Riding the wind of rebirth

Master Ma finally smiled proudly: "You figured it out? This window is made entirely of large clams from the Taihu Lake area. It's rare that it's still in such good condition."

Although it is from the Qing Dynasty, the clam shells used for the lattice are very fragile, and it is extremely difficult to preserve them until now. In addition, the lattice of the window is very large, and if the clam shells are not large enough, it will be difficult to grind them flat, and the lattice will have a curvature, which is not beautiful.

The lattice on this window is very flat now, which shows how big the clam shells used at that time were. After being ground into inlays, because of the design of the crabapple-shaped mat-pattern brocade ground, people would think the lattice is a whole. It is both light-transmitting and wind-blocking, stronger and more durable than paper-pasted window lattices, and still maintains a certain degree of privacy, fully demonstrating the life wisdom of the common people in using local materials.

But such wisdom can no longer be used. There is no such big shell anymore. Ma Ye shook his head: "I want to make a replica, but I can't find the materials."

"Why not use celluloid?" Lin Wanqiu suggested, "Aren't the materials of guitar picks and ping-pong balls similar?"

Master Ma shook his head, feeling that something was missing.

"How about using sheep or cow horns?" Zhou Zhi suggested, "They are also natural materials and intangible cultural heritage."

"How to make curtains with sheep horns?" Lin Wanqiu was curious.

"You've actually seen them all." Zhou Zhi reminded him, "There are sheep-horn palace lanterns in the Forbidden City. The craftsmanship is to use the entire sheep's horn to expand and press into the shape of the lampshade. It's thin, light-transmissive, windproof, has no gaps, and is beautiful."

"If we use sheep horns instead of clam shells, it is not that complicated. We can just cut them open and use pressure equipment to process them like rolling dumpling skins. The effect is similar to that of clam shells, but they are not as fragile as clam shells. It is also a traditional craft."

"This is worth a try." Ma Ye smiled and said, "Why didn't I think of this technique? Elbow has more ingenious ideas!"

There is also a late Ming Dynasty Huanghuali carved dragon pattern panel, which also came from that ancestral hall, making Zhou Zhi very curious about which important person it belonged to. However, Master Ma did not reveal it, only saying that the owner who sold it to him asked for confidentiality.

Zhou Zhi doesn't quite understand what this mentality is. Are you ashamed of your ancestors?

The entire exhibition hall is still under decoration, and these important cultural relics are in the warehouse. The overall style of the exhibition hall is a combination of Chinese and Western styles, with half of it being a large house with green tiles and high doors, and half being a glass curtain wall space. In Zhou Zhi's opinion, it has some "Cantonese style".

Zhou Zhi felt familiar with this style at first glance. The Overseas Chinese Hotel near the West Lake was also following this path. "Is this also Wanqiu's work?"

"Oh, yes. How is it?" Lin Wanqiu asked.

Zhou Zhi wanted to say that the splicing was a bit sloppy and not very good, but considering that this was the best aesthetic at the moment, he just said: "Not bad."

"I know you don't like it." Lin Wanqiu rolled her eyes at Zhou Zhi: "You're an old-fashioned person."

Zhou Zhi was stunned for a moment, then realized that Lin Wanqiu might be right. At least the Suihuaxuan and Demiantang that he had built, as well as the courtyard houses that were rebuilt in the capital after moving ancient buildings from various places, basically did not have any major changes in appearance. They only introduced modern equipment in the interior to facilitate life, and the design tried to hide it as much as possible so as not to create aesthetic conflicts with the architecture.

Although he didn't do it on purpose, he did it, so when Lin Wanqiu ridiculed him, he had no way to refute it.

The venue of 5,000 square meters is not small, at least larger than several private collections that Zhou Zhi has visited. The decoration design is also very grand, and the layout planning also fully considers the physical strength and mood of the visitors. It can be said that it is more "human" than most public museums in the country.

At the same time, attention was paid to the echo between indoor and outdoor settings, and the details were also done very well.

"This place is nothing, the Overseas Chinese Hotel is more magnificent." Seeing Zhou Zhi's eyes fall on the small square outside the French window, Ma Ye said, "The whole West Lake is your waterscape... By the way, have you thought of a name for the venue over there?" "Really not, I don't even know what it looks like now. Sister Wanqiu is the sole agent." Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "Why don't you take on the name, Sister Wanqiu, anyway, you will be the major tenant by then."

"If I had to choose, it would be either Tianxin or Hanhai." Lin Wanqiu joked, "It would be Tianhanxinhai, Elbow, don't make fun of me."

"Since my senior brother's name is Guanfu, then my name should be Zhirong?" Zhou Zhi asked, "Guanfu and Zhirong, both come from the same sixteen chapters."

The word "Guan Fu" is taken from the 16th chapter of Tao Te Ching, "All things are created together, and I observe their return." It means that through observing all things, one can perceive the principle of the cycle of heaven.

There is an explanation later, saying that no matter how everything develops, it will eventually return to its original state. This is called "returning to the roots." Returning to the roots is the concept of "stillness," also called "returning to life," which means returning to the origin of regular development.

"Fu Ming" is the concept of "Chang", that is, "necessity". Understanding this inevitability is "Ming", that is, wisdom.

On the contrary, not understanding this inevitability, that is, "not knowing the constant", will lead to "disaster".

Therefore, starting from knowing the constant, there will also be a set of cause and effect relationships, namely, "Knowing the constant, tolerance is fairness, the palace is complete, the completeness is heaven, heaven is the way, the way is long-lasting, and there is no danger for the rest of your life."

"Guanfu" refers to the cognitive learning of rules, and "zhirong" refers to the leap improvement brought about by mastering the rules.

The purpose of “observing its repetition” is to “know the constant tolerance” and ultimately to “reach the Tao”; the premise of “knowing the constant tolerance” is to “observe its repetition” and first grasp the entire cycle of the development of things.

"Hey! You really know how to take advantage of ready-made opportunities!" Master Ma was also surprised by Zhou Zhi: "I have been thinking about this name for a long time, but you don't feel any effort at all."

"Zhirong, it sounds nice too." Lin Wanqiu thought the name was pretty good: "Suihuaxuan, Demiantang, Zhirongguan, they all sound like they are from the same lineage."

"As long as the name works, we should quickly look at Senior Brother's miscellaneous collection. This is also a large quantity."

Miscellaneous items have actually always been a major category in collections, referring to the summary outside of bulk collections.

The Guanfu Museum gave the miscellaneous items a nice name, called the "Crafts Museum". Indeed, each miscellaneous collection actually contains specific crafts.

For a collector, anything in his collection that is not organized into a system can be called “miscellaneous items”.

For example, the seals, rhinoceros horn pen holders, red imperial beads, purple clay water drops in Zhouzhi's collection, as well as the jeweled gold pens, crystal ink bottles, gold-cased pocket watches, gold-rimmed glasses, tie clips, and walrus ivory heather pipes received at the American airport can all be considered miscellaneous items.

At Ma Ye's place, there are mainly stationery items, including rhinoceros horn carving, red carving, mother-of-pearl, black lacquer and gold-outlined lacquerware, gold and silver ornaments, stationery items with bamboo inscriptions and green leaves, thirteen-line ivory fracture fans and other items.

But they are not necessarily all small pieces, or of average value. For example, Ma Ye’s museum has three cloisonné bronzes, which are both expensive and heavy. However, because they are not part of a series and are also "Internet celebrities" among traditional crafts, they are relegated here.

They are not a series but they are all high-quality products, and they have basically reached the national first-class standard. (End of this chapter)