"Gentlemen and ladies, the second item in today's charity auction is an ancient book from the mysterious Eastern country of China... six hundred years ago. It is also the earliest social encyclopedia and is currently the only one in the world.
Several hundred volumes have been preserved...
These six precious ancient books were all collected by Mr. Bonadette and are now being used for charity. Let us give our applause to Mr. Bonadette..."
William gave a brief evaluation of several newly introduced antiques on the stage. His words also attracted the attention of some wealthy people who like to collect antiques. They all looked at a few crystal glass cabinets pushed in the middle of the venue.
The same crystal glass display cabinet, but the objects inside have changed from diamonds and jewelry to several books. In each of the six display cabinets at the front, there is an ancient book with yellowed pages.
There are six books in total.
The dimensions of these ancient books are all the same, nearly half a meter high and 30 centimeters wide. The volumes are so large that only one volume can be placed in each display cabinet.
"This...this...is this the "Yongle Dadian"?!"
When these display cabinets were pushed out, Zhuang Rui could no longer see anything else. All his attention was on the books in the display cabinets. Regardless of his rude behavior, Zhuang Rui pushed them away.
Some people in front of me took a few steps to get to the display cabinet.
"Yongle Dadian, Volume 5868-36..."
On the front of the yellowed book cover, sixteen fonts with graceful, smooth and straight strokes appeared in front of Zhuang Rui. These were copied stroke by stroke by calligraphers using the official regular script of the Ming Dynasty.
This made Zhuang Rui's body tremble slightly. Yes, it was the "Yongle Dadian", that ancient Chinese encyclopedia that condensed countless wisdom of the ancestors.
Although the book was not opened, Zhuang Rui could see from the yellowed book jacket that a layer of yellow silk had been wrapped around the head, making it look particularly solemn. There was a rectangular inscription on the upper left corner of the front of the book jacket.
On the bookmark, there are four words in the frame titled "Yongle Dadian", and there are two lines of small words below the words, indicating the number of volumes of this book.
The so-called book jacket refers to the cover of modern books. Because it is wrapped around the outside of the book like clothes worn by people, it is called "book jacket". In ancient times, book jackets were hard-mounted with multiple layers of rice paper.
A method commonly used in early book binding.
Looking at this large volume, which is rarely seen even in modern prints, Zhuang Rui can imagine that more than 10,000 volumes of the magnificent "Yongle Dadian" are placed on the shelf, like a small library. It can really be said to be magnificent.
A huge production.
Zhu Di's usurpation of the throne was regarded as "treason" by Fang Xiaoru and other scholar-bureaucrats, so they thought of inheriting Taizu's unfinished business of compiling a large-scale similar book.
In this way, on the one hand, by gathering scholars, the resistance between the government and the public can be eliminated, and the purpose of winning over the scholars can be achieved; on the other hand, it can also show off the rule of law and establish one's orthodox status, so in the year of the throne (1403)
In July of the same year), he ordered the compilation of "Yongle Dadian".
"Yongle Dadian" was originally called "Dacheng Dacheng". It is an encyclopedia-style collection of Chinese literature, with a total catalog of 60 volumes, 22,877 volumes of text, and 11,095 volumes with about 370 million words. This ancient cultural treasure house brings together seven ancient and modern books.
Eight thousand species.
Speaking of "Yongle Dadian", we must mention the two great heroes who presided over the compilation of this classic: Xie Jin and Yao Guangxiao. It was under the auspices of these two people that a large number of editors were recruited from various places to compile this ancient masterpiece.
The calligrapher carried out the work of tracing columns, clearing copies, drawings and circles, and it took six years to compile it.
Xie Jin was a famous talent in the early Ming Dynasty. Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, appreciated his talent and appointed him to preside over the compilation of "Records of Taizu" and "Biography of Women". However, it is his presiding over the compilation of "Yongle Dadian" that made him most famous in history.
》experience.
As for Yao Guangxiao, it is even more legendary. Yao Guangxiao became a monk at the age of 14. His Buddhist name was Daoyan, and he was known as the Sick Tiger in Jianghu. Legend has it that Zhu Di raised an army to Qingjun's side. It was Yao Guangxiao's work that helped Zhu Di ascend to the throne of the emperor in one fell swoop.
Known as the Emperor's Master by the people, he is the person Zhu Di trusts and relies on the most.
With Yao Guangxiao's participation, the living conditions of all those who compiled the "Yongle Dadian" were very comfortable. They lived in Chonglifang and other places not far from the Wenyuan Pavilion of the Royal Library, and were provided with wine, food, tea, and fruit by Guanglu Temple in the morning and evening.
Tuition fees were paid, and officials who participated in the compilation were exempted from the imperial court, and the treatment was very generous. At that time, some people described the grand occasion of the compilation of "Yongle Dadian" as "all the literary and artistic talents in the world gathered in the capital."
The scale of "Yongle Dadian" far exceeds all similar books compiled by previous generations, leaving many rich stories and unsolvable mysteries for future generations. However, only one or two percent of "Yongle Dadian" has been passed down to this day.
Natural or man-made destruction was eventually annihilated in the long course of history.
"Yongle Dadian" is like a "treasure ship", which has all the Chinese culture before the 14th century packed into its warehouse. But now, people can only guess the origin of this sunken treasure ship through a small section of mast exposed on the water.
Everything.
The "Yongle Dadian" in history has brought people too much surprise and admiration. Its destruction has also brought equally strong sadness and regret, leaving many mysteries to be explored for future generations. Now, many people do not know "Yongle Dadian"
What kind of book is "Yongle Dadian"? There are many people who are familiar with "Yongle Dadian". I am afraid that they will never see the original appearance of "Yongle Dadian" in their lifetime.
When Zhuang Rui was studying the history of the Ming Dynasty, he went to the National Library of China to borrow the original copy of "Yongle Dadian". Therefore, when he first saw the rare book in the glass cabinet, Zhuang Rui knew that these six books
It definitely came from the same place as the "Yongle Dadian" collected by the National Library, and it must have come from China.
"Buy it, you must buy it, no matter how much you spend, you must take it back to your own museum..."
Looking at these six "Yongle Dadian", Zhuang Rui's eyes turned red. You must know that although "Yongle Dadian" still has hundreds of copies around the world, the content of each volume is different, that is,
It is said that every volume of "Yongle Dadian" that exists in the world is a truly unique copy.
In fact, strictly speaking, the "Yongle Dadian" that has been preserved now is not the original from the Yongle period. There are many twists and turns and complicated stories in it.
Among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Shizong (Emperor Jiajing) loved "Yongle Dadian" the most. He always kept several volumes of "Yongle Dadian" on his desk for reading at any time. In the 36th year of Jiajing, a fire broke out in the palace and all three halls were burned down.
The fire spread and soon endangered the "Dadian" in the literary building. Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty awarded three gold medals overnight, so that the "Dadian" could be rescued in time.
In order to prevent similar disasters in the future, Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty came up with the idea of re-recording the "Yongle Dadian". In the 41st year of Jiajing, Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty appointed Gao Gong, Qu Jingchun, Zhang Juzheng and others to be responsible for the re-recording of the "Yongle Dadian".
It took a full 6 years and was finally completed in April of the first year of Muzong Longqing's reign.
The original copy of "Yongle Dadian" became confusing after it was re-recorded in Jiajing. Some people believe that the original copy of "Yongle Dadian" was destroyed in war or fire and has long since disappeared. Some people believe that "Dadian" should have been buried, but
For hundreds of years, no original copy of "Yongle Dadian" has been exposed to the world.
How could China, which is famous for its detailed historical records, fail to record the whereabouts of such a large and important classic? Many scholars who study history, including Zhuang Rui, find it unbelievable. What fate did the original copy suffer?
How did he die? It is still one of the great unsolved cases in history.
The original copy of "Yongle Dadian" has been lost. The copy of "Yongle Dadian" that luckily escaped the war in the late Ming Dynasty, although there are more than 2,000 incomplete volumes, experienced the tragic fate of being stolen, burned and robbed, and was finally released in 1900.
The Eight-Nation Allied Forces were destroyed when they occupied Beijing.
The remaining approximately 400 zero copies are collected by 30 institutions in 8 countries and regions. Even so, the strange book "Yongle Dadian" is still favored by scholars today for its huge data and cultural relic value.
Zhuang Rui didn't expect to see such precious six volumes of fragments of "Yongle Dadian" at such a private auction. This made him feel excited for a moment. He looked around the glass cabinet carefully and completely forgot about this.
The auction is still in progress.
William on the stage saw Zhuang Rui with his eyes almost glued to the glass cabinet. He thought he was trying to distinguish the authenticity of the books inside, so he said: "Mr. Zhuang, these six ancient books have been authenticated by experts and instruments.
It is indeed something from your country hundreds of years ago, please rest assured..."
"Uh... I'm sorry, Mr. William, please continue..."
Zhuang Rui scratched his head in embarrassment. Knowing that he had interfered with the auction process, he quickly took a few steps back.
"These six precious ancient books will not be sold separately. The lowest auction price together is 3.8 million U.S. dollars, and each bid is 100,000 U.S. dollars. Interested friends can start the auction..."
William knew that these six volumes of ancient books from China were actually temporarily taken out by Bonadette yesterday, and the prices were not very high. Perhaps they were specially put out for the Chinese.
"Five million dollars..."
Zhuang Rui made no secret of his love for these six ancient books. When William finished speaking, he immediately shouted five million. For Zhuang Rui, these unique books are unique. No matter how much money is spent,
He also wants to include it in his own museum.
"Five and a half million dollars!"
In a corner not far from Zhuang Rui, a middle-aged man with an Asian face raised the number plate in his hand.
