Guanzhong Tomb Robbery Notes

Many people are superstitious about things that come out of tombs.

Considered unclean.

This is not literally unclean.

But people believe that things coming out of tombs bring evil spirits, bad luck and other unclean things.

So don't touch these things easily.

But tomb robbers and people in the antique circle have no taboos about this.

Some even believe that things coming out of tombs can be suppressed.

Later I met a friend who sold antique jade.

The ancient jades in his hands were basically burial objects from tombs.

When selling, they always say: Ancient jade is spiritual and can help you ward off disasters and evil spirits. Carrying it with you will only bring benefits and no harm.

After being fooled like this, many wealthy people actually paid high prices to buy his ancient jade.

Therefore, the difference between "unclean" and "calm" lies largely in cognitive and psychological factors.

After all, few people have actually come across something unclean...

But I'm encountering it now.

I am absolutely sure that this gilded bronze Buddha is not clean.

And that unclean thing may have already entered my body!

Because the Qi in my body suddenly started to move on its own.

The Qi gathered at the right side of my waist, fighting against the icy air that invaded my body.

This is like when bacteria invade the body, the immune system actively attacks the bacteria.

But I just felt bad.

I was hot and cold as they fought.

Cold sweat kept coming out and my body was shaking involuntarily.

I wanted to take the gilt-bronze Buddha statue out of my pocket and throw it away.

But my hands were so soft that I didn't have any strength at all.

Not to mention taking out the Buddha statue, I couldn't even move my fingers.

Bang!

The basket fell to the ground.

Brother Dong and Chen Huimin looked at me at the same time.

"Shizi, get up."

"Huh? He doesn't look right. His clothes are soaked."

Chen Huimin muttered and reached out to touch my forehead.

As soon as his palm touched my forehead, it quickly retracted as if it was burned.

"I lost it!"

"Shizi's head feels like it's on fire, rush to the hospital!"

I just felt several hands pulling, dragging and lifting me.

Then everything went black and I lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw a roof as white as snow.

My eyes moved and I saw the IV bottle, the IV tube, and the window.

There was also Boss Dong, who was standing by the bed with dark circles under his eyes.

It seems that this is a single room with only one bed.

Generally, the fewer beds in a ward, the higher the level of the ward.

As expected, this is an expensive high-end ward.

"Brother Shi Tou, you are finally awake."

“Brother Dong…”

I was frightened by my own weak voice after I said just two words.

It was a weakness that felt like having one's body hollowed out.

Boss Dong quickly held me down: "Don't talk or move."

"Your fever reached 42 degrees Celsius and you were in a coma for three whole days. We were almost worried sick."

"Uncle Chen used his connections to get you into the best ward at Queen Mary Hospital."

"I hired the best doctors and used the best medicine..."

Boss Dong kept talking about what happened after I fell into a coma.

Queen Mary Hospital is the teaching hospital of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong and one of the best hospitals in Hong Kong Island.

Uncle Chen spent a lot of favors and money to get me admitted to the best ward in the best hospital.

While he was talking, I looked down at myself.

As expected, the clothes were changed into hospital gowns.

All the clothes and things I had on me were gone.

Boss Dong smiled and said, "Do you want to know what clothes I took off for you?"

His smile, like a tiger or wolf stealing a chicken, immediately gave me bad associations.

Definitely not a pretty nurse.

He is most likely one of Chen Huimin's subordinates.

No, why think about these unimportant things.

That dirty gilded bronze Buddha statue is the most important!

"The things in my clothes..."

"The gilded bronze Buddha statue and the brass box were all obtained from down there, right?"

Boss Dong winked at me as he spoke.

"I've quietly put it away for you."

"No one knows, so there's no need to worry about Uncle Chen hearing about it."

I couldn't help but widen my eyes.

How come Boss Dong acted like nothing happened after touching the gilded bronze Buddha statue?

Are the unclean things on the Buddha statue only directed at me?

Or has something unclean completely entered my body?

Thinking of this, I hurriedly mobilized the Qi in my body.

A tingling sensation suddenly appeared in the dantian.

I just felt both cold and hot in my dantian, it was like ice and fire.

Oops!

That unclean thing mixed with the Qi in the Dantian!

Boss Dong poked me with his finger: "What are you thinking about?"

"I looked at the gilded bronze Buddha statue. The paneling method used on the back cover belongs to the Zanabazar school of back cover techniques."

Zanabazar was born in the late Ming Dynasty. He was believed to be the reincarnation of the eminent monk Dorgonadi. In the fourth year of Shunzhi, he was granted the title of Jebtsundamba by the court.

He was proficient in sculpture and painting, and established a foundry in Erdeni Zhao to cast Buddha statues.

It is said that the Buddha statues he cast with his own hands are of extraordinary beauty.

Let’s talk about the back cover of the bronze Buddha statue.

The inner cavity of the bronze Buddha statue is hollow after it is demolded.

As the practice of tsang became popular, people gradually tsang and sealed the bottoms of bronze Buddha statues.

Therefore, bronze Buddha statues that are very old usually do not have a bottom cover.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the custom of encapsulating Buddha statues became popular, and bronze Buddha statues began to be sealed on the bottom in large quantities, and different sealing techniques were derived according to the region.

There are three common bottom sealing techniques: bottom wrapping method, bottom chopping method, and paneling method.

The bottom-wrapped method has been popular for the longest time.

The method of striking the bottom edge of the Buddha statue so that the edge wraps inward around the base is called the bottom wrapping method.

The bottom wrapping method is also divided into narrow-edge bottom wrapping and wide-edge bottom wrapping.

The narrow edge bottom wrapping process is even older, and involves bending a very narrow section of the bottom edge to wrap the bottom plate. This method is mostly circulated in Tibetan areas.

The wide-edge bottom wrapping technique is an improved version, in which the bottom edge of the Buddha statue with a width of about one centimeter is bent to wrap the bottom plate. It is mostly circulated in northwestern Tibet and Qinghai-Gansu regions.

The chopping method is to chop out burrs on the inner edge of the bottom of the Buddha statue, and then wrap the burrs to fix the bottom plate.

This method originated from the court statues of the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty.

In order to meet the needs of rapid and large-scale production of bronze Buddha statues in the Qing Dynasty, all official bronze Buddha statues were cast using the chopping bottom method.

The last is the paneling method.

This is the back cover method of Buddhist statues created by Zanabazar in the Mongolian district.

When casting the bronze Buddha statue, grooves were made in the inner chamber in advance.

Simply insert the base plate into the groove and tap the protrusion at the bottom edge of the groove to tighten the base plate.

This kind of backing process requires higher casting technology.

The advantage is that it can better prevent moisture and is suitable for carrying with you when traveling.

However, due to the relatively troublesome production, it is only circulated in Mongolian areas.

From this we can see that the back sealing craftsmanship is different and the regions where the casting and distribution take place are also very different. These are the basic points for identifying Tantric bronze Buddha statues.

Let’s get back to the present.

Boss Dong leaned close to my ear and said in a low voice, "This kind of Buddha statue with a back cover is usually hidden."

"What is a hidden treasure?" I asked puzzledly.

At that time, I really didn't understand the meaning of hiding.

Even now, "zhuangzang" is still a term circulated among a niche group.

Most people don't know much about this.

Boss Dong scratched his head, wondering how to explain the hiding.

"Simply put, the process of enshrining is to place treasures inside the bronze Buddha statue."

"Rich families would put in valuable things like gold, gems, and scriptures."

“Ordinary people would put some herbal stones in it.”

"I weighed your gilded bronze Buddha statue, and it's a bit unusually heavy."

"So I think the things hidden inside are not simple."

When Boss Dong said this, he made a prying gesture towards me.

"I suggest you pry it open and see if there are any valuables."

My eyes lit up.

Could the things hidden inside be related to the unclean things that entered my body?

Those unclean things are hidden dangers.

We must find out what it is!

I said decisively: "Pry!"

"Pry it out now!"