It's a pity that the bronze dragon in front of him is not authentic, and Chen Wenzhe couldn't see the restoration scene at that time, otherwise the harvest would be greater.
Even so, Chen Wenzhe was able to deduce the general appearance of the bronze vessel from the imitation in front of him.
He knew that when he found them, they were just a pile of tightly wrapped bronze fragments.
When there are a large pile of copper blocks with mottled patina, there are 8 blocks in total, weighing 92.5 kilograms.
After the Chang'an Municipal Public Security Bureau handed over 8 bronze dragon fragments from the Qin Dynasty to the Western Shaanxi History Museum, cultural relic restoration experts repeatedly studied and carefully put them together, and then discovered that this was a breathtaking heavy bronze artifact from the Qin Dynasty.
The remaining pieces No. 1 and No. 2 are bonded into faucets;
The remaining pieces No. 4 and No. 5 will form a whole after being bonded, with a length of 83 cm, a width of 20.1 cm, and a wall thickness of 0.4 cm to 0.6 cm.
It can be seen from this that the dragon bodies were cast separately and then welded together. They are interspersed with the dragon body of the No. 3 residual piece, forming a twisted and entwined double dragon.
Fragment No. 8 is a dragon tail, which is composed of four intertwined dragon tails, forming a hollow cone with a base diameter of 32 cm, a diameter of 19 cm, and a height of 28 cm.
Experts judged that the coiled bronze dragons should be a pair, but it is a pity that the other remaining parts are unknown.
Compared with the original model, the parts that have been restored now are definitely very different.
However, due to tomb robbing, we no longer know what the real prototype looks like.
Now we can only think that it is the base of an instrument.
Therefore, the three-legged frog bronze drum was placed behind it instead of on top of it. I didn't know whether this was the right thing to do.
Bypassing these two majestic green dragons, behind the Lingshan three-legged frog bronze drum is a large round tripod.
Seeing this round tripod, Chen Wenzhe immediately laughed.
These things are actually related. Although they are not matching things, they can all be connected.
"Is this the Zilong Cauldron?"
You must know that the earliest dragon character comes from this tripod.
"It's amazing, I recognized him at a glance."
Li Jinli had to admire Chen Wenzhe. He was really good at identifying cultural relics.
The Shangzi Dragon Tripod, a round bronze tripod from the late Shang Dynasty, is a first-class national cultural relic. It is named after the inscription "Zilong" cast on the inner wall near the mouth edge.
The Zilong Tripod was unearthed in Hui County, Nanhe, in the 1920s, and then flowed into Neon and then to Xiangjiang.
In April 2006, it was collected and returned to China by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and is now stored in the National Museum of China.
The Shangzi Dragon Cauldron is 103 cm high, 37 cm wide, and 43 cm deep.
It is well preserved, has a majestic shape, a full body and a large body.
This round tripod is the largest of all Shang Dynasty bronze tripods discovered, and it is also the earliest known bronze vessel with the word "dragon" in it.
The Shangzi Dragon Cauldron is a national first-class cultural relic. It is named after the inscription "Zilong" cast on the inner wall of the vessel near the mouth edge.
The two ears, which are 22 centimeters higher than the body of the tripod, add majesty to the entire tripod.
The animal face patterns on the neck and three legs of the vessel are powerful and solemn, showing superb bronze casting technology.
As a treasure among the bronzes of the Shang Dynasty in my country, the Zilong Tripod complements the largest square tripod, the Simuwu Tripod.
They are round and square, and can be called a peerless pair of bronze national treasures.
In August 2013, the Zilong Tripod was included in the "Third Batch of Cultural Relics Prohibited from Exhibition Abroad" by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
Experts speculate based on the information available that the Zilong Tripod was probably unearthed in Huixian County, Nanhe Province, my country.
Because Hui County is located in the Central Plains, it was once the seat of the royal family during the ancient Yin and Shang Dynasties.
A large number of cultural relics from the Shang and Zhou dynasties have been unearthed in this place, and it is an important site of the Shang and Zhou Bronze Age.
In the 1930s, when my country was experiencing domestic and foreign troubles, a neon company named "Yanaka Co., Ltd." specialized in selling cultural relics in my country.
Soon after the Zilong Tripod was unearthed, it was resold to Neon by Yamanaka Co., Ltd. and has never been seen since.
In June 2004, Neon Osaka held an exhibition of private cultural relics collections.
Most of the collections on display at that time were my country's precious cultural relics, among which was the Zilong Tripod.
Chinese bronze experts Ma Chengyuan and Chen Peifen rushed to Neon successively to inspect the Zilong Ding.
At the end of 2005, the Zilong Tripod was purchased by a Hong Kong cultural relic collector and traveled to Hong Kong.
In December 2005 and January 2006, experts from my country's National Cultural Relics Information Consulting Center went to Xiangjiang.
They conducted a physical appraisal of the Zilong Ding and solicited opinions from all professional members of the Bronze Professional Group of the National Cultural Relics Appraisal Committee.
Experts unanimously believe that the Zilong Tripod is a rare and heavy bronze artifact.
Therefore, the Zilong Tripod has entered the list of "National Key Precious Cultural Relics Collection".
In April 2006, the Zilong Tripod was collected by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Ministry of Finance for a joint project and returned to China, where it is now stored in the National Museum.
The Zilong tripod has a square lip, a wide rim, erect ears, a rounded belly, and three legs underneath, which are close to hoof feet. The tripod is 103 centimeters high, 80 centimeters in diameter, and weighs 230 kilograms.
The tripod has thick erect ears, slightly tilted outwards, and is decorated with two concave string patterns on the outside. The folds are along the wide edge. The belly is wide and slightly drooping laterally, and supports three hoofs at the bottom.
The neck of the vessel has a cloud and thunder pattern as the ground, and is decorated with six groups of 2 types of relief animal mask patterns on the circumference. The upper end of the foot is decorated with high relief animal mask patterns, and the lower part is lined with three-week convex string patterns.
The inscription "Zilong" is carved on the inner wall of the tripod near the mouth edge.
The word "子" in the inscription is located in the upper left corner, is smaller, and is inscribed in solid strokes.
The word "dragon" is on the lower right and is formed by two hooks, resembling an upright dragon with its tail curled to the right.
The mouth is open, the eyes are round, and the huge bottle-shaped horn on the head protrudes, which is not connected with the dragon head.
Zilong Ding is the largest round tripod discovered in the Shang Dynasty, symbolizing the strict tripod ceremony system of the royal family and aristocrats of the Shang Dynasty.
The tripod is the representative of Chinese bronze culture and the witness of Chinese civilization.
From these idioms containing the word "ding", we can see that tripod is a symbol of national power and status.
From the "Zilong" inscription, we can make inferences about Zilong Ding's life experience.
There are also records of "Zi" in the Shang Dynasty royal family in the existing oracle bone inscriptions.
In the history of our country, the title "Zimou" is usually found in oracle bone inscriptions and Shang and Zhou bronzes, and refers to the patriarchal nobles with the status of "prince".
Therefore, it can be speculated that the owner of Zilong Ding may be a prince in the late Shang Dynasty.
Or in the royal family of the Shang Dynasty, he served as a minister, a powerful patriarchal noble chief.
Owning such a huge tripod was not only a symbol of power, but also an important symbol of the internal hierarchy of the Shang royal family in the Shang Dynasty, which had strict etiquette.
In June 2006, when the National Museum of my country held the "Cultural Heritage Day Special Exhibition", the Zilong Tripod was exhibited for the first time.
At that time, Zilong Ding was placed on the booth at the entrance of the exhibition hall. This was the first close contact between Zilong Ding and Chinese audiences.
Of course, contact does not mean touching, so it is very rare for even an imitation to be placed in an exhibition hall so that people can touch it.