Chapter 63: The Eight Immortals' Inn

  The next morning, after bidding farewell to Zhou Wenping's family, Chu Chen and others went to the pre-booked hotel. The hotel was specifically booked near Ba Xian An, which is not far from Xi Jing Railway Station, so it won't be in a hurry when returning.

  When Chu Chen and his group arrived at the designated hotel and finished unpacking, Chu Chen's phone rang.

  "Xiao Chu, have you arrived? I'm already in the lobby of the hotel you mentioned."

  "Brother Hou, wait for a moment, we'll be right down."

  The person who made the call was, of course, Hou Yuanming, whom we mentioned earlier. When they were in the car, Chu Chen had called him and told him which hotel he would be staying at. Unexpectedly, Hou Yuanming was quite quick, and as soon as they arrived, he followed right behind them.

  Hou Yuanming's appearance is quite recognizable, around 40 years old, with a square face, thick eyebrows and big eyes. He looks like a person full of justice, giving people a sense of solidity. Of course, what kind of person he really is can only be known after getting in touch with him.

  After the mutual introduction, Hou Yuanming complained to Chu Chen:

  "Xiao Chu, you're really not considerate enough. You've been here for several days and only called me today. Are you afraid I won't treat you with proper hospitality? No way, at noon today, you must drink three cups as a penalty."

  Chu Chen apologized: "Hou Ge, I'm really sorry, it's just that these past few days have been quite busy and I didn't get a chance to contact you. Let's not say three cups, even six cups are fine at noon."

  Hou Yuanming burst out laughing: "Haha, Xiao Chu, I like your straightforwardness. Next, where shall we go?"

  Since they had already discussed it before, let's go to the Ba Xian An antique market and take a look. Chu Chen replied: "Let's go to Ba Xian An first, and then we'll visit your store later, what do you think?"

  "Alright, let's go."

  The distance from the hotel to Ba Xian An is only about one kilometer, and the six of us (Zhou Shu and two children did not come) did not take any transportation, and we arrived at Ba Xian An antique market while browsing the surrounding scenery.

  The Ba Xian An antique market is actually a colloquial name used by locals, the formal name being Ba Xian Gong Antique Market. From its entrance, one can see the ancient temple of Ba Xian Gong with its wooden structure and misty surroundings.

  Ba Xian Gong is one of the birthplaces of Chinese Taoist culture and a gathering place for cultural relics. In the past, Empress Dowager Cixi fled to the west with Guangxu Emperor and stayed at Ba Xian An. On the first, fifteenth day of each month and during the temple fair in April, incense was offered continuously, many businessmen and collectors gathered here, thus forming this ancient folk antique market in Xi'an.

  After the reform and opening up, due to the requirements of marketization norms, the current Baixian'an Antique Market was built in the early 1990s.

  As soon as Chu Chen and others stepped into the ancient-style gate, they were attracted by a faint, ancient fragrance. Then, looking around, the entire market was a two-story wooden building in the style of an ancient corridor, with dozens of shops on it, and the middle corridor on the first floor had stalls.

  The antique market in Xijing, relying on the profound cultural heritage of the thirteen ancient capitals, has a unique and majestic atmosphere. Even if you know nothing about collecting, you can't help but feel the weight of this ancient city. The Baixian'an Antique Market also inherits this characteristic, with Qin bricks, Han pottery, Tang Sancai and other treasures that are truly dazzling to behold.

  This scene made Chu Chen and others suddenly very interested, especially Wen Yuting, who basically stopped to look at every stall and store, and pulled Chu Yulan to comment on them, as if she had never been to an antique market before.

  Chu Chen didn't find this unexpected, this girl was just crazy and talkative, as long as there were people around, she would chatter non-stop, while Chu Yulan would only smile and listen, occasionally interjecting a sentence or two. The two personalities really complemented each other, one dynamic and the other calm.

  After visiting several shops, Chu Chen also had a certain understanding of the shops here. Although there are not many shops here, the shops have bronze wares, jade wares, stationery, ancient ceramics, Tang Sancai, Song Yuan Ming Qing porcelain, antique furniture and calligraphy and painting collections, etc., which are very complete and give people a sense of small but comprehensive.

  When strolling through an antique market, if you want to find a bargain or pick out something you love, it's best to go alone. This way, you can calm down and carefully appreciate the items.

  And while traveling, it's best to have someone in the group who has some expertise in antiques. This way, you can travel and learn about antiques knowledge and stories at the same time, not only learning something but also having a lot of fun. At this time, Chu Chen played this role.

  When everyone arrived at a stall that specialized in selling various kinds of inkstones and inkstone holders, Wen Yuting asked:

  "Chu Ge, is this the tile eaves mentioned in history books?"

  Wadang, also known as "Watu"; refers to the specific part of the lower end of a ceramic tile that hangs down. Wa, i.e., an arched ceramic piece used to cover the roof; The so-called "Dang" is explained as: "Dang, bottom, the part where the tiles meet the eaves, is exactly at the bottom of all the tiles, and is connected to the eaves, the tiles are stacked on top of each other, hence the name 'Dang'".

  The main function of the tile is to prevent water, drain water and protect the wooden frame part of the house. In addition to these, there are various patterns on the surface of the tile, which also increase the beauty of the building.

  The earliest known use of glazed tiles dates back to the Zhou Dynasty, with most decorations on top featuring beast faces. As time went by, more and more types of decorations emerged. By the Qin Dynasty, tile decorations drew inspiration from a wide range of sources, including mountain landscapes, birds, deer, fish, turtles, grass, and insects. The designs were realistic, simple, and vivid.

  The peak of the production technology of Wadang should be in the Han Dynasty, and its pattern themes include four gods, winged tigers, birds and beasts, insects, plants, cloud patterns, words, clouds and characters, and clouds and animals.

  At the same time, there also appeared a layout form with tile ridges and heart-shaped nails separating the picture. The glazed tiles have one to twelve characters, with auspicious phrases such as "Chang Le Wei Yang", "Chang Sheng Wei Yang", "Yu Tian Wu Ji" and so on, as well as decorative patterns indicating the name and purpose of the building.

  After the Han Dynasty, during the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties periods, the face of the tile was smaller, with cloud patterns as the main decoration, and the number of inscribed tiles decreased. In the Tang Dynasty, lotus flower patterned tiles were most common, and inscribed tiles almost disappeared. From the Song Dynasty onwards, beast-faced patterned tiles began to be used, while in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, dragon-patterned tiles were mostly used.

  "Several, I have all kinds of Chinese tiles here, various styles and types, if you like them, the price is negotiable, and the more you buy, the better the deal." The stall owner immediately picked up where Chu Chen left off.

  Wen Yuting saw this and said with a snort: "I'm saying, boss, you're also too blind, don't you think about it, we are girls, what's the use of buying this thing back?"

  The street stall owner smiled and said, "This inkstone is indeed not suitable for you to play with, but isn't there still an inkstone? This is one of the four treasures of the study, which is just right for cultured people like you, don't you think?"

  Tile inkstone, also known as tile head inkstone. In the Qin and Han dynasties, bricks and tiles used for building palaces were mostly made by the method of clarifying mud. Later, someone modified these bricks and tiles into inkstones. Wu Rong of the Tang Dynasty once described in "Ancient Tile Inkstone Fu": "Don't say it's soft but not hard, earth is molded into tiles; don't say it's abandoned and useless, broken tiles become inkstones."

  After listening to the boss's words, Wen Yuting only noticed that there were some inkstones of various shapes and sizes on one side, which were round and cute, and she was suddenly moved.

  Chu Chen smiled and said, "Boss, you're really good at talking. If this thing is good, we can buy some back without any problem. And to be honest with you, we're in the same line of business, but I'm from Pan's Garden in Beijing."

  The boss listened, and the feelings were still the same industry, the same industry is good, although earning less, but the quantity is large, suddenly became more enthusiastic, smiled: "Wow, I didn't expect to meet Beijing's peers today, I won't say much, how about the tile? You take a look and you'll know, it's still the same sentence, large quantities are preferred."

  Chu Chen was indifferent to the tiles, but Zhou Wenping was indeed more interested in them. At first glance, they really seemed as exquisite as the boss had introduced, and if the price was right, bringing them back to Beijing would at least make up for the cost of the trip home.

  Then a group of people started picking and choosing, but on the side of the tile, there were only Chu Chen and Zhou Wenping. The others were all on the side of the tile slab. Chu Chen picked these tiles, first to increase some knowledge, and secondly also to select some fine products for Zhou Wenping.

  When he was almost done selecting his own inkstones, Chu Chen came over to this side of the inkstone market to see what others had chosen.

  Tile inkstone actually belongs to the clear mud inkstone, but since there is Qinghua porcelain, the inkstone made of Qinghua porcelain with a shape similar to tile has also increased, so the inkstone here is also divided into two categories.

  While Chu Chen's four companions also divided into two sides, the boys were all selecting inkstones with a simple and elegant shape, while the girls generally preferred the blue and white porcelain.

  When Chu Chen moved over, Li Guodong was discussing with Hou Yuanming the two inkstones in his hand, which one to choose is better. Seeing Chu Chen coming over, Li Guodong immediately asked for his opinion.

  Chu Chen took over the inkstone and observed it for a while, discovering that the two pieces of tile were actually worth about the same, except one was a plain cloud-patterned tile with no markings on its front side, while the other was

  "Yiyanshou" tile paste inkstone, the front is a deformed shape, looks like it has a hint of charm.

  "These two are actually similar, the key is to see what you like, whether you like plain or stylish ones, it's up to you to choose." In this case, one can only look at his own meaning, so Chu Chen just told the truth.

  Li Guodong was still very entangled after hearing this, and he started another psychological struggle.

  Chu Chen saw this and smiled: "It's just two inkstones, they're all handicrafts, not expensive, if you like them, just buy them back."

  Li Guodong thought for a moment, and indeed it was not something valuable, so he decided to buy them all. Hou Yuanming also shook his head with a smile, as he had been confused earlier too.