In fact, from the perspective of that time, after the reform and opening up, the antique trade among the people slowly recovered.
It makes perfect sense to not call it "antiques" but only to call it "second-hand goods".
This is not only because the laws and regulations of the country at that time strictly prohibited this kind of folk cultural relics trading, and it was necessary to use the taboo of "second-hand goods" to provide a cover for this somewhat shady behavior.
It is also because after experiencing the catastrophe of the "movement", very few good things have survived, and there are not many things that can truly meet the standards of antiques.
What was the definition of antiques in the past?
Kang Shude once told Ning Weimin about this.
The old man said that it is limited to Banpo painted pottery, Hongshan ancient jade, Shang and Zhou Ding and Yi, Qin bricks and Han tiles, Northern Wei statues, Tang Sancai, Song Guan kiln, Ming Dynasty Xuande furnace, as well as celebrity calligraphy and painting, Ming and Qing porcelain, Tianhuang chicken blood, and old ink ancient ink.
Inkstones, enamel carved lacquer, agate jade, rhinoceros horn ivory carvings, bronze mirrors and ancient coins, painted tobacco bottles, sachet fan pendants, tapestry embroidery and so on.
In short, the "antiques" mentioned in the past were all high-end and elegant objects.
Moreover, when there were antique shops before, many well-known shops attached great importance to business reputation.
Even if people who don't know much come to buy something, as long as they are willing to spend money, they will definitely be able to buy genuine products.
But now, where else can I go for shopping?
Most of what you can see on the market are unimportant parts of the refund materials, which are only leaked out after people no longer want them.
Not only is the category low, there are all sorts of messy stuff, but the key is the quality is not good either.
Such as stoneware, cooking utensils, bamboo utensils, wooden utensils, songbug jars, bird feed jars, smoking and drinking utensils, wooden boxes and holding boxes, abacus prongs, clocks and glasses, copper lock molds, these are all considered good things.
The ones that are a bit high-end, most of them are damaged, incomplete, and even filled with a large number of poorly manufactured fakes.
Occasionally, I catch a prodigal and mistook the good things he had saved at home as worthless fakes.
You have to catch up with the person receiving the goods who has no vision before they can flow into the market.
After that, buyers visiting the "ghost market" will have to rely on their own luck to find the missing ones.
In such a market situation, it can only be called buying used goods.
How could it possibly be called an “antique trade” again?
Therefore, the old man believes that, let alone the state not allowing it, it means that the state has liberalized the policy.
I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to see the antique trading scene like in the past again in his life.
To put it bluntly, this industry is in chaos, there are no rules anymore, and there are very few people who really know how to do it.
No matter how hard it is to reach a higher level, from now on you will just live in the shadows and make small fuss.
Ning Weimin had to admit that his master's words were largely true.
Under the current circumstances, the decline of the antique shop is obvious at a glance. Compared with the past, it is of course a world of difference.
But the old man's views are biased, and he just blindly sees the bad things.
On the other hand, as a "experienced person", he pays more attention to these "bad" negative aspects.
First of all, things are rare and valuable, and you can make a profit without losing anything.
The destruction of a large number of cultural relics has greatly increased the value of what is left in the world.
Not to mention that the old man himself admitted that those things that he looked down upon in the past are all good today.
Let’s just say that the fakes these days are all imitations from the Republic of China.
When you get an antique that will be valuable in the future, there is no risk of being "eye-catched".
Even this is called a scarcity of chips.
On the contrary, it is more worth collecting, and it is easier to make huge profits from it.
Secondly, there are fewer people who really understand, and the high-end market is disappearing. Although this is not a good thing, it does have a good side.
It undoubtedly makes antique trading more down-to-earth.
It is also more exciting and easier to confuse people.
You must know that only when there are many participants can real market prosperity occur.
In the past, only a few people loved these things that they shouldn't eat or drink, and their level was high.
But then again, "no fish can be raised in clear water ponds".
This also limits the number of participants and the market for antiques.
It's like a glass field in front of your eyes.
Except for a few Chinese people who come to patronize, most of the transactions have to be taken care of by foreign guests, and the stamina is weak.
On the other hand, it’s different when looking at the “ghost market”.
Used goods are mixed with antiques and placed on street stalls, which means that the threshold of antiques disappears in an instant.
In addition, this kind of market characteristics may lead to leakage.
For poor people, stories of sudden wealth are undoubtedly the most attractive.
Naturally, more and more people will be attracted to it, expanding the market size and demand.
Eventually, antique collecting became a kind of speculative behavior that can be participated by all people and has gambling entertainment.
To put it bluntly, it is just like the evolution of the postal market.
It was indeed a purely cultural activity when it first started, but it can no longer maintain its purity when it comes to money.
So in the end, all the people who really understood stamps and really loved collecting stamps disappeared from the postal market, and the postal market was completely reduced to a place for speculation.
There is also the ongoing "Clivia Fever" in Changchun, which is the same.
More and more participants are not people who really love flowers, but they simply value the chance of getting rich by raising them, so they invest their lives and wealth in it.
I can only say that this change may be a bit disgusting for people who simply regard these things as hobbies.
But for those who want to fish in troubled waters and make a fortune, it is the best thing.
The last point is that the old man is subject to the limitations of the times. All experience in measuring things comes from the past, and he has never considered the impact of technological development on people's lives.
You know, at the beginning of this year, the American Toffler's "The Third Wave" had just been published by Sanlian Publishing House.
Although the book accurately predicts that the advent of the "information age" will lead to huge changes in human society in terms of work, study, communication, etc.
But the old man obviously won't read this book.
Of course, it was impossible for him to imagine, let alone believe, how quickly those lost traditions and rules would be restored once modern communication tools were used.
There is also a Western trading model such as auctions, which will soon be applied to antiques trading in the domestic market.
And it will soon set a high-end industry benchmark for antiques with shocking and sky-high prices.
Therefore, the biggest difference between Ning Weimin and Kang Shude is in their understanding of the antique market.
Even Ning Weimin was not at all confused about "the flowers gradually become more charming". Instead, he focused on "heroes emerge from troubled times".
He knew very well that it was precisely the current market situation that his master disliked so much that gave him the opportunity to "win in chaos and seize the upper hand".
He loves this era of chaos and bleakness in the antique market from the bottom of his heart.
As for what he was worried about, it was nothing more than domestic laws and regulations.
He can't just collect all the cheap chips in his arms as happily and conveniently as he can with collecting stamps, calligraphy and paintings, and seal stones.
His speed of collecting funds was too slow, and there was no opportunity for large-scale transactions.
If you want to get some good stuff, you can only rely on yourself to go to the "ghost market" to pick up missing items, or go to the cultural relics store to wait for the treasure.
To be honest, he is looking forward to the country opening up the trade of folk cultural relics as soon as possible.
But I'm afraid that once that day comes, there won't be many good things left on the market, and the prices will be high.
It's really contradictory.
Unexpectedly, God seemed to understand his difficulties and unexpectedly pushed Sun Wufu, who was almost desperate, in front of him.
I was very surprised and gave him a key that could fundamentally solve this problem.
Don't forget the reason why Ning Weimin was willing to accompany Sun Wufu to see Xu Laoliu.
A large part of the reason is because he wants to establish a straight-line trading relationship with these two people, so as to make it easier to "pick up the slack".
Don't forget that this Xu Laoliu was not raised by humans, but he actually came to have a "bao'er meeting" and made the kind-hearted Sun Wufu miserable.
But it must be admitted that the situation created by Xu Laoliu was more beneficial to Ning Weimin.
Ning Weimin is such a shrewd person, he thought of it almost intuitively.
If he lends a helping hand in times of need, he will not only gain Sun Wufu's gratitude, but also pay off his past debts.
And from then on, there was a real person who was not afraid of losing face and was experienced in collecting old goods, and he served him loyally.
Doesn't this mean that he has a clone, so he can collect antiques more conveniently?
He absolutely believed that as long as Sun Wufu understood the principle of wealth in the east and wealth in the west.
Then slowly teach him what categories to accept and what categories not to accept, how to negotiate prices, and how to make customers happy.
The probability of this kid getting good stuff is greatly increased compared to now.
To put it bluntly, Sun Wufu was a living "treasure bowl" to him, which was much better than collecting one or two dead treasures of national treasure level.
Where can I find such a good thing?
In fact, this is exactly the case, if nothing else.
Just two things that were cleared out from the "residual assets" of Sun Wufu's 222 buyout.
Ning Weimin got rich.
Because among those rags, there were really two good treasures, which completely became Ning Weimin's choice to acquire Sun Wufu.
The first one was hidden among the twenty or so pieces of porcelain, and it was spotted by Ning Weimin at a glance.
The outer wall is covered with flower glaze, and the inner wall glaze is blue with yellow inside, black inside with black, white inside with black, and a bright red wash coming out of the white.
Even though Ning Weimin had never seen anything like this before.
Moreover, there was an unused bar of soap and a few new candles in the wash at that time, which were covered with dust.
But the problem is, real goods, good things, rare treasures, arrest people!
Once a knowledgeable person comes to know it, the real thing will attract people's attention like a magnet.
It feels like when a man is on a blind date and sees a beautiful woman, his eyes light up and he feels enchanted.
If it is a fake, it will look awkward if you push it to others.
In particular, Ning Weimin firmly remembered what Kang Shude said: "Good things are often deep and restrained."
He carefully texted this colorful thing, feeling that the color was bright but not out of place, and the shape of the utensil was stable enough.
I turned over the brush and found out it was from the year of Yongzheng again.
In addition, when this object was held in the sun and examined closely, it actually had a faint flowing color.
He concluded that this was a good thing, and it immediately caught his "devil's eye."
Why else would he be so willing to give Sun Wufu two hundred and two?
Sure enough, when he took it back to Kang Shude for appreciation, and then put the wash on the table, the old man's eyes shone brightly.
After watching it for two minutes, the old man made a conclusion on the spot.
"The thing you brought back is a relatively rare kiln glaze. This is a variety that was bred when imitating Jun kiln porcelain during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty. It was fired with two or more glazes, and the glaze color is reddish.
The one with a bluish tint is called 'Flame Green'. The glaze of your brush is red and yellow, flowing and blending. The whole body is kiln-turned glaze, and the glaze accumulation near the foot of the outer wall is obvious. There is no doubt that it is 'Flame Red'.
'.The most rare thing is that it didn't collapse or flush... What a good thing. What a good thing! Where did you get it? Your eyesight has improved a lot. You can catch such a rare thing..."
Of course, Ning Weimin was delighted by the praise, but he didn't reply. Instead, he took out another thread-bound book from his arms.
This is the second one, which he found among those old books.
He didn't understand it at all. Just by the many red seals on the pages, he could instinctively tell that the book was old.
Seeing that it was well preserved, I thought that the rare ancient books, either from the Ming Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty, might be worth some money, so I took them back.
As a result, I never expected that the value of this thing is far more than that "flame red" one.
Moreover, Mr. Kang is such a calm person, and he is so surprised when he doesn’t look at it that he can’t help but scream!
"Song version!" The old man picked up the book, his hands trembling.
"Yes, it is definitely a Song version. This is an authentic Southern Song Dynasty 'Zhejiang version'. Look at the characters, they are engraved in a typical European style, with rectangular fonts, meticulous calligraphy and strokes, and no slack in every word.
Tall and beautiful.”
"Look again at the white mouth, fish tail, and double-column frame on the left and right. Especially here, there is a word 'kuang' at the bottom of the frame. This is the name of the engraver. Look at the paper of this book, it is made of jute.
There is no doubt about it."
"There are two key points in identifying paper from the Song Dynasty and imitation linen paper after the Ming Dynasty. First, the paper from the Song and Yuan Dynasties was rougher and thinner, while the imitation paper from the Ming Dynasty was much finer than the paper from the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The second is that the paper from the Song and Yuan Dynasties was much more delicate.
The main raw material for papermaking in that period was hemp, so there were lines of hemp fibers left on the paper. Look, this is it."
The old man was so excited that he pointed them out to Ning Weimin one by one.
But Ning Weimin nodded, but he was more concerned about another issue.
"Old man, how much do you think this book is worth?"
"How come you only know money? Don't you know anything else?"
Kang Shude was a little disdainful, but told him anyway.
"I can't say how much this thing is worth, but it must not be cheap. Because there was a saying before liberation that 'a page of Song Dynasty edition is worth one tael of gold'. According to the standards of the past, even if
Sixteen taels a pound, it must be worth several pounds of gold. What’s more, these things are even less now. But it’s a pity that there is only one copy of this book and it is not a complete set, otherwise it would be even more incredible.”
Having said that, Ning Weimin is certainly beautiful.
That’s several kilograms of gold! According to the gold price of 30 yuan per gram, that’s more than 100,000 yuan!
This is going to be sold, how many good things will I need to exchange for it?
But he just thought about it.
Because he hadn't been beautiful for a long time, the old man stretched out his hand and took the book away from him.
Not only did he lock it in the cabinet, but he also waved his hand at him.
"Okay, you have nothing to do here, go away."
Ning Weimin was immediately dumbfounded.
"Ah? You...what do you mean? That book..."
Kang Shude is straightforward and confident.
"What's the matter? Did I give you the appraisal for free? How many times have we come when you ask me to come, and you don't even bring me a bottle of wine to buy. Sometimes, I have to wait for you to eat and drink. Today I
I want to keep something from you, shouldn’t I?”
Ning Weimin's head was sweating. He was indeed in the wrong.
"No, Master, let's take the Song version of the book...Actually...it's fine if you want to keep it. But I'm wondering if it's not worthwhile for us to keep it. You see, the stuff from the Song Dynasty is not easy to keep. If you really want to keep it, it's not worth it.
It’s worth hundreds of thousands, so of course it’s better to sell it. Even if we and I each get half of it? It’s better than..."
Unexpectedly, Kang Shude ignored him at all.
"Are you thinking about using money to buy your new gadgets? How much do you plan to buy is enough? I also tell you, if you really sell these things, you will cause trouble! Exchange them for your rags, which will be even more sinful! I won't allow it.
!Don’t talk nonsense! Are you leaving? If you don’t leave, you won’t be able to take your ‘Flame Red’, so you can keep it for me.”
Well, just based on the old man's attitude, Ning Weimin knew that there was no hope for hundreds of thousands.
It sounds like he's also pretty pissy.
When I think about it, if this is the case, then why bother?
I simply put "Flame Red" on the table and it really stayed.
"If you like it, tell me earlier. Just keep it for fun. Do you think I am just a stingy person?"
This was beyond Kang Shude's expectation.
The old man couldn't help but smile.
"Okay, I guess you have a conscience. You're not stingy at all."
Who knew it would be better if he didn't praise him? But with this praise, the truth revealed by Ning Weimin would not be listened to.
"Then, who of us is following whom? Anyway, what's yours is mine, and sooner or later it has to be returned to me!"
Okay, this time it was the old man who glared.
"I said you kid, what are you thinking about? Ah? Get out!"
PS: These days, people often complain at around 4 o'clock because they see differences in articles. I have tried my best not to affect everyone's lives. There is really no better way. I still hope these people can go to bed early.
I don’t ask you all to understand me and take some responsibility for your own body.