Faced with Mou Duanming's frankness, Chang Xian was speechless.

"For the sake of profit, can everything else be ignored?"

Mou Duanming took a sip of tea, thought about it and said, "Take paintings as an example. There have been two major debates about the authenticity of ancient landscape paintings."

Chang Xian has also heard about the controversy over Zhan Ziqian's "Spring Outing" in the Sui Dynasty. It has been going on for a long time from the Yuan Dynasty to the present.

Another controversy is about the "Stream Bank Picture" passed down to Dong Yuan of the Five Dynasties. The reason why "Stream Bank Picture" is questioned is mainly because it is related to Zhang Daqian.

This painting was exchanged by Zhang Daqian with Xu Beihong in 1938 for Jin Nong's "Returning to the Boat after Storm". In the 1950s, Zhang Daqian transferred this painting to Wang Jiqian.

In the spring of 1997, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York invested US$5 million to purchase 12 works of art including "Stream Bank" from Mr. Wang Jiqian.

This was a sky-high price at the time and was very sensational.

The New York Times called "Stream Bank Picture" "China's Mona Lisa" in a front-page report.

Not long after the acquisition by the Met, doubts arose, saying that "Stream Bank Picture" was not an ancient painting from the 10th century, but a forgery by Zhang Daqian, which triggered a fierce debate.

The reason why so many people question him is because Zhang Daqian is really "stained with bad records."

What do the industry say about him?

He just plucks a hair from his body. If he wants to become Shi Tao, he will become Shi Tao. If he wants to become Bada, he will become Bada. If he wants to become Tang Bohu, he will become Tang Bohu.

Those who stumbled under his fake work are like a crucian carp crossing a river, including a basketful of great masters.

His battle for fame was to impress Chen Banding, Xu Beihong, Huang Binhong, etc., who were not spared.

Moreover, there are times when Master Zhang is unjust.

At that time, he himself stood up and said that the painting collected by such-and-such museum was painted by him. Don't believe it, he has evidence. He has marked it. Wherever he lifts up the corners, there is evidence left by him.

Meeting such a man made the foreign devils scratch their heads. What should they do?

The foreigners' approach is to believe in the power of technology.

Use high technology to solve the problem of authenticity.

They used infrared rays and an X-ray machine to take pictures of this painting as a film. The film clearly shows the history of how many times this painting has been restored.

In the end, it was proved that the painting was authentic and not imitated by Zhang Daqian.

…

This operation is quite powerful!

Chang Xian was a little dumbfounded and gained a lot of knowledge.

Looking at his surprised look, Mou Duanming said: "Actually, it wasn't just Zhang Daqian. There were many people who could copy and forge at that time."

"In the painting world of the early Qing Dynasty, after the Four Kings came to dominate, the styles became rigid and the same. They were not really masters. Some paintings looked almost like paintings by the same person."

"Many people with this skill don't even have names because they have no social status, so they have to draw other people's paintings in exchange for food."

"For example, we all know that during the Republic of China, there was a jargon called "made by the back door." What does it mean? Where is the back door?"

Mou Duanming asked and answered his own questions, and said: "The back door is the back door of the Forbidden City. It refers to Di'anmen. Many paintings come from there."

"We all know that there is a man named Ma Jin who specializes in imitating Castiglione Castiglione. Today I took it out and saw, oh, this is Ma Jin's. But at that time many people did not recognize it, and it often happened that fakes were taken as real."

"Today, other skills are not good, but the level of forgery is much higher than in history. Whether it is calligraphy, painting or porcelain, the level in history is nothing compared to today."

He leaned back on the sofa, recalled something, and said, "Let me tell you a real thing that happened not long ago. It was a big event in the antique shop."

…

What Mou Duanming mentioned happened not long ago, that is, six or seven years ago.

There was once a painting from the Song and Yuan Dynasties called "Outskirts", which was recorded in the catalog of the Forbidden City. After being taken out of the palace by Pu Yi, this painting disappeared.

The painting disappeared for seventy or eighty years. In the 1990s, a family took out the painting, and it was bought by someone who knew it.

It is said that it is easy to exchange such top-notch items for money, but this person is reluctant to sell them after returning home. Why?

This thing is an only copy.

What is an orphan copy?

The so-called unique copy does not mean that the artist has never painted anything else, but that this one has been handed down by this person, which is of the same nature as Zhang Zeduan's only handed down "Along the River During the Qingming Festival".

Regardless of whether the artist of this painting is named Zhang Zeduan, Li Zeduan or Wang Zeduan, this painting can be seen and there is no other work to prove it.

Unlike Zhang Daqian and Qi Baishi, who can be found everywhere, this painter does not have any other works to refer to.

This is the only copy.

This person bought it very expensively. He wants to get his money back but is reluctant to sell it. What should he do?

So I decided to just make a few rolls and sell them.

But unlike the previous fakers who were all masters, this person himself can’t draw, let alone copy, so how should he do it?

This person's method is simple, that is, overall management, division of labor and cooperation.

This kind of modern management thinking is unimaginable to the ancients. In a word, a professional person does professional things, and he is responsible for overall management.

How to do it?

First, find a way to buy paper, buy old paper. It was very easy to buy old paper from the Ming and Qing Dynasties in the 1980s and 1990s.

He bought a lot of paper, thinking that if he didn't want to do it, he would just make more rolls.

Then I found a painter who was very good at copying and said, brother, help me copy this and draw a few volumes first.

The person who copied it was really capable, and the painting was almost exactly the same. After the painting was completed, the person paid the fee and took the painting away.

After taking it away, find another person who can write well and can also write well.

He said, brother, please help me put these words on it, and then put all the words on the eight volumes. After paying the fee, the man took the painting away.

Find the third person and say, brother, please help me make these seals. After the seals are made, stamp them on each painting. After stamping, pay the fee and take the paintings away.

Let's talk about stamping. It is not a simple matter. In the Qing Dynasty, stamping was a profession. Most people could not stamp correctly or clearly.

Then I found a fourth person and asked him to frame it according to this pattern. The expert quickly framed the painting.

I took it home and looked at it. The paintings were all new. Then I asked someone to help me make these paintings old, and they were done quickly.

After the whole process, at least five people were found, and everyone only did what they were best at.

The goods have been shipped, and everything is ready, so we can start marketing planning.

This person first goes to see an old gentleman who is a dean. It’s not that the dean is incompetent!

Mr. Ren took a look and said, Ouch! Why did this thing suddenly come out? I knew that this thing was on the list of "Shiqu Baoji" before, but it had been lost for a hundred years. Today I finally saw the true face of Lushan Mountain. The thing is so good.

Yes, this is an endorsement for him.

Once this person has passed the inspection, he can start selling. How to sell?

Antique trading is different from ordinary things. The circle is not big. If you come out with seven or eight items at once, they are still such top-notch items. Everyone knows that there is a problem and they must not be fooled. What should I do?

Internationally, we searched for people all over the world, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, seven people from seven countries, called them all at the same time, and offered a cheap price.

Everyone was extremely excited when they saw it. They were undoubtedly authentic and the price was cheap. This was a big mistake. Everyone was extremely excited. They all said that I was a big collector and would never sell it in my life. They paid almost at the same time.

Then they went their separate ways and quickly sold out.

This man made a lot of money, kept the real thing, and kept a replica, and the matter was over.

After a few years, one of them sent this thing to the auction house, and it was authenticated. It must be real. No one can believe it is real. Even the masters can't tell, so it was put on the album.

Something went wrong as soon as the album was published. Several other people who were buying paintings saw it and said, "Isn't this thing in my possession?" So they went to the auction house. In the end, seven or eight pieces came out.
Chapter completed!