Chapter 522: He Is Not a Fool

Staring at that "Yi Shan" seal, Liu Yiling's eyelids could not stop twitching: she had looked at everything, so why hadn't she looked at the seal?

No, actually, she had looked at the seal too.

But because of her preconceived notion that the painting was poorly done, she hadn't paid it much attention and had only given it a rough scan.

Looking at it now: where it was dense, not even a breath of Wind could pass; where it was sparse, a horse could gallop; the thick parts were like horse reins, the thin parts like pearl silk... Not only was the composition bizarre, but the contrast in the lines was also extreme.

Looking at the knife work: single strokes thrusting straight, diagonal cuts, thick on the right and thin on the left, broken at the bottom right... Isn't this the "Trembling Knife" of Zha Shibiao's later years? To put it simply: Zha Shibiao suffered from a tremor in his later years, his hands would shake from time to time, and it grew more severe year by year.

So in his later period, he no longer pursued technical stability, but instead transformed his physiological defect into an artistic feature.

Just like the seal carving: the composition no longer pursued symmetry, the characters were unusually wide, and the strokes were sometimes thick and sometimes thin.

When thin, it would lead to a great deal of white space in characters with few strokes. For example, the "Yi" in this seal. When thick, it would lead to characters with many strokes being extremely bloated, for example, the "Shan" in this seal.

Moreover, the seal must have imperfections, and they must be at the bottom right: because his right hand shook more severely than his left.

Therefore, this style of seal carving by Zha Shibiao is unique; others cannot learn it even if they want to.

Having confirmed this seal, and looking back at the painting and the words in the colophon, Liu Yiling felt as if the clouds had parted to reveal the sun, and her heart suddenly became clear: why were the lines in the painting intermittent and trembling, appearing broken yet not broken, connected yet not connected, like insects eating wood?

Because Zha Shibiao's hands were shaking.

Why was the structural center of gravity of this painting completely shifted, and shifted entirely to the right?

Because Zha Shibiao's hands were not only shaking, his body was shaking too, and the right side shook more severely.

Why did those characters look like crawling earthworms, without any rules to speak of, yet revealing a few traces of a master's style that was decadent, rough, and fluid in its connected strokes? Why was this painting poorly imitated, and even more poorly painted, yet in occasional places, one could still see a sense of ethereal sparseness and a cold, desolate creative mood? Because he himself was a master of his generation; the hand tremors were one thing, but his fundamental skills remained.

Liu Yiling even suspected whether this could be the work of some master after drinking. Because he was too drunk, he couldn't hold the brush steady or control his strength, and that's why it was painted like this?

Looking at it now: an old man of nearly eighty, suffering from Parkinson's disease, with hands shaking like a sieve, could still persist in creating. And regardless of the composition, line work, ink washing, or coloring, he still insisted on doing it himself—what more could you ask for?

It wasn't that Zha Shibiao didn't want to paint well or imitate well, but that he was tortured by illness and his strength was not equal to his will.

It even reached the point where he could no longer maintain the Xin'an School painting style he was most skilled and proficient in, and could only try his best to show his strengths. That is why it gives people a feeling of a hodgepodge, neither fish nor fowl.

Why hadn't Liu Yiling discovered these suspicious points before?

Because she had seen too many paintings by masters. Even if she remembered Zha Shibiao's creative style, what she remembered were only his peak works from his mature period. There is more than one seal carver who likes to highlight "broken beauty" and "sense of contrast" when carving. As for ordinary seal carvers who don't qualify as "masters" but like to be independent and unconventional, they are as numerous as the hairs on an ox; no matter how good Liu Yiling's memory is, it is impossible to remember them all one by one.

But this one, Liu Yiling was absolutely certain, was a work by Zha Shibiao: the only person who could simultaneously paint crookedly and carve a seal crookedly, while being able to embody all the characteristics of the Xin'an School in the painting, giving people a feeling of being neither fish nor fowl and making no sense, was Zha Shibiao.

Others would want to paint it, but they wouldn't have this level of skill...

After looking for a long time, Liu Yiling raised her head and stared at Lin Sicheng: Was Teacher Sheng really not wrong?

Yiling, that kid definitely has the real stuff. As long as you run into him, feel free to ask for advice, and don't be shy. Remember: in learning, there is no order of seniority; the one who has attained the truth is the teacher. It's even possible that if he's in a good mood, you might be able to steal a few tricks; as long as you can learn them, you've made a huge profit.

She hadn't learned any secret techniques yet, but this method of Lin Sicheng's was truly quite special: when he gave pointers, he only gave pointers, at most telling you a few keywords, and letting you figure out the rest yourself.

This was more useful than stating the answer directly, and the memory was more profound. Liu Yiling dared to guarantee that if she encountered similar works again, she would be able to think of it immediately.

A reflection appeared in the depths of Liu Yiling's eyes: "Teacher Lin, thank you!"

Lin Sicheng smiled: "Teacher Liu, you are too kind!"

The bystanders, however, were completely confused: they were just looking at the painting, why did Liu Yiling suddenly say "thank you"?

Lin Sicheng didn't do anything, nor did he say anything, right?

He just pointed at the painting and let Liu Yiling look for herself.

Only Sun Qichen had a face that turned from green to white, his eyes fixed on the painting on the table, his teeth clenched tightly.

If it comes to lineage, although they were both disciples of Mr. Xu Bangda, whether in creation or appraisal, Sheng Guoan was definitely stronger than Liu Yan. In terms of study time, Liu Yiling had been at it longer than Sun Qichen and was more focused, and the atmosphere at the Forbidden City was better, with more resources.

But there was one point: Sun Qichen's talent was higher than Liu Yiling's. With the two canceling each other out, their appraisal abilities were about the same.

Since Liu Yiling could understand and see it, Sun Qichen could naturally understand it too: for example, Ni Zan's sparse brushwork, the Zhe School's hard brushwork, and the Huangshan School's cold mountains and thin water.

Liu Yiling could think of Zha Shibiao through that gap in the seal, and Sun Qichen could think of it too.

Therefore, no matter how stubborn Sun Qichen was, and no matter how unconvinced he was, he had to admit: Lin Sicheng's Painting Appraisal skills were a huge cut above him and Liu Yiling.

But he just couldn't figure it out: Lin Sicheng was more than ten years younger than him, more than twenty years younger than Liu Yiling, and didn't even have a teacher to teach him, so where did this ability come from?

Self-taught?

Don't make me laugh.

The key was that he specialized in porcelain, and Painting Appraisal was just something he learned on the side. And he was only in his early twenties, yet he already had the ability and foundation that didn't lose to top Experts. What if he put in more effort and studied for another fifty or eighty years?

The more Sun Qichen thought about it, the darker his face became: before, he had always wanted to compare himself with Lin Sicheng and arm-wrestle with him. Looking at it now, what is there to compare? Seeing that they were neither talking nor looking at the painting anymore, the group of people was confused.

That General Manager Zhao was the most impatient and truly couldn't hold back: "Expert Liu, is there... something wrong?"

More than just wrong?

Liu Yiling looked at General Manager Zhao, then looked at Huang Lan: "We have finished looking!"

So fast?

From beginning to end, it hadn't even been ten minutes.

And before, even Teacher Chen, who looked the fastest, had looked for half an hour.

General Manager Zhao looked anxious: "Expert Liu, what is the result?"

Liu Yiling looked at Lin Sicheng, and Lin Sicheng shook his head, meaning for her to say it.

Liu Yiling didn't keep them in suspense: "This painting is a work from the later years of the Qing Dynasty master and representative figure of the Xin'an School, Zha Shibiao." Everyone was stunned for a moment.

No... a few minutes ago, you even said this painting was poorly done and not worth much money. Suddenly, it became a master's work?

Zha Shibiao came from a prominent family in Xiuning, and his ancestors had been officials for generations. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, he abandoned the path of the imperial examinations and devoted himself to calligraphy and painting.

In his youth, he studied calligraphy under Dong Qichang, and later studied the creative styles of Ni Zan and Huang Gongwang in depth. He also blended the characteristics of the Zhe School, the Huangshan School, and the Wu School to create an artistic style that was clear, simple, distant, withered, pale, and secluded.

It can be said that Zha Shibiao was not only a representative figure of the Xin'an School but also its founding pioneer.

If compared, the two belonged to different eras and different schools, their artistic styles each had their own merits, and both were founding figures who pioneered new artistic schools. Lin Liang was good at serving in the imperial court and held a high rank. Although Zha Shibiao was a folk painter, because he refused to serve the Qing court and lived in seclusion for his own pleasure, he always had a clean reputation. It cannot be said whose influence was higher or lower.

This meant that the value of this painting was by no means lower than an autograph by Lin Liang.

For a moment, General Manager Zhao's mouth couldn't close from joy.

Huang Lan, however, was half-believing: "Since it was painted by Zha Shibiao, why is the painting so poor?"

"It is indeed not painted very well, because he suffered from tremors in his later years, that is, Parkinson's disease, making it difficult to trace fine lines. In his later period, he couldn't even hold a brush steady!"

"Besides the hand tremors, Zha Shibiao also suffered from color blindness in his later years, which led to an imbalance in the color tones when painting blue-green landscapes..."

Lin Sicheng recalled for a moment: "These two points are recorded in many historical materials. Zha Shibiao stated in his *Zhongshu Tang Posthumous Manuscripts*: 'Eyes dim and hands trembling, painting is like climbing the Shu road; the vigor of the past has all turned into weakness...'"

In the *Qinghui Painting Colophons* by Wang Cui, a famous painter of the early Qing dynasty and one of the Qing Four Wangs, it is also recorded: "In his later years, Er Zhan (Zha Shibiao) had a decadent brush style, like a famous general who is old and sick, no longer able to wield a weapon."

"And Shitao's colophon in the *Zha Shibiao Landscape Scroll*: 'Old Master Zha's brush grows lazier with age, the ink sinks and spreads like clouds and smoke...'"

Lin Sicheng paused slightly: "Actually, Zha Shibiao's painting style was inherently better at creation than imitation. The *Reading Painting Records* by the Qing dynasty collector Zhou Lianggong records: 'Meihe (Zha Shibiao) is extremely superb in his own style, but when imitating the ancients, it is like a dull knife cutting wood...'"

"Also in Wang Cui's *Qinghui Painting Colophons*: 'Zha Er Zhan's brush has a celestial air, it is a pity he cannot be a slave to the ancients...' and Shitao's evaluation: 'Master Zha's paintings do not imitate others, yet no one can reach him...'"

The crowd was stunned and speechless: He could actually paint like this even with Parkinson's?

Huang Lan remained half-doubting: "How can we verify this?"

Lin Sicheng was exceptionally firm: "First, get the comparison data from the Yachang Center. They have copied the Treasury of Calligraphy and Painting from the Forbidden City; whether it is the paper, ink sticks, seal paste, or mounting materials, they all have detailed data. Comparing it with Zha Shibiao's later works makes it clear at a glance..."

Huang Lan was stunned for a moment: "It's that simple?"

Lin Sicheng glanced at her: Simple?

Big sister, do you know what the "Xin'an School" is?

Besides their creative style, their greatest characteristic is: they only paint Huangshan.

Do you know where Zha Shibiao is from? He is from Xiuning, where Huangshan is located.

During the same period, there were at least eight or ten painting schools dedicated to realizing the art of Huangshan. There were at least eight or nine thousand painters painting Huangshan at the same time. Liuji Xuan paper is expensive, but it is first and foremost Anhui paper. The price of Su Style Mounting is also not low, but there has always been a group of such craftsmen stationed at the foot of Huangshan year-round. As long as they were slightly famous painters, or had considerable wealth at home, whenever they painted Huangshan, they would definitely use Liuji Xuan paper and definitely use Su Style Mounting.

There are at least five or six hundred thousand, if not a million, works passed down from the same period.

Therefore, data comparison can only serve as an aid to narrow the scope. To determine the final author, one must still rely on analysis of brushwork, style, creative characteristics, and other factors.

Seeing the expressions of the crowd were off, Huang Lan realized belatedly that she had made a fool of herself.

Anyway, she was used to it, and she didn't care; besides, she couldn't be bothered with that right now.

Lin Sicheng could be ignored; even if his eye for art was high, Huang Lan wouldn't dare to believe everything he said.

But since Liu Yiling said so, she believed it one hundred percent.

First, she understood her character: Liu Yiling was absolutely not the type of person who would invert black and white or call a deer a horse just because "we have a good relationship."

Second, the two words "Forbidden City," and the weight of a contemporary master like "Sheng Guoan": with two such large, golden signboards, how many "idiot pills" would Liu Yiling have to eat to dare to smear them?

This proves that this is indeed a work by Zha Shibiao. It is nothing more than finding a few more Experts and doing a few more appraisals.

When the truth finally comes to light, who would still dare to say she is empty-headed and arrogant, with high standards but low ability?

Who would still dare to say she was being played around by a swindler?

Even an Expert like Liu Yiling made a mistake, so isn't it normal for her to make a mistake?

The more she thought about it, the more Huang Lan felt that what Lin Sicheng said made sense: this painting not only didn't make her lose face, but it could also win back all the face she had lost. The more Huang Lan thought, the happier she became.

That General Manager Zhao was even happier than her; although he tried his best to control it, he couldn't suppress the joy in the corners of his eyes.

He exhaled forcefully and said cautiously: "Could I trouble the two Experts to give an estimate? I understand the rules..."

As he spoke, he reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a checkbook.

Before he could fill it out, Liu Yiling stopped him: "General Manager Zhao, that's not necessary. Let me be direct: the price of this painting should not be lower than your expectations. At the very least, it will not be lower than the starting bid at Duoyunxuan..."

General Manager Zhao was stunned: "Didn't you say the painting wasn't good?"

It is indeed not painted well, but it depends on who painted it and when it was painted.

Nearly eighty years old, suffering from an incurable disease, tortured by pain every day, unable to even hold a brush steady, yet still insisting on creating—what kind of spirit is this? "A hero in his twilight years, his ambition never wanes."

Physically disabled but firm in spirit, constantly striving for self-improvement.

The essence of antiques is three words: telling stories. Zha Shibiao was a famous master and from a prominent Jiangnan family, yet he refused to serve the Qing court, making him the epitome of the integrity of the Ming dynasty loyalists.

Just because of this point, as long as his paintings go to auction, the price is never low, with an average price of 400,000 per square foot.

This painting is not well-executed, but its inherent narrative quality and its inspiring spirit can fully compensate for that.

The reason Liu Yiling dared to give such a high estimate is because there is a precedent: at the 2006 Poly Autumn Auction, the *Autumn Mountain Travel Map* created by Zha Shibiao at the advanced age of eighty-one, which was painted even worse than this one, still sold for 1.67 million.

This one could easily fetch one million.

Hearing his explanation, General Manager Zhao's face blossomed into a smile.

He only spent 30,000 to acquire this painting back then. And Duoyunxuan's starting bid was 780,000.

His psychological expectation was even lower: let alone 780,000, as long as it could sell for 600,000, which is half off the estimate, that would be fine. After deducting costs and commissions, he would earn at least 500,000.

And listening to Liu Yiling's implication, it might sell for even more.

However, there was one point: today's process was quite convoluted, and General Manager Zhao was unsure why this Expert Liu's conclusions were contradictory before and after, and what the basis was.

But Huang Lan did not have such worries; she said without a hint of hesitation: "General Manager Zhao, 800,000, I'll take it!"

General Manager Zhao was stunned: "Ah?"

Huang Lan frowned: "General Manager Zhao, do you think it's too low?"

Low, my foot? He just hadn't reacted yet.

It would be the same for anyone: a work by a famous master suddenly becomes stolen property involved in a case, forced to be withdrawn from auction?

Then it suddenly becomes an unknown imitation; let alone 1.2 million, it might be hard to be worth 20,000.

Just when he was in total despair, his heart like ice, there was a sudden turn of events: the imitation became a master's work, and it could even sell for hundreds of thousands or a million? It was like riding a roller coaster, up and down, happy and sad—who could handle that?

So, 800,000?

Anyone who doesn't sell is a fool...

General Manager Zhao nodded hurriedly: "Teacher Huang, it's not low!"