Chapter One: A Glimpse

  "It's all over! After one morning, we're back to before liberation, and five years of hard work have been wasted!"

  Chu Chen's face was ashen, and a wave of regret instantly surged up in his heart.

  Five years ago, 16-year-old Chu Chen graduated from junior high school with 2,000 yuan in his pocket and came to Beijing to make a living. With his own knowledge, clever and studious mind, careful and cautious personality, he gradually learned from the experiences of antique old birds and predecessors, transforming from an original rustic mountain village boy into a small but discerning antique dealer in Panjiayuan.

  The efforts and blood spent during this period are truly not worth mentioning to outsiders.

  The antiques business is too deep, with many "landmines". Chu Chen doesn't know how many losses he's suffered or how many times he's been deceived. However, this is normal; in this line of work, you can't grow without being deceived a few times.

  Fortunately, Chu Chen was cautious and not greedy, so the losses were only some small fortunes. Moreover, during this period, his eyesight gradually improved, and his luck was not bad, and he picked up a few big leaks for him. In five years, except for living expenses, there were still 400,000 in the bank.

  These 400,000 hard-earned dollars have vanished into thin air in an instant because of this eye-opening experience!

  In 2001, the house price in Chaoyang District, Beijing was only more than 4,000 yuan. Chu Quan had originally planned to buy a two-bedroom apartment not far from Panjiayuan, after all, he did antique business and it was inconvenient to live in a rental place.

  Moreover, the five-year life in Beijing has also given him a certain feeling for this city. Besides, he is alone and can settle down in Beijing with his wife and children to live a warm life, which is also his most urgent wish deep in his heart. Now that things have come to this pass, relying on his street stall business, it's unknown when he'll be able to realize this wish.

  This striking experience is not complicated. In April 2000, a rare pair of Tang Dynasty three-color glazed ceramic horses collected by a Hong Kong tycoon was sold at a high price of over $1.5 million to a Jewish businessman at Sotheby's New York auction.

  It was this message that caught Chu Chen's attention and made him start paying attention to and becoming obsessed with Tang Sancai.

  Tang tri-color is a type of ceramic that was popular during the Tang Dynasty. It is a general term for low-temperature colored glaze ceramics of the Tang Dynasty, which uses yellow, green, white or yellow, green, blue, brown and black basic glaze colors simultaneously on the same object, creating a colorful artistic effect. Generally, three colors are used more often, so people later habitually called this type of ceramic "Tang tri-color".

  Tang Sancai has a vivid and lifelike shape, with bright colors and rich life atmosphere. Together with the beautiful silk like clouds, the stunning murals, the glittering gold and silver utensils, and the open society, they jointly depict a magnificent picture of Tang Dynasty culture.

  Tang Sancai not only has extremely high achievements in art, but also made a huge contribution to the development of ceramic craftsmanship. Its colorful and decorative techniques broke through the single-color glaze's dominance, developing from single-color glaze to three-color glaze, laying the foundation for the birth of later colored ceramics.

  After the Song Dynasty, various low-temperature colored glazes and overglaze enamels were mostly developed on the basis of Tang Sancai.

  It is precisely because of the high artistic level, unique status of Tang Sancai, and its export to overseas markets from the very beginning that it has been favored by people of color in foreign countries. Since its rediscovery in the early 20th century, it has received widespread attention, especially in the past twenty years, with the opening up of domestic and international markets, more and more people have come to like collecting Tang Sancai.

  Tang tri-coloured pottery was used for burial, as a funerary object, because its body is loose and brittle, with poor water resistance, so it's difficult to preserve until now. Foreigners are particularly fond of the style of Tang tri-coloured pottery, which has repeatedly fetched high prices at auctions.

  For example, on December 12, 1989, a Tang tri-color black horse was sold at an auction by Sotheby's in London for ￡3.74 million. Transactions worth tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of US dollars are also common, greatly fueling the enthusiasm of collectors.

  Ever since he had some understanding of Tang Sancai, Chu Chen was like a madman, always fantasizing that he could get a beautiful piece of Tang Sancai, not to mention that it would be pleasing to the eye, but also bring him huge economic value.

  "With the proviso that he shares the profits, the capitalist is willing to take risks; where there are fifty per cent profits, he will himself risk his own skin; at a hundred per cent profit, he will trample on all human laws; at three hundred per cent you will have no difficulty in procuring cannon."

  Since the 1990s, reform and opening-up have achieved many results, people's living standards have been continuously improved, and related entertainment and cultural industries have also prospered. As the saying goes, "chaotic times produce gold, prosperous times produce antiques", and those who enter the collection industry are making a fortune.

  Correspondingly, some lawless elements have set their sights on this treasure land. It's truly a place where ghosts and monsters roam free, with many skilled counterfeiters lurking within. Since Tang Sancai is so precious, it's naturally hard to escape the grasp of their greedy hands.

  As Tang Sancai is a low-fire ceramic, its production process is not complicated, the raw materials are readily available everywhere, the formula for the glaze has long been made public, and many skilled craftsmen have emerged to imitate it, some of whom are even experts in studying Tang Sancai.

  It can be said that some high-quality replicas are 99% identical to the real thing, completely indistinguishable from the genuine article, with only 1% having somewhat special characteristics. This is because they were formed naturally over thousands of years, making them impossible to replicate.

  It's just this one percent, some masterpieces of forgery, if it weren't for the particularly rich experience of senior masters, they might not be able to tell either.

  Fortunately, Chu Chen has always been cautious and the experience gained from his five-year career as a small vendor is exceptionally rich. Although there have been many high-quality landmines, he carefully avoided them. Despite this, his dream of having a fine Tang Sancai did not fade away but instead became even stronger.

  Three days ago, an opportunity for Chu Chen to buy a fine Tang Sancai camel at a bargain price appeared before his eyes.

  Xiang Lao, a professor of history at Beijing University, has been in contact with historical artifacts for many years and is particularly fond of antiques. After retiring, he often comes to the antique street to exchange various items and is a regular customer on the antique street. Basically, as long as it doesn't rain or wind, he will visit the antique street every day, saying that antiques are his second spring.

  Because of the long-term contact with historical artifacts, what he has learned is solid. Although Lao also had his eyes on it before, there are also many fine pieces among the family's collection, including a beautiful Tang Sancai camel.

  This business has been operating honestly for five years, which is why he was able to establish himself in Panjiayuan Antique Market at a young age. Lao Zhao is a regular customer of his small stall and has also picked up some bargains here several times, so the two have become familiar with each other and can be considered as friends who transcend age.

  Chu Chen was also lucky enough to see that Tang Sancai camel. It was a two-humped camel, mainly in brown glaze, with green, white and yellow colors applied at intervals, changing in depth and lightness.

  The camel's head is slightly raised, its front legs are bent, and its hind legs are standing upright. Its mouth is wide open, as if it were calling out for something. The expression on its face is particularly rich. Between the two humps on its back, a saddle bag is slung, with silk fabrics, water bottles, and other items hanging from either side of the bag.

  This Tang Sancai camel has a natural glaze, with fine and even crackle pattern, and also has a return lead phenomenon. Like some authentic Tang Sancai pieces, there are some brown or black impurities that have penetrated into the glaze. Although the hind legs have some minor damage, overall it can be said to be an excellent piece of Tang Sancai.

  Chu Chen fell in love with it at first sight, and when he saw it, his eyes were only on the camel, which can be described as loving it so much that he couldn't bear to part with it. He immediately asked Lao Xiang if he could give it to him, but Lao Xiang shook his head repeatedly, refusing to do so, and then told him the reason why.

  This camel was seen in an antique shop when I went to Xi'an last year, and at that time, it was also loved by Chu Chen, and after much persuasion, it was finally obtained from the owner for 420,000 yuan.

  After returning home, he felt that something was missing when playing with this camel, which made him startled. He immediately invited several authoritative figures in the circle to identify it. Only two of them said that this Tang Sancai was not authentic, but these two were precisely the most influential seniors in the antique world, namely Liu Lao and Qian Lao.

  Liu Lao, originally named Liu Zhihe, is 82 years old this year. Born into a family of antique collectors, he has extensive knowledge and began appraising cultural relics for the state in the early days of the People's Republic of China. He once held a high-ranking position in the Ministry of Culture and has extremely rich experience in antique appraisal, making him a leading figure in the field of antique collecting.

  Qian Lao, also known as Qian Zhiyan, is 71 years old this year. He is the president of the Beijing Collectors Association and has been working at the National Museum for a long time. He is an expert consultant to the Palace Museum and has a significant influence in the field of antique collecting.

  These two predecessors in the antique world, although they did not determine that this Tang Sancai is a fake, nor did they confirm it to be genuine. Their reason was the same: this Tang Sancai camel lacked a hint of charm, but they couldn't pinpoint exactly where the problem lay.

  Lao Ping was also stingy with his collection, but he had a temper. If he didn't like one of his own pieces, he would rather smash it than give it to someone else. Now that he had doubts about this Tang Sancai piece, he definitely wouldn't sell it again, so he refused Chu Chen's request outright.

  Chu Chen was deeply moved by this, as the Huaxia people have always considered honesty and reliability to be a person's moral standard since ancient times. In recent years, with the reform and opening up, although people's economic level has improved, their moral level has not kept pace with the improvement of the economy, but rather declined somewhat.

  Like this Tang Sancai, now many collectors, especially some new collectors, have many people who will not be as concerned as the old ones. As long as the interests can satisfy themselves, regardless of the good or bad things, someone takes over is okay. This situation actually also encouraged the arrogance of counterfeiters to a certain extent.

  Just like now Chu Chen, in his heart still thinks that this Tang Sancai must be a genuine product, haven't Liu Lao and Qian Lao said where the problem is? As for feelings, how can they be accurate?

  This is not that Chu Chen disrespects his seniors, in fact this is the normal psychology of a young man around twenty years old. He thinks that after these years of being a small vendor, his eyesight has also become quite discerning, and he himself hasn't suffered any great losses over the years, so in his heart he has become somewhat arrogant.

  Sometimes people are like this, once they like something, they will like it to the extreme, and often only see its advantages. Now Chu Chen is like this, always thinking about that Tang Sancai camel, even dreaming of owning it.

  Now the opportunity has come, Old Xiang's eldest son had gone to study in Britain years ago and later settled down there, got married and had children. Afterwards, his son always wanted him to move to Britain together, but Old Xiang never agreed. The other day, his son spoke again, if he didn't go this time, their father-son relationship would be severed, so Old Xiang couldn't help but agree.

  However, the older generation generally has a heart for the country, so he decided to deal with his years of collection in the country, and there is one condition, not allowing his collection to be sold to foreigners.

  Chu Chen was overjoyed when he heard the news, thinking that he could finally get his hands on that Tang Sancai. He repeatedly asked Old Xiang to persuade him otherwise, but in the end, he had no choice but to sell it to him for 420,000 yuan.

  Since getting this Tang Sancai camel, the practice of spreading the land has lost its mind. From the camel to now, more than 50 hours have passed, and Chu Chen has been playing with and admiring this Tang Sancai except for eating and sleeping. Finally, he even used a magnifying glass to observe the camel's body bit by bit. But as soon as he looked at it, a big problem appeared.

  And then there was just that scene. (New book released, seeking collection and recommendation! Please help out fellow book lovers!)