesticks and vases symmetrically placed on both sides. Cloisonne of this size is rare in China, and it should be an artistic treasure in Qianlong period. All the five offerings have circular patterns, and the colors are jade blue, yellow green, turquoise, agate red and bright yellow.
There are Shang and Zhou bronzes, Ming and Qing official kiln porcelains in China Pavilion (important porcelains include Xuande blue and white lotus bowl, Kangxi Yongzheng Ganlong multicolored pastel bottles and pots, etc.). ), Ming Dynasty cloisonne fuming furnace (palace smoked), statues, chandeliers, all kinds of jade carvings, all kinds of wishful, armor, silk embroidery. Besides paired ivory and rhinoceros horn, there are also jade, agate, coral, crystal, carved lacquer and other handicrafts. The shoulder strap of the court was lifted. It is said that Queen Eugénie once rode this shoulder strap after she was abducted to France.
The Imperial Seal of Yuanmingyuan in the Oriental Museum in Paris
Xue Fucheng, a diplomat at the end of the Qing Dynasty, recorded in the Diary of an Envoy to Britain, France and Italy that in the 16th year of Guangxu (1890), he went to Paris to visit the Oriental Museum after dinner. He found in the China showroom "there are two imperial seals of Yuanmingyuan. When you say' Baohe Taihe', the sapphire is printed and slightly larger. One is' Yuanmingyuan Seal', which is printed with white jade, slightly smaller. "
The French military museum collects dried dragon armor.
The French military museum was built in 167 1 year by French king Louis XIV. It is the largest military museum in Europe. It was originally a national welfare institution to support disabled soldiers, but in modern times it has become a military museum. There are basically four exhibition halls in the whole museum, namely, the history museum of infantry light weapons, the heavy weapons museum, the World War II museum and Napoleon's tomb, with the time span from 1540 to 1945.
At present, the saber and armor of the Qing emperor presented by Queen Eugénie to Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte are on display in the French Military Museum, which should be the relics of Yuanmingyuan.
Kangxi Yu Ruyi of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
1860 After the Yuanmingyuan was burned, "Kangxi Jade Ruyi" was plundered and lost overseas, and is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
"Kangxi Jade Ruyi" is carved with a precious white jade, nearly half a meter long, white and green in color, and carved into the shape of porous fungus. The top of the hilt is engraved with the word "imperial system", which is a gift from courtier Wu, expressing his wishes for peace in the world and abundant crops. More importantly, pay tribute to the emperor. The inscription below reads: "I wish you many years, the world is salty." Minister Wu came in. "
As early as the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties in China, Jade Ruyi had become the favorite thing in the hands of emperors and generals. The ancients combined the three-dimensional figurative virtue of "a gentleman is unreasonable, and a jade never leaves his body" with the auspicious implication of wishful thinking, thus achieving the wishful artifact of auspicious culture with China characteristics.
The change and development of Ruyi modeling reached the highest level in Qing Dynasty, which not only greatly surpassed the previous generation in quantity, but also paid more attention to materials, crafts and ornamentation. Ruyi's styles in Qing Dynasty are very rich, with sunflower petals, cloud heads, lotus flowers, ganoderma lucidum and other different styles on the single handle. The auction prices of previous auctions are amazing, and Jade Ruyi is worth millions at every turn. Don't say royal ruyi, even ordinary ruyi is like ganoderma lucidum at both ends, and the patterns are long handles with heart-shaped or cloud-shaped shapes. According to the quality of jade, the price is between several hundred thousand.
Cultural relics of Yuanmingyuan in Britain
Zhang Deyi (1847- 19 18) was an English teacher of Emperor Guangxu and an envoy of the Qing Dynasty to Britain, Italy and Belgium. 1866 as the first member of China's tour group to Europe to travel abroad. After returning home, he wrote a diary-style travel story, Sailing Story. He wrote in his book: On the morning of the fourth day of April in the fifth year of Tongzhi (1866), a friend named Tu came to visit him and asked him out to play. They walked more than ten miles by car and came to a place where the room was spacious and clean. They saw on the shelf that "everything listed up and down was lost in China Yuanmingyuan, so they bought it and sold it." There are dragon robes, sable robes, Zhu Chao, Empress Zhu Chao, Zhu Cui, jade articles, antiques, various painting axes, statues and golden cocks. Among them, Tianma, Yin Shu and other clothes are royal things. "
The Paris Library of France collects 40 scenes of Yuanmingyuan.
"Forty Scenes of Yuanmingyuan" include aboveboard, diligent and virtuous, Fanghu Scenic Area, Pengdao Yaotai and so on. The Fu on Forty Scenes of Yuanmingyuan was originally drawn by the most famous court painters at that time, Tang Dai, Shen Yuan and Lengmei, according to the will of Emperor Qianlong, and it took nine years (1744) and eleven years.
Forty sub-landscape paintings are all painted in silk, each with 40 landscape poems written by Wang Youdun, a senior minister of the Ministry of Industry. Buildings, springs and other landscapes are drawn in realistic style, with profound artistic conception, meaningful and elegant calligraphy, perfect unity of poems, books and paintings, and 99 seals such as "Yuanmingyuan Treasure" are stamped on them. The whole painting was originally placed in Fengsan Selflessness Hall in Yuanmingyuan, which is called hall color painting.
1860, Yuanmingyuan was killed, and the only treasure of poetry and painting that can reflect the original appearance of Yuanmingyuan was taken away by Colonel Dupan, a French officer. After the British and French allied forces burned the Yuanmingyuan, they set up a trophy selection committee to select the most beautiful gifts for Queen Victoria and Emperor Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte. Du Pan is the French representative of this committee. He "chose one for himself first" and "Forty Scenes of Yuanmingyuan" became his private property.
Back in France, 1862 From the end of February to the beginning of March, Du Pan held four auctions of his collection, which was reported in the Monitor at that time. "Forty Poems of Yuanmingyuan" is numbered 329 in the lot catalogue, with a note from a Sinology professor at the French Academy. The reserve reserve price is set at 30,000 francs, but if the bid at auction does not exceed 65,438+0,000 francs, the lot will be taken back.
On May 2nd, 1862 was auctioned again, but it still failed to reach the expected price. Finally, Dupan sold this rare treasure to a Paris bookseller for 4000 francs. Since then, the director of the printmaking department of the National Library of France has bought it from booksellers for 4,200 francs. In this way, this orphan product entered the National Library of France, with 2,500 pieces, which was the most expensive collection of printmaking in that year.
There are many pictures on the Internet. You can Baidu yourself as needed.