master of the deep

Chapter 59 Antique Street

——————————Thanks to the book friend for reminding me that there is a bug in Chapter 62. Lin Fan has already opened the gene lock on his right arm in the previous sixteen chapters. Now he has opened the gene lock on his left arm. The text has been edited. ———————————

The main hall enshrines the seated statue of General Huo Guang, Boluhou of the Han Dynasty, the god of Jinshan. The head on the left is Wen Judge, the head on the right is Wu Judge, the next is the daily inspection and night inspection, and the following is Bazaoli.

On the first pair of pillars, there is a couplet "Wei Ling is prominent to protect the country and help the community, and the holy way is brilliant to give nectar to save the people" to praise the achievements of the God of the City God, and a plaque "Pastoralize the people" is hung on it.

The second pair of pillars hangs a couplet of "It is inevitable that children and grandchildren will be wasted if they are mean and married, and how can their wives and daughters be pure if they commit crimes" to warn the world.

There are couplets hanging on both sides of the City God's Hall to praise the justice and selflessness of the City God God.

There is also a couplet in praise of the gods in the hall, "The way of heaven is selfless, doing good and auspiciousness, predicting good and bad fortune, and the gods should practice meritorious deeds to solve disasters and distinguish between evil, righteousness, loyalty and traitors" and criticize "Xie Li Yin and Yang".

In the center of the Town God's Hall is a red-faced wooden statue of the Town God of Dongzhou County, sitting upright.The interior of the City God's Hall imitates the furnishings of the county government hall in the Ming Dynasty, and the guards of honor are strict.

In Huaguo, the two most famous and well-known gods in folklore throughout history are the City God and the Lord of the Earth. These are the direct echoes of the aspirations of the common people.

Most of the city gods enshrined in the Chenghuang Temple actually existed in history.People who can become city gods are basically divided into the following categories: the first category is some local officials with political achievements. able to bless the local people;
The second category is the hero of the country, who saved the country and the people during his lifetime. To express his gratitude, people enshrine him as the city god. Among these city gods, there are ordinary people and heroes of the country;

The third category is a person who was upright during his lifetime, such as an honest official, an upright person, etc. After death, people think that he can maintain his upright character in the underworld, protect the local people, and enshrine him as the city god;
The fourth category is people who do good deeds and become city gods after death. These people usually do a lot of good things for the local people during their lifetime. People enshrine him as City God.

It can be seen that the city god is the protector of the city, and the common people hope to be protected by him.Therefore, the city gods are always served by some loyal and upright people.

The function of the city god is to protect the city and protect the people, punish evil and promote good, supervise all people, and eliminate disasters.

"Taishang Laojun said that the city god responds to disasters and eliminates disasters and collects blessings" said that the city god: "The public is loyal and upright, responds to requests, follows the body like a shadow, acts on behalf of heaven and things, cuts out evil and eliminates evil, protects the country and protects the country, contributes to the community, and descends Ganze. , to save lives.”

"Compassionate for all living beings in the world, if there is a calamity in the year and a bad month, and the fate will be stagnant..., I will quickly punish the messenger of the plague, and collect the saints of the plague, so that the sin book will be wiped out and the root of evil will be wiped out forever."

"If there are good men and good women in the world, who accumulate yin merits extensively, practice various conveniences, donate wealth to the poor, love the elderly and pity the poor..." then "prolong life, prosper and prosper from generation to generation, and have endless descendants forever."

"The city god respects the gods, and manifests boundlessly. When you pray for rain, the rain will dry up, and the crops will mature. When you pray for sunshine, the yin will turn into yang, and the weather will be sunny."

The three of them walked in the City God's Temple, filled with a solemn feeling in their hearts, because there is a saying about Dongzhou City God "one temple, three City Gods".In addition to Huo Guang and Qin Yubo, the so-called "Three City Gods" are the national hero Chen Huacheng who was stationed in Wusongkou during the Anti-Japanese War.His statue was originally located in the Chen Gong Temple on Guoyutang Street. After the "August [-]" Incident, Shanghai people invited him to sit behind the wall behind Huo Guangshen.

"Visiting the Chenghuang Temple is like walking in the long river of history, listening to the voices of the people, and receiving the baptism of the soul. It makes people awe-inspiring. For historical figures, ancient people, and China with a history of 5000 years, this is our My motherland."

Visiting the Town God's Temple gave Lin Fan a sense of enlightenment, baptized his soul, and sublimated his spiritual power. This is an unexpected surprise.

It was past ten o'clock when they came out of the Town God's Temple. The three of them decided to go to the antique market nearby. Maybe they would be lucky enough to pick up the leak. Of course, this was just their wishful thinking.

The total business area of ​​the Chenghuang Temple Antique Market is 1500 square meters. At present, there are about 110 business households, operating tens of thousands of items, such as: jadeite, celadon pottery, Buddha statue incense burner, celebrity calligraphy and painting, four treasures of the study, mahogany utensils, bone carvings and wood carvings, old-fashioned Clock cameras and more.

Dongzhou Old Town God Temple Antique Market is the basement antique market of Huabao Building. It is currently the largest indoor antique market with the most complete variety in Dongzhou. It mainly deals in ceramics, jade ware, lacquer ware, and Chinese and foreign antique clocks after [-]. , Western ornaments, calligraphy and paintings, coins, stamps, stele rubbings, rubbings, embroidery, and carvings of various textures are favored by tourists and collectors at home and abroad.

Huabaolou is one of the most prestigious antique markets in Dongzhou. The gate faces Dongzhou Old Street and is adjacent to the gate of the Old City God Temple. The plaque of "Huabaolou" is the calligraphy of the late scholar Zhou Gucheng.

This three-storey imitation of the Ming and Qing Dynasties has cornices and corners, with carved patterns. There is a plaque inscribed with "Golden Sound and Jade Vibration" by the famous ancient book master Gu Tinglong on the forehead of the main entrance. There is also an antique stage inside the building.The whole building is resplendent and magnificent.

Of course, the most famous thing about Huabao Building is that it has welcomed many heads of state from all over the world and left their precious footprints here.

For example, Colombian President Humberto de Dancalle and his wife, Vietnamese President Du Mai, Finnish President Martiahtisaari, Russian President Yeltsin, Portuguese President Sambojo, and nearly a hundred groups of heads of state and distinguished guests are interested Vigorously come to visit and shop.

In particular, German President Roman Herzog had a strong interest in a Buddha statue of the Tang Dynasty in the store, and he was happy to stand beside it and take pictures as a souvenir.Today, the photos of the leaders of these countries are still hung in the exhibition hall of Huabao Building, recording its glory.

"Biaozi, third child, have you ever been to the antique market here?" After entering the antique street, the three of Lin Fan were dazzled by all kinds of antiques around them just like Liu Laolao entering the Grand View Garden.

What I saw in front of me was a 300-meter-long street. The buildings on both sides were all antique and full of classical flavor.There are antique shops on both sides of the entire street. There are one or two small stores and five or six large ones. There are countless antiques in them.

Because today happened to be the weekend, there were more citizens and tourists visiting the Town God's Temple. When Lin Fan and the other three came to the Antique Street, they found that there was a constant flow of people coming and going here, and there were customers in almost every shop. Collection.

"I came here with my father before, but I'm not interested in these things, I just came with my father, so I don't know anything about antiques." Zhou Xiaolin shook his head and said.

"I come here often, usually with my uncle and sister. You know that my uncle is a jeweller, and has researched on antiques, and has some at home. I still know some common sense about identifying antiques, but the specifics But I haven’t come here alone to search for antiques, so I’ll accompany you guys to have a try today.” Wang Biao looked eager to try.

"There are many categories of antiques, which can be divided into categories such as ceramics, gold and stone, calligraphy and painting, miscellaneous pieces, etc. Different types of appraisal methods are also different. Generally, appraisers specialize in one or two directions, and appraisers who are proficient in all types of antiques are almost very rare. Less, because too much may mean that you are not refined.

To identify an antique, in addition to identifying its authenticity and material, in order to better determine its collection value, it is also necessary to determine its specific age, source (whether it is a master work, or whether it is an official or folk work), etc., which is very complicated. .

Therefore, in addition to the professional knowledge of antiques, appraisers also need to master a wealth of knowledge in history, literature, art, physics and chemistry.I can only briefly talk about a few representative and common identification of antique categories. Let's try it while watching in a while. "Wang Biao walked in front and said to the two as he walked.

"I just remember listening to my father talking with his friends, saying that the water in this antique street is very deep, the real antiques may only be about [-]%, and the rest are basically imitations of antiques, it depends on your eyesight .” Zhou Xiaolin said to Lin Fan while watching.

And Lin Fan is just a layman, looking at the ceramics, jade ware, lacquer ware, Chinese and foreign antique clocks and watches, Western ornaments, calligraphy and paintings, coins, stamps, stele rubbings, rubbings, and embroidery in the surrounding shops, everything looks like antiques. It seems that there is no way to tell the truth from the fake.

"Let's go to that Jizhen Store. It is opened by a friend of my uncle's. It is relatively large in this street and has a good reputation." Wang Biao pointed at a store from a distance and said.

Lin Fan saw that this shop covers an area of ​​two to three hundred square meters, and it is a three-story building with high cornices, red walls and blue tiles, vermilion columns, and two huge stone lions squatting at the door. .

"Okay, we will go wherever you say." Lin Fan replied.

Just when Lin Fan and the three of them entered the Jizhen Museum, there were two or three young people at the end of the Antique Street looking at them from a distance. After confirming that they had entered the Jizhen Museum, a young man said to the phone:
"Brave-headed brother, that kid is at the antique street near the Town God's Temple. He just entered the Jizhen Museum, and he probably won't leave here for a while. Well, we watched them from a distance, and they didn't notice us."

Lin Fan didn't notice at all, they were already being watched by a guy named Baldhead, and they were staring at the collection of antiques in the Jizhen Museum in a daze, because the first floor of the Jizhen Museum was completely a huge exhibition hall , In the hall of two to three hundred square meters, tens of thousands of ancient collections are exhibited.

(End of this chapter)