Jianbao life

Chapter 785 Wrap around the beam?

After hearing what Chu Chen said, Wu Ke looked at him strangely.

"Why, have flowers grown on my face?" Chu Chen touched his face and asked in surprise.

Wu Kewen said with a "giggle" coquettish smile: "If you can grow flowers on your face, it will be a miracle through the ages, I just feel strange, why do you have to say that the production of this piano must be earlier than the Tang Dynasty? Have you found any clues?"

Chu Chen smiled and said, "What clue do you want to know, don't you just look at the inscription on the back?"

"That's right! How did I forget about the inscription!"

Wu Ke suddenly realized, and then quickly turned the piano body over.

The structure of the guqin is still very particular, the upper part of the "qin head" is called the forehead.The lower part of the forehead is inlaid with hardwood for strings, called "Yueshan", also known as "Linyue", which is the highest part of the piano.

There are two large and small sound grooves at the bottom of the piano, the larger one in the middle is called "Longchi", and the smaller one at the end is called "Fengmao".This is called going up the mountain and down the lake, and there are dragons and phoenixes, which symbolize everything in the world.

There is a hardwood strip inlaid on the forehead side of Yueshan, which is called "Chenglu".There are seven "string eyes" on it, which are used to wear and tie strings.There are seven "Qin Zhen" for tuning strings.On the side of the piano head, there are "phoenix eyes" and "protectors".

From the waist down, it is called "qin tail".The end is inlaid with a hardwood "dragon gum" with shallow grooves, which are used for stringing.The borders on both sides of the gingiva are called "crown angles", also known as "scorched tails".The exposed part of the seven strings passes through Yueshan and Long's Gum, and turns to the pair of "geese feet" at the bottom of the piano, which symbolizes the seven stars.There are thirteen "qin emblems" on the surface of the piano, which symbolize the twelve months of the year and one leap month.

Generally, the name of the qin is engraved on the Longchi, but Wu Ke was a little dumbfounded when she saw it, because although there were inscriptions on it, it was in gold, and she couldn't understand it at all.

Seeing Wu Ke looking at him, Chu Chen said with a smile, "The word 'Zuoliang' is engraved on the top of this dragon pool, and the four characters 'Yuyin Wailiang' are engraved on the left and right sides."

The lingering sound is around the beam, and its language comes from a story in "Liezi": During the Zhou Dynasty, a woman named Han E went to Qi State, and when she passed by Yongmen, she ran out of money and food, so she had no choice but to sing and beg for food.Her mournful singing voice hovered in the air, like a lone goose singing.Three days after Han E's departure, her singing still echoes between the roof beams, which is unforgettable.

After hearing Chu Chen's explanation, Wu Ke's eyes widened, and he exclaimed in shock, "A Chen, you mean, this is the winding beam among the four famous pianos?"

The Four Famous Qins in Ancient China refer to the "Hao Zhong" of Duke Huan of Qi, the "Raoliang" of King Zhuang of Chu, the "Green Qi" of Sima Xiangru and the "Jiaowei" of Cai Yong.These four pieces of Qin are known as the "Four Famous Qins".

Chu Chen nodded and said, "That's what's written on it, at least the name of this guqin should be 'Zuoliang'."

Wu Ke was very surprised and said: "Didn't the Raoliang beam be smashed by the king of Chuzhuang? Is this a fake?"

It is said that "Zaoliang" was a gift from a man named Hua Yuan to King Zhuang of Chu, and its production date is unknown.King Zhuang of Chu has been playing the qin all day since he got the "Zuoliang", intoxicated by the qin music.

Once, King Zhuang of Chu did not go to court for seven consecutive days, forgetting all important national affairs.The concubine, Fan Ji, was extremely anxious, and advised King Zhuang of Chu, saying: "Your Majesty, you are too obsessed with music! Jiangshan Sheji. Now, the king loves the zither around the beam so much, and if he does not come to the court for seven days, is he willing to lose his country and life?"

King Zhuang of Chu fell into deep thought when he heard the words.He couldn't resist the temptation of "wrapping the beam", so he had to bear the pain to part with his favorite, and ordered someone to beat the piano with Tie Ruyi, and the body of the piano was broken into several pieces.Since then, the famous Qin "Zuoliang" envied by thousands of people has never been played.

A qin that had been broken into several pieces in the legend appeared in front of him again, and the appearance of the qin did not look like what it was more than 600 years ago. Of course, Wu Ke had reason to suspect that this qin was indeed an imitation.

Chu Chen nodded and said: "According to the legend and the degree of oxidation of the material, this piano may indeed be an imitation, but we can't take it for granted in the appraisal. No matter whether it is true or false, we must find the corresponding evidence. .”

Wu Ke asked: "Then how do we verify its authenticity?"

Chu Chen said: "Generally speaking, it depends on its pattern and style. In addition, there are materials and inscriptions."

Wu Ke nodded: "Oh, we have seen the pattern, so now we need to look at its style? By the way, how many styles of pianos are there?"

Qin is a musical instrument full of cultural connotations.Only in terms of the shape of the piano, it can be said that the whole body is rhyme.

琴一般长约三尺六寸五（约120—125公分左右），象征一年360五天（一说象周天365度）。一般宽约六寸（20公分左右）。一般厚约二寸（6公分左右）。

Qin was first made according to the shape of the phoenix body, and its whole body corresponds to the body of the phoenix (it can also be said to correspond to the human body), with a head, neck, shoulders, waist, tail and feet.

Chu Chen shook his head and said: "The shape of the ancient qin was originally the shape of the ritual vessel "Cheng" with five strings. It is said that it is an artifact made by Shennong to communicate with heaven and man. There are many styles of qin. "Records more than 100 styles of qin, the most common ones are Zhongni style, Fuxi style, Lianzhu style, banana leaf style, Luoxia style and other styles."

Wu Ke looked at the guqin in front of him carefully, and then said: "Then what is the style of this guqin? The guqin my father bought for me was the Zhongni style. This guqin is nothing like mine. Instead, it looks like the bronze gong you bought, is this qin really wrapped around the beam?"

Chu Chen said: "It's hard to say whether it is around the beam, but judging from the style of the qin, it should be the earliest style of the guqin. As for the Zhongni style you mentioned, it is a style that only appeared in the late Tang Dynasty, mainly because At that time, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was popular, Confucianism was promoted, and Confucius was admired, so there was a style of Zhongni, which did not become popular until the Song Dynasty."

"That's right!" Wu Keqian really thought that the Zhongni style was created by Confucius, and then she asked: "Then which dynasty did this Guqin style come from?"

Chu Chen spread his hands and said, "I really don't have a deep knowledge of Guqin, so I don't know if this is the style of Guqin in the Zhou Dynasty."

"Then... let's talk about the texture and inscription of this violin!"

Wu Ke said: "I heard from my teacher before that the ancient people's qin is usually made of upper Tong and lower Catalpa. Tongmu, then for more than 600 years, no matter how well preserved Tongmu is, it is impossible for it to be like this piano.”

Chu Chen said, "Well, you're right, but if it's really a revolving piano, the records don't even know when it was made, let alone the materials used."

"Then there are only inscriptions left?" Wu Ke frowned, and then said: "But the inscriptions may also be engraved later!"

"Although the inscription may be engraved later, it still has some reference value for identification."

After speaking, Chu Chen carefully looked at the inscription just now.

"Judging from the performance of the inscription, it seems that it has been engraved for a long time, but after hundreds of years, it should have such an effect... Hey, there seems to be an inscription here in Fengmao!"

As Wu Ke was talking, he suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a faint inscription in Fengmao's position, and quickly reminded Chu Chen.

"This is 'Wujun Ruming'! Who the hell is this person?" The inscription was engraved on the left and right sides of Fengmao. Because it is in official script, it is not like the bronze inscription just now, Wu Ke can tell it at a glance.

Chu Chen explained: "This person should be Yu Ruming, a literati in the Song Dynasty. He was from Wu County at that time, that is, from our current Suzhou City."

Yu Ruming in the Song Dynasty wrote the book "Guqin Shu", on which there is a record of the qin around the beam: "Hua Yuan presented the qin around the beam to the king of Zhuang of Chu, and the sound of the drum was curled up between the beams, and the cycle was endless."

After hearing Chu Chen's explanation, Wu Ke said, "Could it be that this guqin was imitated by Yu Ruming?"

Chu Chen replied: "It's possible what you said, but it's more likely that Yu Ruming engraved it on purpose. If you don't believe me, look at the comparison between the two inscriptions of Longchi and Fengmao. It can be clearly seen from the two inscriptions, 'Wujun Ruming ' has a much lower mood."

Generally speaking, collectors will cherish things like the Four Great Guqins very much, and it is impossible to do anything to damage them. His reputation was passed on, and he did it on purpose.

Wu Ke quickly looked it over carefully, and found that it was really like what Chu Chen said. According to the artistic conception, Fengzhao's inscription could not be compared with Longchi's at all.

Seeing this situation, Wu Ke immediately said excitedly: "Ah Chen, then this guqin might be a revolving piano!"

However, as soon as the words fell, she immediately overturned her inference and said: "But, is it really possible for the Guqin from more than 2000 years ago to be handed down? Could this be an imitation made during the Tang Dynasty or the Southern and Northern Dynasties?"

For Wu Ke, she also hopes that this Guqin can be the "Wailiang" among the four famous Qins, but if this Guqin is genuine, it will subvert her worldview too much, which makes her feel very contradictory .

In fact, if it wasn't for the ability to give the production time and value of this guqin, Chu Chen would have found it hard to believe that this guqin would be the "Zuoliang" among the four major guqins, but even if he knew that this guqin was the "Zuoliang" Qin, but he also couldn't explain why a Guqin more than 600 years ago can be handed down to the present.

Wu Ke asked: "Achen, do you know any other methods to identify the age of Guqin?"

Chu Chen shook his head: "I really don't know much about the identification of Guqin. Apart from these four points, I really can't think of any other way."

　Thanks to "Leg God Abula" for voting for the monthly ticket

　　
　
(End of this chapter)