Why do some people think it is Xi Tianpan? Because from the rubbings, the vertical line under the character A has very little protrusion.
Here's the problem. As long as the vertical line in the word Tian comes out, it's A.
So some people think that it wasn’t Tian, otherwise how could that one stand out?
And as long as it stands out, no matter how short it is, it should still be pronounced as A.
In Chen Wenzhe's opinion, the name is not important, what is important is the content recorded in the inscription.
What's more, the history in any writing needs to be corroborated by each other.
Here, we can’t just refer to the inscriptions on Xijiapan, but also need to refer to others.
For example, there is the inscription on the tombstone of Xi Jia, and there is also the white plate of Guo Jizi from the same era, which was also sandwiched in the Xi Jia plate during the war.
There is also an inscription on this plate: "In the early days of the king's reign, each of them cut down the 玁狁狁, and the armor followed the king."
Regarding the same historical event, there are two bronzes recorded at the same time, which proves that it should be Xi Jia, not Xi Tian.
Therefore, Chen Wenzhe still believes that it should be read as Xi Jiapan. After all, everyone knows the character Tian, and since the vertical character stands out, it should be read as Jia.
This point is consistent with the opinions of countless archaeologists and scholars in China.
Now that Chen Wenzhe has his own opinion on the name, what other problems remain with the identification of the inscription?
"Wenzhe, what are you looking at?"
Seeing that Chen Wenzhe had been wandering around the plate for half an hour, Zheng Yu and others were all very surprised.
"This is Xijiapan!" Chen Wenzhe sighed.
"We know that it's an imitation armor plate." Zheng Yu said immediately.
"That's not right. You said this is a Xijia plate, not a replica?" Cao Qingchun reacted the fastest.
Zhang Yijie also looked surprised at this time. It was obvious that he had also reacted.
"Isn't it possible? The genuine item was auctioned and sold for more than 200 million. It's impossible that the item is fake, right?"
Chen Wenzhe nodded and said: "That one is not a fake, this one is an imitation, but it is not a modern imitation, but an imitation from the Song Dynasty more than 800 years ago, and an imitation from the Southern Song Dynasty court."
If it were not for using Hui Shuo to check the history of this Xi armor plate, Chen Wenzhe would not be able to accurately date it.
However, he still felt very sorry. After all, this was an imitation, not the real thing.
He doesn’t know where he got this thing from, but it ended up in his museum as a fake.
"It's still a fake!" Zhang Yijie was a little disappointed.
"The works of the Southern Song Dynasty eight hundred years ago are also very good!" Cao Qingchun laughed.
"Did you get it?" Chen Wenzhe said in surprise.
Cao Qingchun said with a smile: "This is my gift to you. The big plate was given by Zheng Yu, and Lao Zhang gave me a picture, a replica of the Five Cows picture."
"You are so thoughtful that all you give me are treasures!" Chen Wenzhe smiled.
Regardless of the value of the things, at least these brothers put their heart into them.
"It's a pity that it's an imitation. It would be great if it were the real thing." Cao Qingchun still felt very regretful.
"The imitation is also very good!" Chen Wenzhe shook his head.
How precious is the Xi Jiapan? First of all, it is a bronze vessel. It is an important and ritual vessel in the late Western Zhou Dynasty. It is designated as a national treasure of China.
Secondly, it carries a period of history from the period of King Xuan of Zhou Dynasty, which is the most important.
In the end, it was proved that its owner, Xijiaji, had a good background.
Yin Jifu is the chief editor of "The Book of Songs", therefore, Yin Jifu is also called the "Founder of Poetry".
It is worth mentioning that Yin Jifu is also the common ancestor of Yin and Ji.
During the period of King You of Zhou Dynasty, King You appointed traitors and acted rebelliously.
Yin Jifu refused to listen to his repeated advice and returned home angrily, and finally died in depression.
In addition to these historical values, the Xijia plate has an exquisite shape and special color.
As we all know, when bronze vessels are unearthed, they usually have a lot of green patina attached to them.
However, the color of the Xijia plate is bright black.
The Xijia plate has been around for nearly 3,000 years, but there is almost no rust and it is still as bright as ever.
Its shape is like a big plate.
The armor plate is round, with ears attached. The outer edge of the plate is extravagant, and the inner bottom is flat. The lower edge of the plate is decorated with curved patterns. The leather shell is black and shiny. It is obviously handed down from ancient times. The ring feet are missing. There are 133 inscriptions on the inner bottom.
As for this imitation armor plate, it was imitated by the court of the Southern Song Dynasty, so the craftsmanship has reached its peak.
Although Chen Wenzhe has never seen a real Xi Jiapan, he believes that the condition of that Xi Jiapan will never be better than this one.
There was nothing we could do about it, because by the Song Dynasty, bronze smelting technology must have reached its peak.
Especially for bronzes made by the lost wax method, it is even better.
Bronze wares were made in ancient times, especially in the Song Dynasty. Bronze wares had somewhat fallen out of favor, after all, porcelain had begun to rise.
However, the smelting technology of palace bronzes during that period was still at its peak level.
For example, the use of the lost wax method, because the objects cast by the lost wax method can be exquisite and clear, with a hollow effect.
The principle of my country's lost wax casting technology originated from the lost wax method. The lost wax method was first seen in the middle and late Shang Dynasty. This technology gradually disappeared after the emergence of the non-line lost wax method.
The bronze statue and plate unearthed from the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Suixian County, North Lake are the earliest lost wax castings known in my country, dating from the fifth century BC.
In 1975, a bronze knife was unearthed from the Majiayao cultural site of Linjia in Dongxiang, Gansu Province (around 3000 BC).
This is the earliest bronze artifact discovered in my country and is proof that my country has entered the Bronze Age.
Compared with West Asia, South Asia and North Africa, which entered the Bronze Age about 6,500 years ago, my country's Bronze Age arrived later.
But it cannot be denied that it originated independently, because there was an era when bronze and stone tools were used together in our country, dating from about 5500 to 4500 years ago.
Our country invented bronze alloys on this basis, which is different from the development model of bronzes in the world. Therefore, we can rule out the theory that our country's bronzes were spread from abroad.
In March 2015, ZK City of Nanhe Province discovered a group of tombs from the Warring States Period to the Eastern Han Dynasty while cooperating with an infrastructure construction site in Xiangcheng to conduct cultural relic exploration.
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This time a number of exquisite funerary objects were unearthed, including a bronze sword that was well preserved and very rare.
All this shows that my country's bronze smelting technology is very powerful.
But in the Song Dynasty, it goes without saying.
As long as the royal family wants something, what can they do wrong?
Therefore, this is an imitation Xi armor plate from the Southern Song Dynasty, and it is also very precious.
Because it must be a perfect one-to-one replica based on the real thing.
Therefore, the exquisiteness of this plate is no worse than the real thing.
As for other inscriptions, this Xi armor plate is definitely perfectly presented.
This is why Chen Wenzhe couldn't tell it was a fake for a while.
After all, it has been imitated for more than 800 years, and even if it is an imitation, it is still a genuine antique.
As for the authentic Xijia plate, its current whereabouts are unknown, but it should be in the hands of a private collector in my country.