Chapter 1961 Light of Civilization

As the blackout curtain was slowly lifted by two museum staff, the Tang Dynasty copy of Gu Kaizhi's "Admonitions for Women's History", the earliest surviving Chinese silk painting, was finally presented to everyone.

This is a huge silk painting with a length of 348 cm and a height of 25 cm. It is peacefully placed in a long bulletproof glass showcase, blooming with the light of civilization.

To be precise, what is presented to Ye Tian and the others at this time is only a part of the whole picture scroll of "Nv Shi Zhen Tu", and it is also the most important part of the original work.

There are two other sections of the picture scroll, which are stored in two other bulletproof glass display cabinets not far from each other. They are still covered by black blackout curtains, and the real content cannot be seen for the time being.

The second part is the part added by later generations, about 329 cm long and 25 cm high; the third part is the pine spring bamboo stone painted by Zou Yigui in the Qianlong period, 74 cm long and 24.8 cm high.

Because the age is too long, the original part of the "Nv Shi Zhen Tu" in the showcase is not very clear, it has already turned yellow, some parts have faded, and some parts still have slag, which is very fragile.

However, as an ancient painting on silk with a long history of more than one thousand years, the preservation of the "Nv Shi Zhen Tu" is already very good.

This supreme masterpiece in the history of Chinese painting art has been preserved to this day after a long millennium, which itself is a breathtaking miracle.

In this painting, Gu Kaizhi, a famous painter in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, used his superb painting techniques to perfectly express the twelve deeds of female models recorded in "Nv Shi Pian" written by Zhang Hua, a famous statesman and writer in the Western Jin Dynasty.

Although this work contains the moral creed that women should abide by, Gu Kaizhi's depiction of the daily life of upper-class women, such as dressing and dressing, truly reproduces the femininity and reserve of ancient noble women.

Under the painter's pen, the figure, posture, clothing and other aspects of every noble woman and even the maid in the painting are very in line with their identity and personality.

"The Admonitions of Women's History" perfectly portrays a series of images of court women with different identities, and to a certain extent, it faithfully reflects the life scenes of women in the era in which Gu Kaizhi lived.

Through this famous painting, which can be called a priceless treasure, people can get a glimpse of the life of the Eastern Jin Dynasty court, and even a corner of social and economic development, just like a history book.

Looking at the "Picture of Female History's Proverbs" placed flat in the bulletproof glass display cabinet under the dim light, Ye Tian's excited eyes lit up, and he was already intoxicated in it in a blink of an eye, and he was completely selfless admiring it.

However, David, the others, and Prince William, who were also standing in front of this showcase, how could they understand this thousand-year-old famous painting from ancient China!

For them, this thousand-year-old painting is too old, even a little broken, and they have no idea what the meaning of the content on the painting is.

But each of them is very clear that this thousand-year-old painting that they can't understand at all must be priceless, otherwise it will not become the treasure of the Chinese Pavilion of the British Museum, let alone make Ye Tian miss it so much!

After taking a few glances at this thousand-year-old painting, David whispered curiously:

"Steven, please introduce this thousand-year-old painting that makes you worry about it, let us know about it too"

As soon as his words fell, Prince William next to him continued:

"Yes, Steven, please introduce this ancient painting, I would like to know more about this painting too"

Following their words,

Ye Tian suddenly woke up.

At the same time, everyone at the scene turned their heads to look over, most of them were curious, looking forward to hearing Ye Tian's professional and wonderful explanation.

As for those guys from the British Museum, apart from curiosity, they also showed a bit of sophistication in their eyes. They really wanted to see Ye Tian's understanding of this thousand-year-old painting.

Ye Tian turned his head to look at David and Prince William, then glanced at the crowd, and then nodded with a smile and said:

"David, Your Royal Highness, since you want to know about this thousand-year-old painting from China, I will explain it to you. To be honest, I still can't believe that I can win this thousand-year-old painting.

"The Admonitions of Women's History" was written by Gu Kaizhi, a famous painter in the Eastern Jin Dynasty in ancient China 1,600 years ago. It is his most famous work. Unfortunately, the original work has been lost. The painting in front of us is a copy of the Tang Dynasty.

Even so, this Tang Dynasty copy of "Nv Shi Zhen Tu" has a history of more than a thousand years, and it is the most outstanding one among all "Nv Shi Zhen Tu" copies, and it is the earliest surviving Chinese silk painting."

"Wow! It's a miracle that a painting from more than a thousand years ago can be preserved to this day, and it looks basically complete!"

Prince William said with emotion, and other people who saw the painting for the first time also had shocking expressions.

After a short pause, Ye Tian continued to say:

"The "Picture of Admonitions for Women's History" is painted on a silk-textured silk scroll, and it is an illustrated picture scroll. The content shown in the painting comes from the outstanding work "Nvshi Pian" by Zhang Hua, a famous writer in the Western Jin Dynasty in ancient China.

The original text of "Nu Shi Pian" has a total of twelve sections, and this painting is also divided into twelve sections. Only nine sections are left. The other three sections have been lost in the long history, leaving a huge regret.

Not long after the creation was completed, this painting became a priceless treasure and was highly praised by rulers and literati of all dynasties in China. In the Southern and Northern Dynasties after the Eastern Jin Dynasty, this "Nv Shi Zhen Tu" was included in Liang Neifu.

In the later Sui and Tang dynasties, this famous painting was kept in the imperial palace. The Hongwenguan seal left on the painting and several other Tang court seals are the best explanations for this.

In addition, Gu Kaizhi's famous painting was also clearly recorded in the ancient book "Records of Emperor Taizong" in the Tang Dynasty. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, due to the war, this "Picture of Admonishment to Women's History" was lost to the people.

During the reign of Huizong Zhenghe in the Song Dynasty, this famous painting was collected in the inner palace again, and then followed the Song Dynasty royal family to the south, and continued to be collected in the inner palace of the Southern Song Dynasty. The several book collection seals on the painting are enough to prove it.

Later, this famous painting fell into the hands of Jia Sidao, the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, and Yan Song, the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty in the 16th century. This is also clearly recorded in the ancient book "Tianshui Bingshanlu".

Next, this thousand-year-old painting was circulated and changed hands many times among many famous ministers and literati in the Ming Dynasty. After entering the Qing Dynasty, the fate of this famous painting remained the same, and it was still circulated among many famous literati.

During this period, many private seals were added to the paintings, and there were also very clear written records in some ancient books. It was not until the Qianlong period that the "Nv Shi Zhen Tu" was included in the palace.

After receiving this famous painting through the ages, Emperor Qianlong regarded it as a treasure and couldn’t put it down. He left many seals on this painting, and even painted an orchid behind the famous painting through the ages.”

"My God! This painting has been collected by so many people, and there are so many emperors among them. No wonder it is so valuable! It really deserves its name!"

David was amazed in a low voice, and everyone else was also amazed.

Ye Tian glanced at these guys again, and then continued to speak loudly:

"On this famous painting through the ages, Emperor Qianlong is the one who left the most seals, which shows how much he loves it. Of course, this behavior of Emperor Qianlong is not advisable, especially the orchid he painted.

But who made him the emperor? Naturally, he can do whatever he wants! The time soon came to 1900. After the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing, they set fire to the Yuanmingyuan, the "Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens", and ransacked it.

During that catastrophe, the famous painting "Admonitions of the Female History" was stolen by someone in the chaos. The person who stole this famous painting was the British captain Johnson who was stationed near the Old Summer Palace at that time.

However, Johnson's family argues that the "Admonitions of Women's History" was given to Johnson by a Chinese lady to thank Johnson for saving his life. Obviously, this is nonsense! "

Speaking of this, Ye Tian deliberately glanced at Prince William to see how the second heir to the British king would react.

Prince William's face blushed a little, and he returned to normal in a blink of an eye. Obviously, he didn't take the catastrophe and despicable robbery caused by the British more than a hundred years ago to his heart.

Perhaps under their so-called gentlemanly demeanor and gentle aristocratic temperament, there is still a robber's heart hidden.

Without the slightest pause, Ye Tianqing's clear voice still kept coming out, reaching the ears of everyone present.

"After Johnson returned to the UK, he didn't realize the value of the "Admonitions of the Female History", until he took the "Admonitions of the Female History" to the British Museum and asked the librarians to estimate the value of the jade buttons on the painting, which attracted the attention of the librarians.

Realizing the great value of this famous painting, the two librarians of the British Museum immediately sold it and accepted the painting at a price of 25 pounds. I have to say that Johnson is really a blind fool.

Since then, this famous painting has been kept in the British Museum, and it has become the treasure of the China Pavilion of the British Museum. Until three days ago, this famous painting became my possession again.

But it is a pity, and it is extremely regrettable, that after the British Museum received this famous painting through the ages, due to the lack of knowledge in Chinese painting and calligraphy, it actually mounted it according to the method of Japanese painting.

What's even more exasperating is that the British Museum actually cut this famous painting that has been handed down through the ages for thousands of years into three sections.

As a result, the inscriptions and postscripts left by many literati in the Ming and Qing Dynasties on this painting have been cut out cruelly, and the cut out parts have been lost, forming a historical fault, which can no longer be verified.”

Speaking of this, Ye Tian couldn't help looking at Fisher, the curator of the British Museum, and several other high-level officials of the British Museum, and a trace of hatred quickly flashed in his eyes.

As for those British guys, their faces turned red, and they were somewhat embarrassed.