After the auctioneer Inkral shouted twice but no one answered, the hammer finally fell for the third time! This strong African lion was bought by a slightly pudgy middle-aged man for a high price of US$890,000.
!
Judging from his dress, he is obviously not a native of Pakistan, but more like an Indian! Although he is wearing a robe, he does not wear a turban!
Lions are also very sacred animals in Indian religion. Today, the only forest park with a large number of Asiatic lions is in India!
After eight strong men lifted the iron cage down again, the second auction finally became much more normal!
However, what I brought up this time was not the actual object, but a picture with a length of nearly 150 cm and a height of 70 cm.+. The content in the picture was a lying Buddha statue!
"Please forgive me, because this stone Buddha statue of Vairocana Buddha is nearly 5 meters long, 150 centimeters high, and weighs more than 8 tons. It is inconvenient to transport, so I can only show you pictures in pictures for the time being. Of course, if anyone
If the distinguished guest wins the bid, we will help them transport the Buddha statue away!" Inkral said.
"...the reclining statue of Vairochana Buddha from the Kushan Dynasty in the 4th century AD, comes from the Bamiyan Grottoes in Afghanistan! The identification is correct! The base price is 600,000 US dollars, and each increase in price shall not be less than 10,000 US dollars. The auction begins now!"
"well!"
Seeing the lively Bai Quan sighing, Liu Dong couldn't help but asked in surprise: "What's wrong?"
"Nothing! I'm just sighing. I'm afraid that after the destruction by the Taliban armed forces, the Bamiyan Grottoes, a famous treasure house of Buddhist art, will no longer exist!" Bai Quan shook his head.
"Bamiyan Grottoes?" Liu Dong repeated!
Because of his hobby, he is no stranger to this famous treasure house of Buddhist art in Afghanistan.
The Bamiyan Grottoes are Buddhist grottoes excavated from the 3rd to 7th centuries AD. They were carved along the cliffs. There are about 750 large and small grottoes in total. The cave-like caves at the left and right ends of the main cave complex each have a huge stone statue of a standing Buddha.
, 53 meters and 35 meters high respectively. The Buddha is dressed in a shoulder-length cassock, and the thin clothes are close to the body, like Cao Yi coming out of the water. The expression is solemn and majestic. The face and feet of the Buddha statue have been damaged.
There are murals painted on the walls of the Big Buddha Grotto and more than 50 other caves, including Buddha's Nirvana, donors, circular beaded patterns, etc. The composition is rich in changes, and the forms of the paintings on the top of the cave are particularly diverse. The murals and statues
The style is influenced by the art of the Sasanian Dynasty of Persia, while Indian and Western art also have a certain influence on it.
Only in the early 8th century, with the gradual Islamicization of local religion, the Bamiyan Grottoes were greatly damaged. Later, with the spread of Buddhism to the east, the artistic characteristics of the Bamiyan Grottoes had a profound impact on the grottoes in Xinjiang and other places in China.
There is an obvious impact.
In terms of artistic achievements alone, the Bamiyan Grottoes are no less than the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, the Maijishan Grottoes in Tianshui and the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, a treasure house of Buddhist art!
If such a treasure house of Buddhist art is really destroyed, it will really sadden those who really like ancient culture and Buddhism.
"... During the time we came to Pakistan, especially in Peshawar, we had already heard that the Taliban had blown up the two giant Buddhas in the Bamiyan Grottoes and stolen and sold many of them. I didn't believe it before, but now
After seeing this Vairocana Buddha statue, I finally believed it!" Baiquan said.
Liu Dong was also a little distressed about the damage to this treasure house of Buddhist art, but he was not as obvious as Bai Quan.
"Do you believe in Buddhism?" Liu Dong asked curiously.
After nodding, Bai Quan said: "Everyone in our family believes in Buddhism!"
Liu Dong suddenly understood and nodded. In this modern society where materialism is rampant and there are many temptations, having faith is a good thing. As long as it is not extreme and has some spiritual conversion, it is very helpful for a person's growth and moral improvement.
Helpful!
"Won't you object if I want to take a picture of this Buddha statue?" Liu Dong joked.
"Of course not!" Bai Quan shook his head.
He is not a fanatical believer, so he is filled with emotion. But it is still separate from real life! And he is also optimistic that this precious Buddha statue from the fourth century in the park will fall into Liu Dong's hands.
An intuition in his heart told Bai Quan that this compatriot beside him, whom he had only known for less than a day, could treat this precious Buddhist statue kindly!
"A million dollars!"
Liu Dong raised his bidding sign and said loudly.
His asking price directly exceeded the previous bidder by nearly 150,000 US dollars, which was considered a large sum of money in this kind of auction situation, so a lot of scrutiny was focused on Liu Dong in an instant.
"VIP No. 56 bids US$1 million. Is there any higher price?" the excited auctioneer said with a slightly excited tone.
But he asked twice in a row and no one raised his sign again!
After all, in Pakistan, people who believe in Islam still make up the majority, and the same is naturally true for the rich, so they are not too keen on taking down this huge Buddha statue.
Here, the main people who want to win this auction are dealers from all over the world, but one million US dollars is obviously beyond their psychological expectations.
If you buy it at this price and then resell it, the shipping fee plus the cost of promotion will greatly dilute the profit, making it somewhat worthless!
So, just when the dealers were hesitating, the auctioneer struck the third hammer!
“Congratulations to Mr. No. 56, for winning this Vairocana Buddha statue from the Bamiyan Caves in Afghanistan!”
Amid the applause of everyone around him and the surprised eyes of Bai Quan and Ren Guotao, Liu Dong got his first treasure in Peshawar!
"Liu Dong, did you really buy it?"
The upright Ren Guotao still couldn't believe it. He didn't expect Liu Dong, who was several years younger than him, to have such financial resources?
"What else?" Liu Dong smiled.
"Liu Dong, is your family very rich?" Ren Guotao asked curiously.
"Not bad!" Liu Dong gave an ambiguous answer!
But the envy in the eyes of Bai Quan and Ren Guotao remained unabated!
In addition to the two of them, Ishak next to him was obviously a little surprised by Liu Dong's sudden generosity. He looked at him up and down several times before looking back.
Soon the third auction item also appeared on the stage!
After the auctioneer uncovered the red silk covering it, a huge, modern sniper rifle with a scope and sharp angles, all black, appeared in front of everyone!
"This is an ultra-long-range anti-equipment sniper rifle that was handmade by three gun-making masters in Peshawar using imported American materials and taking half a year! The total weight of the gun is 12.8 kg, the gun length is 1548 mm, and the barrel length is 8 mm.
, caliber 12.7mm. It uses a rotating rear-pull bolt and a 5-round detachable magazine to feed ammunition."
"McMillan fiberglass stock, pistol grip, Remington trigger, trigger pull force 3.5 pounds. High-quality match-grade barrel with grooves on the outside, and the use of high-quality ammunition can achieve an accuracy of 0.3 touch a.
"
"The muzzle velocity is 936 meters/second, the effective range is 2,500 meters, and the 16x scope!"
"The front end of the butt is equipped with a bipod, and the rear end is equipped with a special rubber buffer pad. The entire rear end of the butt can be removed for easier support."
"There is no doubt that this is the world's top anti-materiel sniper rifle! This gun does not have a name yet. There is no owner who can love and care for it! Today I hope you can solve these two problems here.
!...12.7mm caliber anti-materiel sniper rifle, the base price is US$200,000, and each increase in price is no less than US$5,000. Start bidding now!”
"$210,000!"
"$220,000!"
"Ten thousand U.S. dollars!"
Looking at Ishaq who was holding up a sign for the first time, Liu Dong smiled and said, "I didn't expect that you would be so interested in this sniper rifle?"
"Haha, I didn't buy this sniper rifle to fight, but to get some inspiration from it and improve my own gun-making experience!"
"Oh, is it so!"
After taking a look at Liu Dong, Ishak said: "There are too many private gun-making workshops in Peshawar. Unless you are skilled in craftsmanship and can make privately customized guns with excellent performance and huge profits, you can only make a hard life."
Money! And I don’t want this!”
After nodding, Liu Dong said: "But there are so many people competing for this gun. If you want to win it, you will probably spend a lot of money!"
"I know, I was already prepared when I came!...All the auctions have nothing to do with me, I just want this gun!"
Seeing the persistence in Isaac's eyes, Liu Dong felt his love for the gun-making profession. This love was just like Liu Dong's love for jade carving and painting.
Liu Dong, who felt the same way, also gave up the idea of bidding for the gun.
For his only good marksmanship, the Barrett m99 is enough, and the remaining sniper rifles, no matter how good they are, are just a waste in his hands!
But Liu Dong's giving up does not mean that there will be less competition for Ishak!
Men, especially those who have experienced war and are free to hold guns, who don't want to have a good gun that can hit anyone with a hundred steps and has superior performance, so in less than five minutes, this privately built reflex weapon
The price of equipment sniper rifles has climbed to a high price of 380,000 US dollars!
In the end, Ishak still gritted his teeth and bought the gun for US$455,000.
Seeing the other party's excitement, Liu Dong shook his head slightly and continued to pay attention to the next item!
This kind of auction filled with all kinds of auctions made him feel more expectant.
The subsequent auction did live up to his expectations. In addition to Tibetan mastiffs, lions, tigers, and leopards sold as pets, the rest also included various Buddhist art from war-torn Afghanistan, the Seleucid dynasty, and Bariteria.
The Hellenistic objects handed down from the dynasty, the objects from the Tang Dynasty and ancient China spread to Afghanistan through the Silk Road, as well as the objects with the Islamic characteristics of the Arab Empire, also made Liu Dong very excited!
ps: Thank you to book friend ‘1405021801699’ (two pictures) ‘Dragon Floating in the Four Seas’ for your support, thank you very much!