Chapter 23: Doubts

  The whole afternoon until evening, Qu Wen stayed in Gu Quan's house listening to him explain antique knowledge. The two of them were so engrossed that they almost forgot to eat dinner, and it was only when the nanny helped bring the meal into the room that they finally ate.

  The next day in the afternoon, Qu Wen followed Bao Guoqiang to his shop in Liulichang.

  The entire store is about 150 square meters, divided into two floors. The first floor is mainly responsible for business operations, with large and small display cabinets filled with antiques and strange stones, leaving only a circular path for people to walk through.

  "How about it, my place isn't bad, is it? Although not as spacious as Chen Qifu's, the overall value is definitely not lower than his. From the entrance, on the left are strange rocks and on the right are antique porcelain, most of which are from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The good stuff is mostly upstairs, with Song and Liao pieces being the majority, and a few from the Tang dynasty. Further up are things kept at home, only brought out when encountering big customers."

  I previously encountered Jin Tingbiao's authentic paintings and Qing general Yu Pianzhi, even Hu Kaiwen's old ink could absorb a lot of spiritual energy. Why did Gu Quanzhong's Ming dynasty copper mirror not show any enhancement? According to the era, that Double Dragon Grape Mirror is nearly three hundred years older than the previous three items, theoretically, the spiritual energy condensation shouldn't be less than the later ones.

  Just then, Bao Guoqiang invited him to his store, taking the opportunity to study it carefully. With a curiosity about antiques and doubts about Lingjiao's training, Qu Wen asked Bao Guoqiang: "Brother Qiang, can I take a look at all of them?"

  "Of course, A Feng, hand over the keys."

  Bao Guoqiang shouted loudly, and soon a man in his late 20s ran out from inside. He was fair-skinned, dressed neatly, and looked gentle and elegant. He handed a set of keys to Bao Guoqiang.

  "He's Zhao Xuefeng, my disciple. He graduated from the Archaeology Department of Huqing University and has been following me for almost five years. This is Qu Wen, your master's closed-door disciple, who is your uncle by seniority."

  Although Qu Wen did not formally accept Gu Quanzhi as his master, in Bao Guoqiang's view, these were all inevitable things. Moreover, at Gu Quanzhi's age, it was impossible for him to take on another apprentice after Qu Wen, so Qu Wen was very likely to be his last disciple.

  "Master." Zhao Xuefeng heard this and bowed to Qu Wen.

  "No, no, Master Gu has not agreed to take me as his apprentice yet. And Brother Zhao, you are older than me, so it should be me who pays respects to you." Qu Wen said and quickly returned the courtesy to Zhao Xuefeng, bowing deeper than him.

  Although the time spent together was not long, Qu Wen's every word and deed were seen in his eyes, Bao Guoqiang's eyes showed a look of appreciation, and he chuckled: "Master will accept you as his apprentice sooner or later, so it doesn't matter whether I call you Shifu early or late. Come on, let's not bother with those formalities, I'll take you to see the good things I've collected."

  Bao Guoqiang's store is called "Cishi Zhai". Including Zhao Xuefeng, there are four employees. The products sold in the store are mainly ceramics and strange stones, as well as a small amount of lacquerware and stone carvings. Just looking at the first floor took up a whole hour.

  Qu Wen carefully examined each and every antique and strange stone in the store, analyzing the spiritual energy condensed on them. Unfortunately, the spiritual energy condensed on the Qingming porcelain in the store was less than one percent of that on Jin Tingbiao's paintings, and even if absorbed into the body, it would not be of much use. On the other hand, the strange stones on the other side, perhaps due to their natural origin, had a better effect of gathering spirits.

  This made Qu Wen confused, why things of the same era, or even more distant objects, had less spiritual energy. However, one thing was certain, anything that gathered spiritual energy was definitely an old object.

  Qu Wen looked at it for a whole hour, looking very carefully. Bao Guoqiang didn't disturb him either. He was happy for his master in his heart, thinking that there were not many young people with such patience. He secretly thought that this future fellow disciple had excellent character, so he let Zhao Xuefeng pour a cup of tea and sat at the counter to leisurely taste it.

  Only when Qu Wen had finished looking at everything did Bao Guoqiang stand up and say, "Ah Wen, you've looked carefully enough, what's your take on it?"

  "Ah..."

  The text translates to:

  "Where is the antique shop? After all this time, I'm actually studying the spiritual energy contained in the air. Scratching my head apologetically: "The store's displays should be arranged by year, right? If I'm not mistaken, the ones at the front are modern and contemporary crafts, while the ones in the middle courtyard are from the Ming and Qing dynasties. I've just started learning so I want to see more."

  Bao Guoqiang nodded: "That's right, from the entrance hall, they are all things from recent decades, with no historical value, but exquisite workmanship and high-quality materials. Many rich people will buy them back home as decorations. From the third to the sixth showcases in the middle are old items from the late Qing dynasty and the Republic of China period. After the seventh cabinet, they are genuine antiques from the mid-Qing dynasty to the Ming dynasty. You've only studied for a short time and can already identify these, which is quite impressive. Ordinary people wouldn't be able to reach your level even after studying for two or three years."

  Bao Guoqiang's words are very interesting. In the past few decades, things were called "stuff", those from the Republic of China and the late Qing dynasty were called "old items", and only those from the mid-Qing dynasty or earlier were considered "antiques". From this, we can see that the definition of antiques, if divided by era, does not include anything within the past hundred years.

  Perhaps someone will ask, if it's not over a hundred years old, it can't be considered an antique, but many things from after the founding of the country are worth more than objects from several thousand years ago?

  Actually, the older the antique is, the better it is, but there are many deeper definitions in antiques, including artistic value, cultural taste, humanistic effect, rarity, and whether it has the characteristics of that era. The real fun of antiques lies in the integration of historical knowledge, local chronicles, epigraphy, museology, connoisseurship, and the history of science and technology. By appreciating antiques, one can understand the life, background, and moral principles of ancient people, enriching one's knowledge and adding to the fun. It can be said that antiques are a microcosm of human civilization and history.

  Works by master-level figures who emerged in the past few decades, such as Zhang Daqian, Qi Baishi and Xu Beihong, have been selling for increasingly high prices at auctions, from several million to tens of millions of yuan, due to their strong sense of the times, humanistic significance and high artistic value.

  Qu Yun got the divine technique from Zhu Bajie, which allows him to sense the spiritual energy on ancient objects. However, he lacks experience and knowledge, so even if he knows that something next to him is an antique, he can't tell its value. He knows how much it's worth in his heart, but feels very uncertain.

  "Qiang Ge, stop flattering me, I know exactly how much ink I have left in me, if you continue to flatter me, I'll have to find a hole in the ground to hide."

  Bao Guoqiang smiled again: "It's a good thing for young people to be humble, come on, follow me upstairs and take a look."

  The two of them came to the second floor, one after the other. In the center of the second floor was an eight-immortal table, and the desks and bookshelves on either side were all made of red wood. With the calligraphy and couplets on the walls, the entire layout of the second floor was filled with a strong literary atmosphere, full of ancient charm.

  "Although there are not many things here, they are all of considerable value." Bao Guoqiang said, taking out a bunch of keys from his pocket to unlock the cabinet, since the valuable items in the store were naturally kept by himself. He pointed to a ceramic flower vase that was over half a meter high.

  "Look at this one, a blue and white porcelain vase with eight sides and plum blossoms, it's one of the rare treasures in my collection."

  The names of ancient artifacts are very interesting, generally including the dynasty, category, shape or patterns. For example, Bao Guoqiang's ' Xuande Qinghua Panxi Huahui Eight-sided Meiping' can be vividly imagined by breaking down its name. First, it is a Qinghua-style flower vase with eight sides or facets, and the pattern on top is a twisted branch-shaped floral design. Hence the name: Xuande Qinghua Panxi Huahui Eight-sided Meiping.

  Qu Wenmu stared blankly at Bao Guoqiang, his eyes fixed on the Qinghua entwined branch flower and eight-sided plum bottle. To him, it was just a large flower vase. He squatted down beside it, secretly releasing his spiritual awareness to investigate the spiritual energy condensed on the surface of the vase. Finally, a hint of joy appeared on his face - a fine piece was indeed a fine piece, containing more spiritual energy than ordinary antiques.

  "Qiang Ge, what's special about this 'Xuande Qinghua mixed vase'?"

  "It's 'Proclaimed Virtue Blue-and-White Porcelain Vase with Interlocking Branches and Eight Trigrams'!" Bao Guoqiang corrected.

  "The official kiln blue and white porcelain of the Ming dynasty is itself a fine piece, and those over 50 cm in size are relatively rare today, belonging to a scarce variety. This plum vase has a tall and majestic shape, with elegant and regular modeling, exquisite and durable decoration, reflecting the high level of ceramic craftsmanship during the Xuande period, and can be called a masterpiece among the large Ming Xuande porcelain."

  Qu Wen's heart moved slightly, could it be that the condensation of spiritual energy is also related to the size and volume of objects? Hurriedly asked again: "Qiang Ge, are there any smaller treasures?"

  Bao Guoqiang revealed a triumphant smile, raised his hand and gestured: "Don't underestimate my store, what kind of treasure is not here, let me show you."