Chapter 416

"At that time, Sir Percival David's research on porcelain was so profound that even he did not believe the blue-and-white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty was genuine."

"But no matter how he looked, he could not find any sign of it being a fake; it was very beautiful and very real."

"So he thought, let's not worry about it for now; even if it is a fake, it looks good on display, so let's buy it first. Even if we lose money, it won't be much."

"As a result, after the 1950s, Chinese archaeologists discovered many Yuan Dynasty tombs underground that had never been looted."

"Yuan blue-and-white porcelain was excavated from them."

"At this, everyone finally realized that the Yuan Dynasty had indeed produced such exquisite blue-and-white porcelain."

"Moreover, Yuan blue-and-white porcelain is extremely, extremely expensive."

"Scarcity breeds value; the Yuan Dynasty existed for a very short time, and not much blue-and-white porcelain was fired back then."

"In addition, due to the raw materials and later wars, a large amount of Yuan blue-and-white porcelain disappeared."

"Now, in the history of Chinese porcelain auctions, the top two auction records at Christie's and Sotheby's are both for Yuan blue-and-white porcelain."

"One is the large jar depicting Guiguzi descending the mountain, and the other is the jar depicting chasing Han Xin under the moon."

"The Guiguzi one sold for 230 million, and the one chasing Han Xin under the moon sold for 685 million."

"So... now much of the Yuan blue-and-white porcelain is overseas; they originally bought it at the price of a fake."

"It can never be retrieved. We can't even get back what was looted from us, let alone what was bought; it is even more impossible for it to be returned."

After this explanation.

Everyone present fell silent.

As excavators of archaeology, they always bore the heavy responsibility of protecting cultural relics.

Hearing such a story, they could not help but feel a bit sorrowful in their hearts.

Cultural relics of their own country had been bought by others as fakes.

Especially Fang Yang's last sentence.

What was looted has not been returned; what was bought is even less likely to be returned.

【Popularity】 +1+1+1+1.

—— 【I was thinking, if we had always insisted that the blue-and-white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty was a fake, wouldn't Yuan blue-and-white porcelain still be considered a fake today? After all, the production site is in our China; as long as we do not admit it, isn't that enough?】

—— 【You are overthinking it. Now there is thermoluminescence testing; whether it is a fake is detected immediately. Moreover, at that time, the main sales of Yuan blue-and-white porcelain were not targeted at China, but were sold to foreigners, so there is much Yuan blue-and-white porcelain abroad, while there is relatively little in China.】

—— 【Even if it is blue-and-white porcelain from the Yuan Dynasty period, I estimate it was fired by Han people. If Fang Yang had not spoken today, I would still firmly believe that the technology of the Mongols at that time could not fire such exquisite blue-and-white porcelain, so it is very normal for those people to consider it a fake.】

—— 【It is heartbreaking that cultural relics of our country were sold abroad like this. They thought they had made a huge bargain, but in the end, others picked up the bargain. If these people were still alive today and knew they had sold such expensive items at a low price, would they die of anger again?】

Director Lin sighed after a long silence: "The mistakes made by people in the past may never be remedied."

"All modern people can do is protect these cultural relics as much as possible, after all, they are the proof of our China's 5,000 years of history!"

Fang Yang smiled: "You are right."

At this moment, Lao Hu suddenly asked: "You just said that Qinghu existed as early as the Tang Dynasty; why didn't people know at that time?"

"This..."

"Actually... when a large amount of blue-and-white porcelain was excavated back then, the experts' first reaction was that blue-and-white porcelain was indeed a product of the Yuan Dynasty."

"However, later, with archaeological excavations, blue-and-white porcelain was also found in Tang Dynasty tombs."

"It's just that the blue-and-white porcelain of the Tang Dynasty was not yet mature and very ugly."

"Moreover, during the Tang and Song periods, people preferred green porcelain and white porcelain and looked down on blue-and-white."

"Blue-and-white became the top trend in porcelain only in the Yuan Dynasty."

"The Yuan Dynasty was a very special dynasty; it swept across Eurasia and governed many regimes."

"Its territory at that time was also very, very large."

"So many races and ethnic groups mixed together, creating an atmosphere of multi-civilization fusion."

"And the variety of porcelain known as Yuan blue-and-white is the product of this multi-civilization fusion."

"Looking at the colors of the blue-and-white porcelain."

"White is the color revered by the Mongols."

"For example, the yurt is white. The clothing of Mongol nobles is also white."

"And blue is the color most revered by Muslims."

"For example, the roofs of mosques are mostly blue."

"And Yuan blue-and-white is precisely composed of these two colors."

"Not only that, the blue pigment used to paint Yuan blue-and-white was originally imported from Persia."

"Its name is cobalt material, also called Sumali Blue."

"In terms of size, Yuan blue-and-white differs from the delicate and elegant style popular in the Song Dynasty."

"Yuan blue-and-white is mostly quite large, with richer layers, which is also a reflection of the bold style of the Mongols."

"The patterns on Yuan blue-and-white even carry marks of multiple cultures."

"It is different from the Tang and Song periods; during the Tang and Song periods, only one or a few blue-and-white flowers were painted on white porcelain plates, which indeed did not look good."

"But Yuan blue-and-white has dense patterns covering almost the entire porcelain, very much like the style of Persian miniature paintings."

"Among them, the lotus petal pattern was influenced by Buddhism."

"The grape pattern and vine pattern carry characteristics of European culture."

"Of course, Yuan blue-and-white was more influenced by our traditional Chinese culture."

"Because although Yuan blue-and-white is a product of the Yuan Dynasty, the technology to fire it was still mastered by Han people."

"In Jingdezhen of that era, which was the place for firing blue-and-white porcelain."

"Artisans first painted complex patterns on the plain body of the blue-and-white porcelain using cobalt blue pigment."

"Then they applied a layer of transparent glaze and finally fired it."

"This underglaze coloring method is a truly great invention."

"Even today, high-quality porcelain still universally employs this underglaze coloring method."

"Secondly, the main motifs of Yuan blue-and-white porcelain clearly reflect Central Plains cultural styles."

"Pines, orchids, bamboo, chrysanthemums, ruyi cloud heads, dragons, phoenixes, fish, and aquatic plants are all extremely common painted patterns."

"Its main motifs are even drawn from historical stories."

"For instance, the Ghost Valley Master Descending the Mountain and Han Xin Chased by Moonlight that I mentioned earlier, as well as The Romance of the West Chamber, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and so on..."

"As for why Yuan blue-and-white porcelain is so scarce, one reason is what I mentioned earlier: much of it was sold as forgeries."

"Another reason is the turmoil of that era, which was very short-lived, resulting in limited production. The firing of Yuan blue-and-white porcelain in Jingdezhen lasted roughly from the 1420s to the 1460s, totaling only about thirty to forty years."

"Besides that, there is yet another reason."

"Firing Yuan blue-and-white porcelain required cobalt pigment imported from Persia. This pigment was extremely scarce and commanded a very high price, making mass production impossible."

"Moreover, the top-tier Yuan blue-and-white porcelain fired in Jingdezhen at that time was not sold to the Chinese people."

"It was specially commissioned for sale to people in the Middle East and West Asia."

"At that time, Persians brought their own specialty mineral materials to Huaxia's Jingdezhen to place direct orders."

"We can understand this as raw material processing."

"Others provide the materials; we provide the craftsmanship."

"Then, it was fired specifically for export according to Islamic cultural customs and lifestyles."

"Therefore, it is rarely seen within the country."

"Furthermore, many craftsmen from the Middle East and West Asia directly participated in designing the patterns and motifs on these pieces."

"Once these Yuan blue-and-white porcelain pieces were completed in Jingdezhen, they were sent directly to the Middle East and West Asia for use by nobility."

"For example, the Topkapi Palace Museum, which I mentioned earlier as holding the largest collection, contains a mural inside."

"The mural depicts nobles seated at a banquet, with Yuan blue-and-white porcelain vessels arranged on the dining table."

"Do you know how expensive Yuan blue-and-white porcelain was back then?"

The crowd shook their heads in unison.

How would they possibly know?

The number of Yuan blue-and-white porcelain pieces in modern times is pitifully small, leaving no opportunity for study.

Let alone the prices of that era.

Fang Yang smiled and said, "A single blue-and-white porcelain bowl cost thirty taels of silver!"

Hiss~~