Treasure Hunt all over the World

After some confrontation, Mikhail smiled helplessly and said:

"Steven, we have to discuss whether to include these two statues of guardian beasts from the Tang Dynasty in the trading list. We can't decide now. We'll talk about it tomorrow when we negotiate."

After the words fell, Ye Tian immediately nodded with a smile and said:

"Okay, Mikhail, I'm looking forward to hearing good news, and I hope everyone will be happy. If you reject my terms of trade, that's okay. There's no justice in business. We're still friends."

Hearing this, many Russians at the scene rolled their eyes angrily and complained secretly one by one.

Is there no righteousness in business? Stop talking nonsense, when did you talk about benevolence and righteousness, you greedy bastard?

Or a friend? Who the hell dares to make friends like robbers like you, wishing we could loot our museum!

Just when these Russians were furious and complaining secretly, David suddenly interjected and said:

"Steven, let me introduce these two guardian animal sculptures from the Tang Dynasty. I have never seen such a strange sculpture, and the carved animal is also very strange.

When I was in Beijing before, I saw the stone lion in front of your house, and I also saw some stone beast sculptures in the Forbidden City, and they all looked different from these two guardian beast sculptures."

Not only David, but Mikhail and other experts and scholars of the Hermitage Museum, the rest of the people could not understand these two clay sculptures, did not understand their meaning, and did not understand their value.

Hearing David's question, everyone at the scene immediately looked at Ye Tian, ​​expecting his answer.

Ye Tian turned his head to look at David, then glanced at the crowd, and then said with a smile:

"Okay, let me introduce to you these two clay sculptures from the Tang Dynasty in China. The animals carved in these two sculptures are called Suan Ni, which are mythical beasts in Chinese myths and legends, but do not exist in reality.

In ancient Chinese mythology, Suan Ni is one of the nine sons of the dragon, some say it is the fifth son, and some say it is the eighth son. Its appearance is like a lion, and it likes to smoke and sit. Smoke.

According to legend, the Buddha saw that Suan Ni was very patient, so he took it under his seat and used it as a mount. Because of this, we can see the appearance of a sacred animal like Suan Ni on many Buddhist seats and foot decorations on incense burners. statue.

Let’s talk about the image of Suanni. It looks like a lion, but there is a big difference. It can be seen very clearly from the two sculptures of Suanni in front of us.

They are full of majesty, and they are sitting on the pedestal, which looks like a lion!

Its neck is engraved with a conical mane, just like a lion's fur, its chest muscles are protruding, its legs are thick and strong, and its muscles and bones under the skin are fully visible, full of explosive power, much like one of the beasts. king.

However, their ears are erected like coyotes, their eyebrows are slightly raised, and their eyes are looking straight ahead. One opens its mouth wide, revealing sharp canine teeth, while the other closes its mouth tightly, as if whispering. roar.

In terms of these characteristics, it looks like a wolf. To be precise, Suanni should be a mythical beast that combines the characteristics of lions, wolves, and other beasts. In myths and legends, it is a beast that can eat tigers and leopards raw.”

"It turned out to be a mythical beast, no wonder I haven't seen it before."

David continued, and the others nodded.

After a short pause, Ye Tian continued to say:

"David, the reason why you haven't seen this kind of 狻猊 in Beijing is because the image of 狻猊 has changed. After thousands of years of development, it has become more and more like a lion, while the characteristics of other beasts have gradually disappeared.

In fact, the two stone lions placed in front of my house and the stone lions you have seen in the Forbidden City are actually Suan Ni, but they are Suan Ni after the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which are quite different from the Suan Ni of the Tang Dynasty. same.

There is another image about the mythical beast Suanni, which is often seen in the stone lions or the collars of stone lions in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The reason why the two suanni statues in front of us are precious and invaluable is that they are very exquisitely carved. Although they have been through thousands of years, they are still mighty and vigorous, vivid and vivid, which shows the superb carving skills in the heyday of Tang Dynasty.

The second reason is that through these two Suanni sculptures from the Tang Dynasty, we can also see the inheritance and development of Chinese door lion culture, so as to have a deeper understanding of traditional Chinese door lion culture.

For the Chinese, these two sculptures of Tang Dynasty Suanni are truly priceless treasures, and I am certainly no exception. It would be great if I could get this pair of Tang Dynasty Suanni sculptures through this transaction.

When my museum is established, there will be a Mogao Grottoes Pavilion in it, which will be used to display the Dunhuang scriptures and related antique works of art collected from all over the world, and become the most authoritative exhibition hall in the field of Dunhuang studies.

At that time, I will place these two sculptures of Suan Ni from Dunhuang in the Tang Dynasty at the entrance of the exhibition hall as guardian beasts guarding the Mogao Grottoes. Anyone who enters the exhibition hall must pass by them.”

"Wow! This idea is very good, I hope you can get what you want! At that time, no matter who enters your museum, I believe they will be shocked by these two guardian beast sculptures from the Tang Dynasty."

David said in admiration, eyes full of envy.

But at this moment, Mikhail and the others' complexions became even uglier, and they were all very depressed.

Steven, you bastard, these two sculptures of guardian beasts from the Tang Dynasty still belong to our Hermitage Museum and have not fallen into the hands of you bastard. Don’t you think it’s too beautiful and too early?

You bastard think we are a mass of air that doesn't exist at all!

It's not on the negotiating table yet, it seems like you just took down these two statues of guardian beasts from the Tang Dynasty, and even thought about how to display them in the future, it's too bullying!

Although they were so angry that their teeth were itching with hatred, Mikhail and the others suppressed their anger and didn't say much.

Have no idea! Form is better than people, who let the Amber Room be in the hands of this bastard in front of him, the initiative is not in the hands of people like himself.

After introducing the two sculptures of Dharma protectors from the Tang Dynasty and admiring them for a while, everyone went on to another bulletproof glass showcase not far away, and began to admire the antique artworks displayed in this showcase.

This is an ancient painting with a small size, about thirty centimeters wide and fifty centimeters high, mounted in a golden frame, the picture is mottled and yellowed, and there are many damages.

In the painting is a walking monk with bare feet and awning shoes, holding a handle of Buddha dust in his left hand, and a tiger in his right hand, carrying a heavy and unusually heavy basket full of Buddhist scriptures.

Under the blessing of Baosheng Tathagata above his head, this traveling monk walked day and night, walking on clouds, and the tiger he led was very obedient, walking with him.

It can be seen from the picture that this traveling monk looks very tired due to the long journey, but his expression is very pious and persistent, and his eyes are also very firm.

The first time he saw this ancient painting, a look of surprise flashed across Ye Tian's face, and he said excitedly:

"Wow! This is the famous Dunhuang "Picture of a Walking Monk". In the Dunhuang Canon, there are a total of twelve "Pictures of a Walking Monk". Since the Dunhuang Canon was discovered by Taoist Wang, they have been looted one after another.

The British Stein snatched two of them and later donated them to the British Museum. The Frenchman Pelliot snatched seven of them, three of which are in the Guimet Asian Art Museum and four of which are collected in the National Library of France.

Two more were snatched by the Japanese, one is currently in the Central Museum of Korea, the other is in the library of Tenri University in Nara, Japan, and the last one is in the hands of Oldenburg.

Oldenburg later donated the last "Picture of the Walking Monk" to the Hermitage Museum, and the one in front of me is right. It seems that my luck is very good, and I will receive another priceless treasure.

The British Museum, the Guimet Asian Art Museum and the National Library of France have all nine "Walking Monks" in my pocket, and the tenth "Walking Monk" in front of me is naturally not to be missed."

Hearing this, Mikhail who was standing beside him immediately sighed secretly.

"Fuck it! Another priceless treasure is going to be looted by this bastard, Steven, it's so hateful!"