Treasure Hunt all over the World

Passing through several exhibition halls one after another, Ye Tian and the others finally came to the "Ancient China" exhibition hall of the Jimei Museum, came to the bronze elephant statue, and began to appreciate this famous cultural relic cast three thousand years ago through the bulletproof glass!

Walking into the exhibition hall and seeing the bronze elephant statue on the display stand from afar, Ye Tian, ​​Betty and the others were completely shocked by the demeanor it displayed, without exception!

When they got closer, the shocking feeling brought by the bronze elephant statue became even stronger, so that they completely lost the ability to speak, and all their attention was attracted by the bronze elephant statue!

This is a huge bronze vessel, about 64 cm high, 96 cm long, and 45 cm wide. The length and width of the back opening are 26 and 21 cm. It is the largest known animal statue in the world!

The only regret is that the cover of the opening on the back of this bronze elephant statue has long been lost, and the elephant trunk is also seriously damaged, which looks a bit incomplete!

However, these defects do not prevent the bronze elephant statue from becoming a priceless treasure, nor does it prevent it from becoming the treasure of the Jimei Asian Art Museum!

Through the opening on the back, it can be seen that the wall of this bronze elephant statue is relatively thin, the whole body is bluish black, the trunk is short and upturned, the ears are spread horizontally, the small tail is curled to the right, and the four legs are thick.

On both sides of the elephant's belly, you can clearly see the main pattern of the horned animal face, with inverted Kui patterns on both sides, cloud and thunder patterns around the main pattern, and scale patterns on the sides of the trunk, the middle of the quadrupeds and around the mouth.

The entire elephant statue is beautiful in shape, simple and elegant, and charmingly naive, which vividly reflects the superb bronze casting skills in ancient China and the unparalleled level of artistic creation.

Due to its age and the fact that it is an unearthed cultural relic, traces of rust can be seen all over the body of the elephant statue, which is the unique green rust of ancient bronzes, spotted!

It is also the traces left by these long years that add a bit of historical weight to this bronze statue.

Standing in front of the bronze elephant statue, admiring this national treasure from 3,000 years ago, it seems that you can see China 3,000 years ago, and see the splendid Chinese civilization!

Compared with others, Ye Tian saw more content!

The first time he saw the bronze elephant statue, he was completely attracted by the priceless treasure cast by the ancestors and the dazzling purple light emitted by it, and fell into a state of obsession instantly!

Through the intensity of the purple light, he judged extremely accurately that this bronze elephant statue indeed came from the late Shang Dynasty. It has a long history of more than 3,000 years and is one of the best evidences of Chinese civilization!

Beyond the blinding purple light,

Surrounded by nearly 20 layers of charming halos, it shows that this bronze elephant statue has extremely high artistic value and is a well-deserved national treasure!

After standing in front of the bronze elephant statue and admiring it carefully for a while, Ye Tian secretly turned on the perspective, and began to explore the internal conditions of this heavy bronze statue, and explore the glorious history contained in it!

As far as he could see, this heavy bronze vessel was immediately seen clearly by Ye Tian, ​​and he could see everything inside and outside at a glance!

There is no secret inside the bronze elephant statue. Ye Tian only saw some cloud and thunder patterns and the rust marks left by the long years, nothing else!

However, on the bronze used to cast this important weapon of the country, Ye Tian saw the traces of thousands of years of tempering, the prosperous scene of the Huanghuang Dynasty, and the incomparably brilliant Chinese civilization!

He stood beside the craftsman as if he was there, witnessed the whole process of the birth of the bronze elephant statue, and listened to the melodious knocking sound.

The touching sound of percussion has passed through the long history of three thousand years, from ancient times to today!

In Ye Tian's eyes, every element that makes up this bronze elephant statue embodies the diligence and wisdom of the ancestors three thousand years ago, it is so dazzling!

At the same time, he also seemed to see this bronze elephant statue being placed on the altar, filled with fine wine, offering sacrifices to God, and the sound of Hong Zhong Da Lu echoed in his ears, solemn and elegant, deafening!

Before he knew it, Ye Tian's mood had already flown out, and he flew all the way to the late Yin and Shang Dynasties more than 3,000 years ago, staring at that ancient yellow land!

It wasn't until he heard Betty's voice next to his ear that he woke up with a start, and his mind flew back.

"Wow! This bronze elephant statue is so huge, it's unbelievable. Who would have imagined that the ancient Chinese more than 3,000 years ago could actually cast such a huge bronze vessel!

What's more, this bronze elephant statue looks so vivid and lifelike, the shape is not much different from a real elephant, I can't even believe it came from more than 3,000 years ago! "

Ye Tian, ​​who was awakened by the shock, immediately retracted his gaze and ended the perspective.

Immediately afterwards, he turned his head to look at Betty, then smiled and whispered:

"My dear, although this bronze elephant statue has a long history of more than 3,000 years, it is not the oldest bronze ware. The oldest known bronze ware is more than 6,000 years old!

Those are some bronze knives carved with lion images, which come from the Mesopotamia of Babylon and are historical relics of the Sumerian civilization. Ancient China also began to smelt and cast bronzes about 5,000 years ago!

The exquisiteness of the bronzes cast in ancient China far exceeds that of the Sumerian civilization and the ancient Egyptian civilization, and is almost unmatched. It enjoys a very high reputation and artistic value in the history of bronzes in the world.

The bronze elephant statue in front of me came from more than 3,000 years ago, during the late Shang Dynasty in ancient China.

In ancient China, although there were larger bronze wares than this one, they were all heavy wares like tripods, such as the Simuwu tripod. As far as the field of animal statues is concerned, this bronze elephant statue is the largest in the world!

You just said that this bronze statue is very lifelike. That is because when casting this elephant statue, craftsmen in the late Shang Dynasty used an elephant as a model and cast it according to the real object, so it is naturally very lifelike!

From this bronze elephant statue, we can clearly see how superb bronze casting technology and how splendid ancient culture was possessed in the late Shang Dynasty more than 3,000 years ago.

This bronze elephant statue is a veritable treasure of the town hall, no matter which museum it is in, it is a priceless treasure with extraordinary artistic value and historical and cultural value! "

"Wow! Bronze wares from more than 3,000 years ago are unimaginable. What a long history it is! China is indeed one of the four ancient civilizations, and it really deserves its name!

Steven, please explain this bronze elephant statue to everyone. I think everyone is very interested in learning about this cultural relic and the splendid ancient Chinese culture! "

Anderson said with emotion that, apart from being shocked, he was also full of curiosity about this bronze statue.

He is a Yankee, and the history of the country is only two or three hundred years old. To him, the history of more than three thousand years is as long as forever, which is unimaginable!

Like Anderson, everyone else at the scene looked at Ye Tian, ​​expecting him to give a professional and wonderful explanation,

Even the French guys from the Jimei Museum were watching Ye Tian, ​​ready to see his performance, to see if he was as omnipotent as the legend said!

Ye Tian didn't refuse, he nodded slightly, then smiled and said:

"Since everyone wants to hear it, I will explain this bronze elephant statue to you. To be honest, this is something I am very happy to do, just like I like this bronze elephant statue very much!

There are currently five bronze elephant statues in the world, three from the Shang Dynasty, and the other two are relatively later. The bronze elephant statue in front of you is the earliest and the largest among them!

At the same time, it is also the largest known animal statue in the world, and its value is immeasurable! According to legend, this bronze elephant statue was unearthed in Changsha, Hunan, China, at the end of the nineteenth century.

Since there is no relevant literature, this point cannot be verified, but through its natural and realistic shape and decoration style, I tend to think that it came from the craftsmen in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River Basin!

In 1903, when the French collector Count Camondo was traveling in China, he accepted this elephant statue at a price of 3,000 francs, and donated it to the French government in the same year, and it was collected in the Louvre in 1911!

In 1945, when the French National Museum was reorganized on a large scale, this bronze statue was transferred to the Guimet Museum, and then became the treasure of the Guimet Museum,..."

With Ye Tian's explanation, Betty and the others' understanding of this bronze elephant statue has rapidly deepened, and their extraordinary artistic value and historical and cultural value have also become more deeply understood!