Riding the wind of rebirth

Closing the picture book, Zhou Zhi sighed, "Our elders have set such a good example; it wouldn't be right for me not to do something."

The godfather's small eyes lit up immediately, and his nose turned a little red after drinking the beer: "Oh? Elbow, don't push yourself too hard..."

"Really? Then forget it." Zhou Zhi couldn't stand his godfather acting like this.

Then he got a slap from his godmother: "You little rascal, you were quite well-behaved when you were little, but now you dare to tease your godfather!"

Zhou Zhi laughed and said, "There are two versions of the Four Great Calligraphers of the Qing Dynasty. One version is Weng, Liu, Liang, and Wang, and the other version is Weng, Liu, Cheng, and Tie. The Manzhou Museum has a collection of their works. According to the former version, Liang Tongshu and Wang Wenzhi are missing, while according to the latter version, Tiebao is missing. So, I will donate three pieces of calligraphy to the museum. No matter which version of the Four Great Calligraphers of the Qing Dynasty is used, we will complete the collection."

"Great!" The godfather clapped his hands with joy: "This donation is fantastic! Tie Bao is alright, but Liang Tongshu and Wang Wenzhi's works are so hard to find these days."

There are certain methods to museum donations and collections. Generally speaking, provincial and municipal museums that can be rated as first-class museums will have a considerable number of collections, at least tens of thousands of items.

However, to elevate the quality of a collection, the most important thing is to create a series of advantages, and preferably unique ones.

For example, the coffin paintings from the Han Dynasty and the tombstones from the Song Dynasty that the museum currently possesses are a series of collections that are unique in the country.

Secondly, there are exclusive collections and supplementary series.

For example, the Qilin wine warmer is a unique piece nationwide, making it an exclusive collection.

As for completing the series, that's what Zhouzhi is currently working on. There are quite a few museums across the country that collect works by the four masters of the Qing Dynasty, but museums that have collected all four, or even all six, of the Qing Dynasty calligraphic works suddenly become very few and far between.

Back then, the Weng family donated only a few cultural relics to the Shanghai Museum, but each one filled a gap in the museum's collection. This is the difference between "knowing how to donate" and "not knowing how to donate."

Liang Tongshu was the son of Liang Shizheng. He had been famous for sixty years and had countless calligraphy works. In theory, it would not have been difficult to collect them.

The problem is that he was already very famous at the time, with his reputation spreading to Ryukyu, Korea, and other island nations. During the period of foreign exchange earnings after the reform and opening up, Liang Tongshu's works were first sought after in these places, and a large number of private collections in China flowed to these three places. As a result, Liang Tongshu's calligraphy is now hard to find in China.

Wang Wenzhi was in a similar situation. At the age of 26, he was sent as an envoy to Ryukyu to confer the title of King of Ryukyu. The Ryukyuans regarded his works as treasures. Four years later, he ranked third in the first class of the imperial examination and was known as "the third-ranked scholar in light ink".

His works are now mainly collected in several national and private museums in Tokyo, Okinawa, and Kyoto.

Compared to the other two, Teibo, who is not popular in the island nation, has the highest official position and status among the three, but his works are easier to collect in China, and they generally do not exceed 50,000 yuan at domestic auctions.

The fact that the Manzhou Museum was able to gather six Qing dynasty families, including the rare Liang Tongshu and Wang Wenzhi, shows that Zhou Zhi's gift truly touched his godfather's heart.

“Mr. Jiang Zhaohe’s works have special significance to me and are an indispensable part of my collection of Sichuan painters. I cannot donate them to the museum,” Zhou Zhi said. “However, the two largest paintings, ‘Second Brother Leaving Sichuan’ and ‘Returning Home,’ can be loaned to the museum for long-term exhibition, which is my contribution to my hometown.”

"That's great, that's great!" The godfather rubbed his hands together excitedly. "That's perfect."

Many people may not be familiar with Jiang Zhaohe, the painter from Manzhou, but almost every Chinese person has seen his works, because the figures of Li Shizhen and Du Fu in Chinese textbooks are based on his paintings. The painting "Li Shizhen" is housed in the Manzhou Museum.

However, the works collected in Manzhou are all relatively small in size. Jiang Zhaohe's most famous large works are "Refugee Map" created during the Japanese occupation period.

However, the painting was later confiscated by the Japanese puppet government and then disappeared without a trace until it was discovered after the founding of the People's Republic of China. It was eventually donated to the National Art Museum of China.

Unfortunately, when it was rediscovered, only half of the "Refugee Map" remained.

Jiang Zhaohe's complete large-scale group portrait works are now in Zhou Zhi's hands, namely "Second Brother Leaving Sichuan" created for the Sichuan Army's resistance against Japan and "Returning Home" celebrating the victory.

These two paintings are Jiang Zhaohe's most important works besides "Refugee Map". They also mark the beginning of Zhouzhi's collection of large-scale paintings by modern and contemporary masters, as well as the beginning of his collection of works by modern and contemporary painters in Sichuan. Therefore, they are of great significance and it is really hard to part with them.

However, even just a long-term loan exhibition made the godfather very happy. With two masterpieces and more than thirty other works as a foundation, the Jiang Zhaohe Art Museum, which spans one floor, could be set up. It is of great significance for a famous artist who came from Manzhou to have an exhibition hall for his works in his hometown.

“As for wine vessels, I can also donate a batch,” Zhou Zhi said. “However, they are not as good as the top-quality pieces that Grandpa Yu has. They are mainly porcelain pieces from the Hutian Kiln, Longchang Kiln, and Hubei Makou Kiln that were discarded in the past. They are all folk kiln products, but they are all exquisite pieces that I am reluctant to discard. The glazes include celadon, shadow celadon, white glaze, and brown glaze, ranging from the Ming Dynasty to the Republic of China. There are about two or three hundred pieces.”

“Let’s donate mine too,” Mai Xiaomiao interjected.

"Oh? Little Miao has a collection too?" her godmother asked with a smile.

"It was a set of porcelain that Elbow gave me to make into a tea set. He said the color was plum green, and it used to be a wine vessel."

“Yes, that’s a set of wine vessels from the late Qing Dynasty, brought from Jingdezhen. They’re not very valuable in themselves, but they’re exquisite.” Zhou Zhi smiled and said, “Since Xiao Miao is so thoughtful, let’s donate them together. They were all collected in Jiachuan before, so they’re somewhat related to the wine culture of Jiangyang.”

"Then thank you, Xiao Miao." Godfather smiled and nodded to Xiao Miao: "Oh, by the way, I also have something here that your sworn brother brought back from overseas. Can you check it? If it's real, you can donate it too."

As he spoke, he dragged a wooden box out from under the bed in the bedroom and took out a porcelain vase from it: "It says 'Made in the Yongzheng period' on the bottom. If it's real, keeping it at home would be suspicious, so it's better to donate it."

"Oh? This is a nice item." Zhou Zhi took it and examined it closely.

This is a large vase with a white background and a design of "Phoenix Seeking Its Mate". Two colorful phoenixes are seen flying and looking at each other among the peony trees. The peonies, phoenixes, rocks, peach blossoms, forsythia, the birds flying alongside, cranes, and the poems on the vase are all exquisitely beautiful.

Upon closer inspection of the base, in addition to the customs wax mark, the inscription on the bottom is a four-character blue enamel mark in regular script: "Made by Imperial Order of Yongzheng".

“The items are fine, but they’re not from this dynasty; they’re a donation.” Zhou Zhi smiled and said, “It’s rare that my sworn brother could find such good things to send back. You two can rest assured and accept them.”

"A fake? Then it's worthless. How can you call it a good thing?" the godfather asked. "Explain yourself to me properly." (End of Chapter)