Notes on Tomb Raiders: God will punish evil

In ancient times, there was a big difference between chapters and seals. Chapters were generally used for individuals, while seals were for officials.

As for the seal that Lao Ding studied, I already knew from the appearance that it belonged to the seal and not to the chapter.

"Uncle Ding, what year is this seal?" I asked Old Ding.

Hearing my question, Lao Ding raised his head, handed the bronze seal to me, and said, "Xiao Lin, come and analyze what age this seal is from. Let's see if you analyzed it with Uncle Ding. Not the same."

I took the bronze seal in my hand, only to realize that the weight of this bronze seal is far beyond my imagination.

This is a seal about four centimeters wide. The pattern of a dragon is painted on the top of the seal, and it is very vivid, especially the dragon head, which is very ferocious, as if it swallows people in one mouthful.

The design of the entire seal is very exquisite. Although the body of the dragon seems to be very slender, there is no problem in lifting the bronze seal that weighs more than ten kilograms.

The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were the era of the heyday of bronze casting art. Whether it was bronze ware or ritual vessels, even weapons and daily necessities, most of them were made of bronze ware, and the cost was extremely high.

The entire body of the seal is covered with densely packed taotie patterns, but perhaps because of the age, these taotie patterns have been eroded by green rust, and many of them are blurred.

However, according to my understanding of the Taotie pattern of the Warring States Period, these patterns carved on the body of the seal conform to the characteristics of the Warring States Period.

After all, the Warring States Period is very different from the Spring and Autumn Period. This is an era when the strong are kings, and all countries are seeking reforms to become stronger. It is almost every prince's idea to build a brave army to defend their country.

Therefore, the Taotie pattern was very popular at that time, and each had its own characteristics.

However, according to the Taotie pattern, it is still far from being able to determine whether this seal is an antiquity. We must also look at its casting method and the engraving of the seal, which is also the most obvious feature to distinguish the authenticity of the seal.

Generally speaking, in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, as long as there are records in history, I know something about them. After all, I graduated from the Department of Archeology of Peking University.

But when I picked up this seal and looked at it, I was shocked.

This seal is a seal in the shape of a field, and due to the erosion of the years, the writing on it has been blurred.

However, I still saw the four ancient characters on the seal: the seal of the Thai emperor.

These four words really stunned me, which is simply incredible.

In "Historical Records: The Chronicles of Qin Shihuang", there is a story about Emperor Tai, saying that Emperor Tai is Taihao Fuxi, the most honorable person among the three emperors, and the head of the three emperors.

If this seal is really the seal of the Thai emperor, then its value will be great.

The age of Taihao Fuxi should be 5000 years ago. At that time, the bronze smelting process was extremely rough, and it was impossible to refine such an exquisite seal. Obviously, this was a counterfeit by later generations.

Besides, the clear chronology of the AD should have appeared in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and the records before the Eastern Zhou Dynasty are simply vague.In fact, the archaeological community is still debating whether Taihao Fuxi ever appeared in history.

However, there are many myths and stories about Taihao Fuxi, and people even compare him with Nuwa, who created humans, and have the same status as Nuwa.

My understanding of Taihao Fuxi is as follows. I think there may have been such a person in history, and this person was also a wise sage who gave benefits to the common people.In order to commemorate him, the common people spread his merits and virtues. However, because of the lack of words in ancient times, his deeds were gradually submerged and gradually deified.

Judging from the handwriting of the seal, this should be the writing of Zhao State in the Warring States Period, so I think this should be a seal of Zhao State in the Warring States Period.

However, the question in my heart came again, why did the people of Zhao want to carve such a seal? You know, this is a great disrespect to the Emperor Tai.

Chapter 3 Appraisal

In order to clarify these questions, I asked Lao Ding: "Uncle Ding, how did you get this seal?"

Hearing my question, Lao Ding seemed to have guessed what was going on in my mind. He said, "Xiao Lin, I know you must be very surprised. Why did the ancients copy the seal of the Thai emperor? It doesn't make any sense at all."

I nodded and looked at Lao Ding, looking forward to his answer.

Lao Ding said: "Speaking of the origin of this seal, it is really not easy. I bought it from a friend who was fighting."

I was slightly surprised by the origin of this seal, because, if this seal came from an ancient tomb, then who is the owner of this tomb, and why did he cast such a strange seal?

Because of the long history, many truths have already disappeared in the dust of history.However, cultural relics are the only things that can prove historical events, and this is the value of cultural relics.

"So, this seal should come from an ancient tomb. I don't know who the owner of the tomb is. Why did he make such a seal?" I asked Lao Ding.

Lao Ding hesitated for a moment, and then said: "According to the Daodou people, the tomb they robbed was just the tomb of an ordinary nobleman in Zhao State. What’s more, even the remains of the owner of the tomb are well preserved.”

When he said this, I became even more curious, because after thousands of years, generally speaking, the remains of the owner of the tomb have long been incomplete, and even the bones have been turned into powder.

Lao Ding went on to say: "According to what the friend of Dao Dou said, although the tomb is a living pit and has not been stolen, when they entered the tomb, they found that there were very few funeral objects, and the only valuable thing was probably this one. Sealed in bronze."

Hearing what Lao Ding said, I thought about it for a while and asked, "Uncle Ding, how much did you pay for this seal?"

Lao Ding said with a smile: "Uncle Ding, you haven't bought this seal yet, because it has just been unearthed, and the people who are fighting don't know how much it is worth. They want me to estimate the price. In a few days, I will return this seal." It has to be sent back to him."

After Lao Ding explained it in this way, I knew the whole story.

Indeed, although Lao Ding stays at home, in Dongjiang City, he is an expert in appraising cultural relics. Even I, a talented student who graduated from the Department of Archeology of Peking University, has far inferior vision and judgment.

When I was engaged in tomb robbery activities, I often asked him the price when I encountered good things unearthed from the tomb, and he could always give a reasonable price.And these things are sold in the market, and the price is not much different from what he said.

Because I have never seen such a bronze seal before, even I don't know its price very well. I stared at Lao Ding and asked, "Uncle Ding, what do you think it is worth?"

Hearing my question, Lao Ding smiled mysteriously at me and stretched out five fingers.

Because it is something unearthed from an ancient tomb, and according to the casting process, it is indeed something from the Warring States period, and it is well preserved. The price of this thing is definitely not cheap.

"50?" I tentatively asked Lao Ding.

Lao Ding just smiled lightly, then shook his head, obviously my guess was incorrect.

In today's antique market, the price of bronze ware should not be very expensive. You can buy very exquisite bronze ware from the Warring States Period for hundreds of thousands, so I guessed the price of 50 at the beginning.

Seeing Lao Ding shaking his head, I was still slightly surprised, because this bronze seal is so exquisitely made, it is absolutely impossible for it to be [-].

Then there is only one possibility, and that is 500 million.

Generally speaking, 500 million bronzes must have special research value, and this bronze seal also belongs to this category.

I stared at the bronze seal and asked, "Uncle Ding, is this bronze seal worth 500 million?"

With a smile on his face, Lao Ding still shook his head.

Now I'm at a loss, because even I don't know exactly what this bronze seal is worth.

Lao Ding said to me at this time: "Xiao Lin, please give me the bronze seal, and I will introduce it to you, and you will not find it difficult to find its value."

Hearing what Lao Ding said, I immediately handed him the bronze seal.

I thought that Lao Ding would give me a big surprise, but after listening to Lao Ding's explanation, I was very disappointed.

Lao Ding said: "Look at this seal, judging from the casting process, it is definitely a work of the Warring States Period, and the rust on it seems to have been thousands of years old. characters."

Lao Ding's explanation like this is quite reasonable, because it's impossible for the things returned by Dao Dou to be fake!

Lao Ding continued: "But, Xiao Lin, look, the casting of this bronze seal is very problematic."