Search for Treasure Worldwide Chapter 1966: Cultural treasures
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"Stephen, the ancient books placed on these rows of bookshelves are paintings and scriptures from the Dunhuang Scripture Cave. All the Dunhuang Scriptures of the British Library are here, not a few.
The several scrolls and scriptures that were displayed in the Department of Ancient Books and Documents a few days ago have all been removed and placed here. You can now start to check and identify them.
It is no exaggeration to say that every scroll and scripture here is unique and of immeasurable value. Losing them is a huge loss to our British Library."
Caroline pointed to the four rows of bookshelves in front of her and said, her words full of reluctance and even a bit of pain.
After all, she is a scholar and relatively pure. It is inevitable that she will be a little heartbroken when she suddenly loses such a large number of ancient books that are so precious and important.
Looking at Ye Tian and Qian Lao, their faces were flushed with excitement and their breathing became much faster.
Each of them stared closely at the four rows of bookshelves in front of them, staring at the yellowed and even torn scrolls and scriptures placed on the bookshelves. Their eyes were extremely hot and they could not bear to move away for a moment.
The four rows of bookshelves are filled with paintings and scriptures from the Dunhuang Scripture Cave. Each row of bookshelves is filled to the brim without any gaps, which shows the large number of these Dunhuang Scripture Cave.
After hundreds of thousands of years of time and suffering, the pages of these Dunhuang scriptures have turned yellow and become very fragile, and some are even torn.
However, in the eyes of Ye Tian and Shan Lao, each volume and volume of the Dunhuang Buddhist scriptures in front of them looked so perfect and radiated with incomparably bright and dazzling light.
That is the light of civilization that has a long history on the land of China, it is the most direct evidence of the five thousand years of civilization history of the Chinese nation, and it is the crystallization of the wisdom of the entire Chinese nation!
It is a pity that the Taoist Wang who discovered these treasures of Chinese civilization more than a hundred years ago was an out-and-out fool. In addition, China was poor and weak at the time and was unable to protect these treasures of national culture.
This allowed the swarming foreign devils to take advantage of the loophole, looted countless Dunhuang scriptures in various despicable ways, and then smuggled them out of China.
Only a small part of the Dunhuang Buddhist scriptures has been left to China. The massive loss of the Dunhuang scriptures can be described as an unprecedented catastrophe in the history of Chinese culture.
The foreigners who participated in the looting of the Dunhuang Scriptures included almost all European and American powers at that time, including the Japanese.
The most famous person among them, and the one who has obtained the most Dunhuang scriptures, is the British Stein. The Stein Chamber of Secrets in the Chinese Pavilion of the British Museum is named after this guy.
When he first came to Dunhuang in 1907, he exchanged twenty-four boxes of scriptures, five boxes of carefully wrapped silk paintings, and a large number of silk paintings for a trivial price of only four ingots of horseshoe silver. Embroidery and other artworks.
When Stein came to Dunhuang for the second time in 1914, he exchanged five boxes of written documents from Taoist Wang. The price he paid was completely negligible.
After returning to the UK, these precious scrolls and scriptures that Stein plundered from Dunhuang were collected in the British Museum and the British Library respectively and became their treasures.
Stein himself not only gained huge economic benefits, but also gained huge reputation. It can be said that he gained both fame and fortune.
Today, these priceless treasures that were plundered by Stein and lost overseas for more than a hundred years are finally returning to China.
Let me ask, as Chinese people, Ye Tian and Shan Lao, can they not be overjoyed?
Caroline's words fell, but Ye Tian and the others did not respond. Each of their attention was completely attracted by the huge number of Dunhuang scriptures in front of them, and there was nothing else in their eyes.
The British guys standing next to them have been completely ignored by them and treated as nothing.
Seeing their performance, Caroline could only smile helplessly and said nothing more.
At the same time, a trace of regret quickly flashed deep in her eyes, as did the other British guys.
The scene fell silent, leaving only the sound of rapid breathing, coming from Ye Tian and Shan Lao.
After a long time, Ye Tian and the others just woke up, and their excitement calmed down a little.
Immediately afterwards, Old Shan stretched out his hands and carefully picked up a scripture from the bookshelf next to him, and then, with the assistance of another old man, slowly unfolded the scripture.
All the Chinese people present looked at Mr. Shan and the yellowed and somewhat broken scripture in his hand. Everyone's eyes were filled with anticipation and nervousness.
The next moment, Shan Lao's trembling voice with excitement came out and reached the ears of everyone present.
"This is the fifth volume of the Lotus Sutra of Wonderful Dharma. It is a handwritten Buddhist scripture from the mid-Tang Dynasty. It has a history of more than a thousand years. It is a truly priceless treasure. There is no doubt that this is the Dunhuang collection. Sutra 1"
Before he finished speaking, the scene was already boiling.
"Awesome! I never expected that this batch of Dunhuang Buddhist scriptures would one day return to China. What a blessing!"
"Isn't the handwritten "Miaofa Lotus Sutra" written in the mid-Tang Dynasty a priceless treasure? In the history of Chinese culture, this is definitely an epoch-making moment and deserves to be remembered forever!"
Several top calligraphy and painting appraisal experts from the Forbidden City and the National Museum all cheered, and they were as excited as children, almost dancing.
While cheering, these top experts and scholars had tears in their eyes and almost shed them.
Even Ye Tian, who had already seen all this through perspective and knew the authenticity of these Dunhuang scriptures, was excited at this time and waved his fist slightly.
After cheering, everyone's mood gradually calmed down.
Next, these top calligraphy and painting appraisal experts from the Forbidden City and the National Museum of China walked to the bookshelf one after another, carefully took down a scripture or a painting from the bookshelf, and began to appreciate and appraise it.
The same goes for Ye Tian. He also stepped forward, carefully picked up a scripture from the bookshelf, slowly unfolded it, and started reading.
Although he does not believe in Buddhism, he knows Chinese characters and his ability to identify antiques and artworks is unparalleled. It is natural to identify the authenticity of these Dunhuang scriptures.
As you can imagine, the Buddhist scripture in his hand is indeed the authentic Dunhuang Buddhist scriptures. It comes from the late Tang Dynasty. It is a truly priceless treasure with immeasurable value.
After reading two scriptures in succession, he stopped, then turned to look at Caroline and others, and said with a smile:
"Yes, Ms. Caroline, the bookshelf in front of you is indeed genuine Dunhuang scriptures, and they are in good preservation condition. It can be seen that your library is very professional.
Leave the task of identifying these Dunhuang scriptures to Mr. Shan and the others. They are all professionals with profound knowledge. Please take me to the other bookshelves to see the specific number of this batch of Dunhuang scriptures! ”
"Okay, Steven, please come with me and I'll take you to see what's on the other three bookshelves"
Caroline smiled and nodded without refusing.
Afterwards, Ye Tian gave Shan Lao and the others a few words, and then followed Caroline and the person in charge of the China Pavilion to another bookshelf nearby.
The bookshelf is also filled with paintings and scriptures from the Dunhuang Scripture Cave, and the number is no less than the scriptures on the previous bookshelf.
Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
Under the leadership of Caroline and the others, Ye Tian and David visited the four bookshelves in a hurry and came to the end of the fourth bookshelf.
There are many ancient silk paintings and some written documents placed here, and no one has moved them for many years, and a layer of dust has fallen on the surface.
When he came here, Ye Tian reached out and picked up a silk painting from the bookshelf, unfolded it gently, and admired it carefully.
After admiring it, he rolled up the silk painting and put it back on the bookshelf.
Immediately afterwards, he looked at the two boxes placed on another bookshelf nearby, and then pretended to be curious and said:
"Hey! There are two more boxes here. I wonder if they contain Dunhuang scriptures? Ms. Caroline, can you open these two boxes and let me have a look?"
As he spoke, he had already walked to the two boxes, but did not reach out to open them. Instead, he looked at Caroline and the person in charge of the China Pavilion with deep eyes.
After hearing his words and seeing his actions, the face of the person in charge of the China Pavilion suddenly changed and became extremely ugly, but he returned to normal in the blink of an eye.
Caroline's expression didn't change much. Maybe she really didn't know what was in those two boxes.
Of course, she may be practicing, and her acting skills are very good, without revealing her face!
"Steven, these two boxes do contain the Dunhuang Scriptures. One box contains thirty scriptures, and the other box contains more than twenty scrolls.
A professor from the University of Cambridge once borrowed these Dunhuang scriptures for research. They just returned them yesterday and we haven’t had time to sort them out. It was our mistake! ”
The person in charge of the China Pavilion explained, his face turned red and white, and his expression was quite embarrassing.
If you say that, I have to believe it! Go ahead and cheat!
Ye Tian sneered secretly, but did not expose the other party's little thoughts.