Garbage in your eyes is a precious treasure in the eyes of others. In China, there have been countless antiquities, even national treasures, scattered in the folk, considered garbage and waste.
Garbage in your eyes is a precious treasure in the eyes of others. This saying is very suitable for use in the world of archeology and preservation of cultural relics. In China, there used to be countless antiques, even national treasures, scattered among the people, considered trash and waste. But by some lucky coincidence, they were discovered, kept and preserved.
The following national treasures are examples of the arduous process of returning “waste” to a museum.
Ngoc Tru Long belongs to Hong Son culture
In August 1971, Zhang Fengxiang (Chinese character Zhang Fengxiang), a resident of Sanxing Tala village in the Wengniute region of Inner Mongolia, suddenly discovered a cave filled with stone blocks in the woods.
Out of curiosity, he decided to explore the cave. At the bottom of the cave, Fengxiang found what looked like an iron hook, but at the time he was not interested in the object. After returning home, Fengxiang thought carefully, even if it was scrap metal, he could sell it for money. So he went back to the cave and got the “scraper block”.
However, Zhang Fengxiang did not sell it to the waste collection station, but took it to Wengniute Cultural Center.
At that time, the Hong Son culture had not been discovered. The staff of the Cultural Center also did not know what the piece of iron was, nor did Zhang Fengxiang know how much it cost. An employee there intentionally paid Fengxiang 30 yuan to buy the item back. Later, people learned that this is a precious artifact of the Neolithic period.
Minh Thanh ascended to the top of the Northern Song Dynasty
As a picture painted in the Northern Song Dynasty, “Ming Thanh Upper Ha Tu” has a history of nearly a thousand years, and at the same time also undergoes a continuous process of wandering from the palace to the folk, then from the people. entering the palace. In 1911, Minh Thanh Thuong Ha Map, which was kept in the Qing palace, was then stolen by Pu Yi to the Northeast of Manchuria. In 1945, when Japan failed, Manchuria was abolished, Puyi fled. A large number of treasures were destroyed. It is said that Minh Thanh Thuong Ha Do was burned during the war.
But surprisingly, in 1951, when cultural scholar Duong Nhan Khai was cleaning the Northeast Cultural Museum, he found this painting of Minh Thanh Thuong Ha Map among a bunch of scraps.
“Han set card” by Vuong Hi
Han Tiet Card is considered a sacred calligraphic work of the famous calligrapher of the Eastern Jin Dynasty – Vuong Hi. The pen is simple but the warning is extremely sublime. The calligraphy was taken out of the palace by Pu Yi at the beginning of the last century, then disappeared for many decades.
In the 1960s, many folk paintings were gathered at the garbage collection station, and most of them were thrown into the mixer and turned into pulp. As an appraiser in the field of cultural relics, Luu Quang Khoi’s mission is to rescue precious cultural artifacts from junk, as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.
A coincidence happened, when Luu Quang Khoi was in a waste collection station on Thai Ho Street, Ha Tay area, Tianjin, and discovered a paper reel with a special appearance. When he opened it, Mr. Liu was very surprised to find out that it was two famous calligraphic letters of Vuong Hi. One is “Han Tie Card” and the other is “Intervention” , both are calligraphy treasures of Wang Xi that were lost by Pu Yi.
Liquor bottle of Tu Duong Phuong respects the Shang Dynasty
This is an extremely valuable artifact of the Shang Dynasty. This vase is a typical representation of the jar products from the Shang dynasties to the Zhou dynasties, wide mouth, high neck, round or square shape, carved with all 12 animals such as goat, tiger, elephant, horse, etc. phoenix… After the spring and autumn of the warring states, this type of vase is less common.
This ancient vase was dug up by some farmers in Hunan in 1938. It was later sold to an antique dealer for 248 ocean coins of the time. When these merchants went bankrupt, the ancient vase was found and recovered by the national government.
In the following World War II, Truong Sa was bombed by the Japanese army, the ancient vase also lost its trace. It was not until 1952, under the search of the Department of Culture and Antiquities, that the vase was found in the corner of a bank warehouse in a broken state into dozens of pieces. After nearly a year of repair, the vase was restored to its original form and became a national treasure.
Ha Ton wine jar in the Western Chu Dynasty
This artifact is evidence, the earliest recorded mention of the word “China”. The vase is engraved with 12 lines, including 122 characters, including the 4 words “Trach from China”, recording the succession of King Thanh Vuong, building on Chu Thanh (now Lac Duong).
In 1963, the vase was found by a farmer on a dirty cliff behind his house. The farmer did not know what this vase was, so he brought it home and made a food jar. This person then sold the vase as scrap metal for 30 yuan! After that, the lucky soldier was discovered by a museum expert in the waste warehouse and bought it back.
Western Zhou bronze vessels
This is a bronze artifact from the Western Zhou period that is kept at the Beijing museum. This artifact has more than 3,000 years of history, inside is engraved 198 words, recording Mao Bach Ban’s suppression of rebellion, being rewarded by King Zhou. This artifact was excavated as early as the Northern Song Dynasty, and has since been included in the royal collection of antiques. However, in 1900, when the eight-country alliance entered China, it disappeared during the war.
It was not until more than 70 years later that the artifact was found by staff at the cultural relic site in Beijing in a pile of scrap metal about to be sent to the kiln, which gives this national treasure a second life!
Vase engraved with letters of the Shang Dynasty
This Shang Dynasty inscription vase is currently kept in the Hunan museum. It was discovered in 1962. At that time, a cultural relic specialist was walking through the scrap recovery centers to search for national treasures when he accidentally discovered this vase.
Scrap copper from the recycling station was recovered from various places and at that time, experts noticed a rather peculiar piece of copper. They felt it was different from other pieces of copper, so they were motivated to find and explore more.
They later found more than 200 pieces of copper in the scrap, packed into 27 bags. And after a period of assembly and repair, this treasure was restored to the original state as we see it today.
Warring States period brass wine jug
In 1967, at a scrap collection station in Tuo De, Shaanxi province, a cultural relic worker with a keen eye saw an item being prepared to be put into a kiln with an “unusual” appearance.
After the assessment, it is known that this is an exquisite bronze vase from the Warring States period, which is a first-class cultural treasure in the country. This bird vase has an invaluable artistic and cultural value.
Peach falcon belongs to the Neolithic period
Antiques are very precious things. They not only reflect the wisdom of ancient people, but also are evidence for modern people to learn about the ancient past. It is difficult for ordinary people to distinguish the authenticity and value of antiques. There are lucky people who discover antiques without knowing their true value, so they should treat them as ordinary objects.
One day in 1957, Yen Tu Nghia, a farmer in Thai Binh village, was plowing the land in the eastern part of the village, when suddenly saw the plow hit a hard object. He thought it was a stone. But when he continued to dig, he found a porcelain object in the shape of a bird, which he did not know was the famous artifact of the future – Ung Dinh Dao (porcelain top, falcon shape ) .
Thinking this jar was still usable, he brought it home to use as a bowl of chicken feed. The man had no idea that the pot was actually a first-class cultural relic. A year after picking up the pottery jar, the team of archaeologists discovered the Yangshao Culture (Yang Shao Culture) site in Tuyen Ho village in the nearby Hoa district.
The old man then suddenly remembered the ceramic jar he picked up a year ago. He thought to himself, Thai Binh village is close to Tuyen Ho village, by the way, archaeologists are investigating nearby, so it’s better to bring the ceramic jar there and ask the experts to see it for you.
He took the pot to the archaeologists and told about the process of finding the object. After careful examination, experts confirmed that it was Dao Ung Dinh of the Neolithic period.
Peach Ung Dinh has a simple appearance of a falcon, 35.8 cm high, 23.3 cm in diameter. After learning that it was a precious treasure, the old man was surprised and immediately handed Dao Ung Dinh back to the archaeological team.
Thanks to that, this relic became known to many people, it is now stored and protected in the National Museum of China.
Cao Zi through the Spring and Autumn period
The Gao Zi, a weapon of the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, is a first-class cultural treasure, currently kept at the State History Museum in Shandong, China. This artifact was first discovered in 1970, when a rural boy considered scrap metal and sold it for 5.97 yuan. After that, it wandered for a while and was discovered and recovered by the Department of Culture and Historical Relics. Until 16 years later, the country boy who discovered Cao Tzu passed had grown up. Once he went to a museum and realized that a piece of scrap metal he sold every year had become a national treasure, being exhibited nationwide. He immediately told the staff at the museum the story of his childhood when he found Cao Tzu.
