Li Luo took out the shovel and soft brush from his backpack and squatted down to start digging. As this place had been dug and buried twice, the soil was very loose.
After digging a few times, Li Luo smiled awkwardly.""You're old and muddle-headed. You've dug here before, so the soil is very loose. If you use a shovel, you'll hurt the object instead.”
Shaking his head, Li Luo put down the shovel and took out a pair of white gloves from his backpack. He put them on and began to dig with his bare hands.
Ye Fan didn't say anything. Whether it was Li Luo digging with a shovel or digging with his hands, they were all very professional, unlike him, who was half-baked.
Ye Fan did not bury it deep, only about 30 centimeters from the surface, so it was easy to dig it out.
He carefully took out the Nine Dragon Painted Phoenix and carefully cleaned the soil on it with a soft brush. He was so excited that his hands were actually trembling.
Although Li Luo could be said to have been through hundreds of battles and had participated in hundreds of archaeological digs, he could still control his excitement when he saw the Nine Dragons and Phoenix Painting.
"Just based on this feeling and the craftsmanship of this carving, it's eighty to ninety percent authentic.”Li Luo's tone was very excited. Although he was also an expert in appraising cultural relics, he did not cultivate the Wisdom Eye like Ye Fan and could not feel the spiritual energy in it.
Moreover, there was no light in the tomb, so he could only roughly see it through the light from the flashlight. Therefore, he did not say anything about it. He only said that it was 80% to 90%.
"Ye Fan, Xiao Yu praised you. She said that you're very good at appraising antiques.”Li Luo smiled and handed the Nine Dragon Painted Phoenix to Ye Fan.
Ye Fan pursed his lips and took it."Uncle Li, I don't have much money in my stomach, so I won't buy it in front of you. It's all a small trick that my father taught me in the past. I won't show off in front of an expert like you.”
Ye Fan declined. He was not a person who liked to show off. Moreover, he did not have enough confidence in front of Li Luo.
Although he had read a lot of books about antiques and history over the past year, he had heard of Li Luo's name.
Even in the country, Li Luo was very famous. He had more than ten honorary titles and had been a guest lecturer at many famous universities in the country. His knowledge was as profound as the sea, and Ye Fan could not compare to him at all.
In the end, Ye Fan could not resist it. Li Luo's silver tongue had no choice but to say some of his own opinions.
After organizing his words, Ye Fan said,"Actually, the Han Dynasty was the peak of jade craftsmanship. When Liu Bang just became emperor, it was the early stage of the Western Han Dynasty. At that time, due to the chaos of war, jade craftsmanship did not develop as quickly as it did later.”
"It wasn't until the middle and late stages of the Western Han Dynasty, when the people settled down and the economy developed, coupled with the strengthening of the central power at that time, that jade craftsmanship began to develop.”Ye Fan used his own words to describe some of the knowledge he had about the jade craftsmanship of the Han Dynasty.
"As the economy continued to develop, many new forms of jade began to appear. There were also some new patterns and artistic styles in the craftsmanship of carving.”Ye Fan spoke frankly and confidently. He no longer had the guilty conscience from the beginning. Instead, he had confidence in his heart.
After saying a few words, seeing that Li Luo did not make any comments, Ye Fan continued,"With the birth of new artistic styles, new styles kept emerging in the manufacture of jade. Later, the craftsmen were ingenious and combined objects that they saw in reality or similar things, making their shapes and expressions perfect and soft together, creating a new jade manufacturing process in the Han Dynasty.”
After saying so much, Ye Fan was only paving the way for what he was going to say next: "The jade wares of the Han Dynasty mainly consisted of round carvings, openwork, high embossed sculptures, and flat carvings. This nine-dragon style is a new manufacturing technique that perfectly combines openwork and high relief sculptures.”
"At least in all the documents I've read, the records of the Han Dynasty only have the Nine Dragon Phoenix Painting that perfectly combines the two techniques of openwork and high embossed. Moreover, this Nine Dragon Phoenix Painting also combines the dragons and wind that people believe in, perfectly fusing the shape and spirit of the dragon and phoenix at that time. Therefore, just from the craftsmanship, the Nine Dragon Phoenix Painting cannot be replicated.”"This is also the reason why I'm sure this Nine Dragon Phoenix Painting is the real thing.”
"Is this all?" Li Luo looked at Ye Fan with a faint smile, as if he was not very satisfied with this answer.
In fact, it was not easy for Ye Fan to say these words. Li Luo knew very well that if he found an archaeologist from outside to ask him these questions, no one would be able to answer as clearly and methodically as Ye Fan.
After thinking for a moment, Ye Fan said,"Other than the craftsmanship and carving technique, there's another point. The material of this Nine Dragons Phoenix Painting can't be replicated."”
Ye Fan placed his hand on the surface of the Nine Dragons Painted Phoenix and felt it."Only a thousand-year-old jade like this can feel warm and cool in your hand.”
"Only a top-grade jade material that has been buried underground for a long time and absorbed spiritual energy will have such warmth and coolness. Moreover, its surface is as fine as silk, clear and transparent, and there are no impurities.”Ye Fan smiled slightly and looked at Li Luo."As the saying goes, Dark Artifacts have spirits. You are an expert in this, so you should know this better than me.”
"Haha, you really have some skills. You can actually say that Dark Artifacts have spirits. I underestimated you.”Li Luo could not help but laugh.
The surprise that Ye Fan had given him could be considered a huge surprise. Dark Artifacts had spirits. This sentence was not without reason.
In the two fields of antiques and archaeology, some experienced people believed that antiques contained spiritual energy. They firmly believed that ancient antiques or jade articles contained spiritual energy.
This was especially true for jade artifacts buried in ancient tombs for hundreds of years. They believed that ancient artifacts contained spirits.
Slowly, this theory spread. The ancient text also divided the theory of spirit, separating the Dark Artifacts and ancient artifacts. Thus, it evolved into the theory that Dark Artifacts had spirits.
Li Luo reached out and patted Ye Fan's shoulder. He praised,"You're the first young man I've ever seen in a different light. It's not just because of your understanding of antiques, but more importantly, you know the value of this item, but you don't have any thoughts of keeping it for yourself.”
Although Li Luo liked Cheng Qingyu's eagerness to learn, it was only an elder's love for the younger generation.
As for Ye Fan, he completely admired him. The kind of admiration that an elder would have when examining someone of the same status as him.
Ye Fan handed the Nine Dragon Painted Phoenix back to Li Luo and said with a smile,"I was just lucky enough to read some information about this.”
Li Luo gave him a contemptuous look." Come on, why do I feel like you're just pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger? You're quite capable, but you're so humble that it seems like you're hiding your abilities. You're afraid that others will know about your abilities."”
Ye Fan pursed his lips and did not say anything. After interacting with Li Luo for a short while, Ye Fan felt that Li Luo was a good person. He did not put on airs, but his mentality did not match his age.
This wasn't to say that Li Luo had a bad attitude, but it made people feel that Li Luo was the kind of old child who was old but not old at heart. Although he was very calm and kind, when he was with Li Luo, he didn't feel like he was with an elder. Instead, he felt like he was of the same age as them.
It was also because of this that Li Luo was very popular. Although he was highly qualified and knowledgeable, he did not put on airs when it came to people and things. He was completely normal.
Seeing that Ye Fan did not refute, Li Luo smiled and said,"Ye Fan, with your ability, it's too much of a waste for you to only help people identify items in the antique market. Why don't you come to our Cultural Relics Bureau? I recommend you for a good position.”
Li Luo did not hide his offer to Ye Fan, hoping to recruit him to the Cultural Relics Bureau.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]