The Shanghai Museum will hold "Top of the Pyramid: Ancient Egyptian Civilization Exhibition" in July this year. It has been widely advertised and everyone knows it; but if it is said that Shanghai Museum actually hides a mysterious Egyptian cultural relic, I am afraid even insiders will not know. Little is known about it, right?
And speaking of this hand-rubbed ancient Egyptian stone coffin text rubbing, it is actually known as one of the "Four King Kong" of recent Shanghai calligraphers along with Wu Changshuo, Gao Yong and Wang Xun. In 1899, he was the first to be crowned the "Four King Kong" of Shanghai regional paintings. Zhang Zuyi (1849-1917), a famous epigraphy, calligraphy and seal engraver known as the "Shanghai School", went abroad in his early years and used traditional Chinese techniques to extract the works overseas, which naturally has a special story and legend.
Saqqara archaeological site, Egypt
Remnant stone rubbings of ancient Egyptian stele
Zhang Zuyi's nickname was Tixian, also known as Lei'an, and he was from Tongcheng, Anhui Province. He later lived in Wuxi, Jiangnan, so he was named Liangxi Sitting Old Man. Let us say that in the 12th year of Guangxu (1886), when Zhang was thirty-seven years old, he relied on his personal emotional intelligence and talent to turn the tide. He was a member of the staff of Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, and was highly regarded by Cixi for his achievements in foreign affairs. He was appointed minister to Britain and Russia. Government affairs and diplomat Liu Ruifen (1827-1892) favored him and got a good job as a passenger in the name of attaché. Therefore, in early spring of February of that year, more than 40 people from the overseas mission, headed by Liu and followed by Zhang, boarded the cruise ship of Fasha Green Company and sailed from the Huangpu River pier in Shanghai out of Wusongkou, passing through Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Indian Ocean. After entering the Red Sea, he then crossed the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal to the French port of Marseille, then took a train to cross the sea via Paris to reach the final destination of the trip, the United Kingdom, and began his diplomatic career based in London (see Liu Ruifen's "Xijian Chronicles" and Zhang Zuyi's " "The Story of Kong Hanlin's Abroad" in the volume "Wild Notes of the Qing Dynasty").
As the name suggests, the attaché status in the diplomatic envoy team is always suspected of being a "soy sauce". Compared with formal diplomatic occasions, the role of an attaché is very wordy and must be trusted when spending money. Due to the tight work pace of the translator, it is inevitable that he will suffer It was a cold reception and a roll of eyes for a mixed-luck person. Zhang Zuyi seemed to have nothing to do when he arrived in London. He had a lot of free time at his own disposal, walking around and observing the local customs. It was during this leisurely visit that he improvised hundreds of poems from the perspective of a leisurely celebrity from an ancient oriental country looking at a peep show. He was fascinated and amazed by the colorful and exciting modern industrial civilization in London, and presented it one by one to the Chinese people who were still ignorant in the semi-colonial and semi-feudal state. The so-called: " From the state affairs to the folk customs, all the songs are ignored" (signed "Sifu", "London Bamboo Branch Ci" postscript). If these poems and essays were presented in the form of pictures and connected one by one into a long scroll, I believe it would be nothing more than a recent British version of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival".
For example, the introduction to the London Underground poem at the beginning of the volume goes like this: "There are ten-foot wide streets and one hundred-foot buildings, and there is no city wall or palace. But we know that the above ground is more prosperous, and there are even flying cars traveling underground." Another example is that he intersperses hearsay and now learns to use "Pidgin English" "In the poem, the scene of men and women whispering during a date is vividly described, which makes people laugh and smile knowingly: "When meeting my aunt Lin, I shake hands and murmur my private desires for fear of being heard. This should be due to Zhang Zuyi's frequent attendance at Chinese and foreign diplomatic events where cups and drinks intersect with informal diplomatic activities, and his insight into the subtleties is the reason. Another example is a poem describing the display of human sculptures in the museum and the on-site sketching of a girl: "The stone statues are naked and yin and yang, and the painter is quietly copying them. No wonder he is a dainty girl when he learns to paint, and he is even more serious when he paints to the waist." In short, "London Bamboo Branch Ci" 》Full of wit and humor, it is an interesting and thought-provoking read. Just as the author confidently said: "Shexuan does not adopt foreign poems, but creates his own exotic folk songs." The above list is of course not exhaustive, and is just a glimpse.
It is worth noting that Zhang Zuyi was self-aware of joining the ranks of the diplomatic corps. Perhaps he had foreseen that all his jokes and curses would become articles and he would be quick to achieve his goals. He would eventually laugh at his colleagues in the industry or domestic experts, so he signed his name and jokingly called himself a "layman in the game." . Zhang Zuyi's self-deprecating and self-deprecating tone more or less confirms the above-mentioned speculation that he was detached from diplomatic duties and had a normal life outside of official duties. This may be true.
Of course, in fact, there were not a few celebrities like Zhang Zuyi who were unrestrained and unrestrained in their talents. The problem is that the reason why Liu Ruifen ordered him to accompany him as an envoy to the West was not only because of the friendship between Anhui and Jiangxi; I am afraid it was more out of admiration for Zhang's stele studies, calligraphy, seal carving, and epigraphy, which is enough to embody and represent the elegance of our traditional Chinese culture. advanced. When Zhang was proud of his meticulous writing of seal and official calligraphy, he often stamped an idle seal of Deng Shiru (1739-1805), a master of epigraphy, calligraphy and seal cutting from his hometown who had collected it and greatly admired it - a white rectangular seal: "Eight points are worth one character "Hundred gold" shows that he has high self-esteem; at the same time, it also proves from one aspect that the art market at that time highly recognized the value of his calligraphy. Therefore, it is unknown whether Liu Ruifen ordered him to demonstrate his calligraphy and seal cutting skills in class, or whether he would be able to immediately prepare impromptu calligraphy, emergency seals, etc. as high-end Chinese cultural souvenirs and give them to foreign envoys.
It seems that it was during this social and exchange experience with Thai and Westerners that Zhang Zuyi accidentally met an American celebrity named Philly who had similar interests. When he visited the living room of Philly's private residence in London, he used his epigraphy and stone The calligrapher and seal engraver's sharp eyes discovered that two stone coffin fragments, which were merely ordinary decorative souvenirs but were actually extraordinary, with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics engraved on the surface, were lying in a neglected corner. He suddenly felt that their academic value was high and his skills were endless. . Therefore, he was eager to rebel against the guests and even overshadow the guests. After begging and finally obtaining permission, he used the rubbing techniques of our Chinese epigraphic culture to make rubbings and take them home as a souvenir. Thus, this piece of rubbings was handed down and preserved in the Shanghai Museum today. Zhang Zuyi hand-made rubbings of ancient Egyptian stone coffins.
As for Zhang Zuyi’s British adventure, which was well-founded and well-founded, there are not only the physical objects in the Shangbo collection as evidence, but also the conclusive inscription when signing the canon: “The remains of an ancient Egyptian stele. Guangxu Guimao (29th year, 1903) "The book was presented by Zhang Tixian of Tongcheng in the Cantonese New Year, and it was found in two stone sutra niches in Xiping." This anecdote was also reported by Ye Changchi (1849-1931), a famous epigrapher of the Wu family in the 10th year of Guangxu. In May of the sixth year (1890), in Volume 6 of "Yuan Du Lu Diary", he recorded the whole story more clearly and in detail:
On the 27th, I saw Master Zheng An's new Egyptian scrap stone rubbings, which were collected by Phil Shi in the United States. Zhang Zuyiti first traveled to Western Thailand and visited his family. He saw that only two pieces of stone from the ancient stone coffin were left. The writing was very ancient, dating back to pre-Greece times and was more than 4,000 years old. Zhang Jun wanted to print the book, but Phil was afraid of damaging the stone, so he refused at first. Zhang Jun said that the reason why the Chinese stele tablets spread far and wide was due to the work of felt wax, and more than ten channels were originally opened. Huang Zhongtao begged this copy from Zhang Jun and gave it to Master Zheng Xu.
Rubbings from the remains of ancient Egyptian stele
The "Master Zheng An" mentioned at the beginning and end of Ye Changchi's diary refers to Pan Zuyin (1830-1890), a prominent member of the Wu family who was also from Suzhou and a leader of epigraphy in the late Qing Dynasty. It turned out that before Liu Ruifen took up his new post, Pan had entrusted Liu and Zhang Yinhuan (1837-1900), a famous diplomat who went to the United States from the Huining Chi Taiguang Daotai to be promoted to the Prime Minister's Office of International Affairs, to search for the "Egyptian stone rubbings" on their behalf. Later, Liu bought and sent a "mirror (photographic) edition"; in February and March of the following year (1889), Zhang "met Westerners who knew a lot about archaeology, and they were always looking for them." ("Zhang Yinhuan's Diary") completed the photos for Pan. He also took advantage of his good spoken English to establish a relationship with the director of the museum, and was given a plaster replica of an ancient Egyptian stele obtained by the three parties from the French dredging of the Suez Canal in 1866. He also ordered his subordinate counselor to give the hospital an English introduction translated into Chinese characters and an inscription. It is helpful for Pan to understand and ponder. In the end, the museum entrusted New York's Qichang Matheson Company to pack the boxes and transport them by sea to the Jinliyuan Warehouse at Shiliupu Wharf in Shanghai and then transfer them to Jingu. After a lot of trouble, it finally arrived at Pan's Mansion in the capital in late July. According to Ye Changchi's "Yuan Du Lu Diary", "On November 15, the fourteenth year of Guangxu's reign (1888), Zheng Anzhang invited people to drink and looked at the ancient Egyptian steles..." At the place where Zheng's monastery was built... we can also see ancient Egyptian inscriptions. The stone is in the city of Paris, France. , are all pictographic characters from three generations ago." and the contents of the May diary of the sixteenth year above show that Pan Zuyin, as a first-generation epigrapher, now has the academic vision and "world view" to look at the international comprehensive comparative study of Chinese and foreign epigraphy; his website Such a far-sighted position is extremely valuable! This is also as stated in one of the second volume of "Europe and Africa" in the general epigraphy monograph "Yu Shi" written by Ye Changchi, the master of epigraphy of the Wu sect.
Ancient Egyptian writing preceded that of Latin. Pan Wen, a diligent scholar who studied abroad, copied two stones and used rubbings as a model, which were made of Semende soil (transliteration of "cement", also known as cement). "Book of Jin·Biography of Dai Kui" states: During the reign of President Kui, he used chicken egg juice to soak white tile scraps to compose the "Zheng Xuan Stele", which was a perfect method. The writing resembles birds and beasts, pavilions, and clouds, all of which are ancient pictographic characters. Wen Qin used it to show his subordinates, and each had his own research and interpretation, just like the Ming Dynasty's interpretation of the "Gongji Stele", but it only caused lawsuits. Academician Huang Zhongtao obtained a copy of the rubbings, which was engraved on a stone coffin. It was kept by a Westerner named Phil. Yu Zeng wrote a poem about it. There is an ancient poem that says: The doctor's disciples sent Qin Jing, and the envoys from the world followed Zhang Qian. There are still forty crosses on the felt vertebrae, and the stone coffin has been open for three thousand years. The popular Jianzhong version is different from the popular Jianzhong version, but the Nestorian version can be traced back to the Hu God's jacket. It is also said: There are elephants in the grass that are not hanging, and even though the scales and armor are cut off, they are not perfect. It is unknown who came out first in Jie recitation, so what is Pang Xifan's chapter about? This can be the farthest and most ancient carving in the universe.
According to this narrative, it can be seen that Pan Zuyin can indeed be called a pioneer in the study of ancient Egyptian epigraphy in China, or the initiator of ancient Egyptian epigraphy in China. Zhang Zuyi, a Shanghai-style epigrapher who personally made rubbings of ancient Egyptian stone carvings, is also a pioneer in the study of ancient Egyptian epigraphy. Because although Pan Zuyin is known for his seniority in both official circles and academic circles, he has not had the opportunity to put himself in his shoes and go abroad for inspection; and the rubbings obtained are only based on photos or replicas of ancient Egyptian stone carvings, which are inevitably separated from the cultural relics. Zhang Zuyi, on the other hand, not only visited the British Museum to witness the fate with his own eyes, but also made rubbings based on the original pieces of lost ancient Egyptian stones unexpectedly obtained from a collector living in London. It is obvious that the academic value is extraordinary or even slightly better; no wonder he won the praise of Ye Changchi He also wrote two poems for him, which clearly show his high evaluation.
Rubbings from the remains of ancient Egyptian stele
It should be reminded that between the 14th and 16th years of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, "Yandulu Diary" records that Pan Zuyin convened fellow epigraphers in Beijing to observe and discuss ancient Egyptian stone inscriptions. The person who often mentioned "Huang Zhongtao" in the team was Pan Zuyin and Zhang Zuyi at that time. Huang Shaoji (1854-1908) was the liaison between Beijing and Shanghai epigraphy scholars who played the role of a media link between ancient Egyptian stone rubbings. Huang Biao's courtesy name is Zhongtao, his nickname is Man'an, and he is a native of Ruian, Zhejiang. Erudite and able to write well, he was proficient in the study of epigraphy, calligraphy, and painting. He once served as Hubei's academic envoy and concurrently preserved ancient schools. It was precisely because I was engaged in the study of ancient Egyptian inscriptions with Pan Zuyin that after learning about Zhang Zuyi's hand rubbings and begging for a copy, I gave it to Pan Zuyin as a tribute to this industry veteran.
In addition, Volume 15 of "Yandulu Diary" in October of the third year of the Republic of China contains: "On the afternoon of the fifth day of the lunar month, a guest opened the door and brought ancient Egyptian texts and copies of Taozhai (late Qing Dynasty epigrapher Duan Fang, 1861-1911) The two rubbings of "Tian Fa Shen Prophecy Stele" were written by Zhi. Zhang Junti went downstairs to see him and talked with him for a long time. "This reflects that in the autumn of 1914, they were all old people from the Qing Dynasty. Zhang Zuyi, who lived in the apartment, once visited Ye Changchi at his residence in Shanghai with his hand on this ancient Egyptian stone rubbing. Or maybe they were talking to each other, chatting and laughing happily, and Zhang used the ancient Egyptian inscription to rub the book and presented it with a leaf. Therefore, in the above-mentioned "Yu Shi", Ye did not hesitate to praise Zhang, a fellow countryman, and even compared Zhang's move as an envoy to study abroad with Zhang Qian, the Bowang Marquis who opened up the Silk Road in the Western Han Dynasty, and Zhang Qian, a proficient Sanskrit master in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The comparison with Qin Jing, a Ph.D. disciple who went to Tianzhu to seek Dharma, shows the wonderful attitude of Ye's eloquent words and sentences, as well as the high level of interaction between Ye and Zhang.
According to what Ye Changchi revealed, there are about ten volumes of ancient Egyptian inscriptions hand-engraved by Zhang Zuyi Yinglun. After sorting out their whereabouts, it is known that Zeng Kuang gave Pan Zuyin and Ye Changchi one copy each, but the current collection situation is unknown; and the "Shangbo edition" is from the 29th year of Guangxu ( 1903) Zhang presented it to the owner of the "Xiping Double Stone Sutra Niche", which has been here for more than 20 years now. After searching, it was found that the owner of "Xiping Double Stone Sutra Niche" was also Wan Zhongli (? - 1907), a great epigrapher in the late Qing Dynasty; his pseudonym was Xintao, also known as Meiyan, and he was a native of Hanyang, Hubei Province ("Qing Ren" compiled by Yang Tingfu and Yang Tongfu Room name alias font size index"). Miao Quansun (1844-1919), an "artistic old man" who is known as "the first person to collect stele in the late Qing Dynasty" and "the father of modern Chinese libraries", who is a well-known epigrapher in recent times, wrote the fourth volume of "Yun Zizai Ni Essays". I have recorded the inscriptions on rare books collected by Wan Zhongli, and the gag-like anecdotes behind them that top epigraphic experts at the same time fought to keep the rare books exclusive:
The "Stele of Ritual Vessels" in Wanmeiyan's collection is said to have been made by Yuan people, and a Changshu master (Weng Tonghe) wrote a postscript saying: I was in the factory and saw the remaining characters of the "Xiao Penglai Pavilion Han Shi Jing" to tell Boyin (that is, Pan Zuyin ), Yunchu (i.e., the maternal ancestor of Wu Hufan, a collector of calligraphy, painting and epigraphy, and Shen Shuyong, an epigrapher from Sichuan and Shasha in Shanghai, 1832-1873). After Yunchu purchased it, he also painted "Wang Zhizi's Double Que" painted by Lutai (one of the "Four Kings" in the early Qing painting circle, Wang Yuanqi), and held it as Ao Boyin. Boyin was chatting and laughing, and the wine was dripping and stained his eyebrows. It was the ancient love between the two gentlemen. This "Han Imperial Stele" is not the best among Zheng Zhai's (Shen Yunchu's alias) graphite, but none of the other copies I have seen is superior to it. People in the Yuan Dynasty often used wet ink on paper when rubbing monuments, and did not use felt wax. They just brushed and rubbed the paper. The ink on this book is thick and the characters are hidden, but the ancient luster is vivid and the spirit is lively. It must have been created three or four hundred years ago. I wonder what Boyin would do if he saw it. In the seventh month of Jimao (the fifth year of Guangxu, 1879), Weng Tonghe's stele inscription was inscribed by Zheng Xushi (Pan Zuyin). Today, "Xiaopengye Pavilion Stone Scripture" also belongs to Meiyan, and "Wang Zhizi Que" belongs to Xili (Fei Nianci, 1855-1905). Weng Ba was in Ji Mao, Guangxu, and Zheng Zhai was dead. This postscript is similar to Zheng Zhai's tone during his lifetime, which is doubtful.
Wan Zhongzhong died in the late Qing Dynasty, and Miao Quansun also wrote "The Epitaph of Xiao's Nephew Observed at Wanmeiyan in Hanyang" (Volume 2 of Miao Quansun's "Yifengtang Wen Sequel"), which shows Wan Yu's high status in the academic world. The old collection of the Wan family was purchased from Mr. Wan Xuxian in 1981. Mr. Wan is undoubtedly a descendant of Wan Zhongli.
Incidentally, it is pointed out that Mr. Yan Haiying's book "Ancient Egyptian Cultural Relics Collected in China" and "Main Collectors of Ancient Egyptian Cultural Relics" "Those who actively collect Egyptian cultural relics as epigraphers seem to be mainly Pan Zuyin and Duanfang", The ancient Egyptian inscription "Pan Zuyin asked Zhang Yinhuan to search for him" is certainly true; but at the same time it says that Ye Changchi must have paid a visit to "Zheng Xiaozhang", etc., which can easily mislead "Zheng Xiaozhang" and Pan Zuyin, two people who have nothing to do with each other, or separate them. To each his own. But in fact, as mentioned above, "Zhang Zheng", "Master Zheng" and Pan Zuyin are the same person; "Zheng Xiao" is Pan Zuyin's other nickname besides "Bo Yin". Pan's posthumous title was "Wenqin", so he was also commonly known as "Pan Wenqin" in later generations. As for "father-in-law", it is actually the honorific title given to male seniors by juniors in the past. The white jade is slightly blemished, I am aware of this.
In particular, the hieroglyphics shown on two pieces of paper from the remains of an ancient Egyptian coffin collected from Zhang Zuyi's legend are treasured here. It is definitely not something that ordinary people can easily interpret and understand by looking at the pictures. Even if the above-mentioned Ye Changchi mentioned these "菿迒" (meaning to leave footprints like birds and beasts), "scale armor" (meaning to be shaped like armor) and "Jianzhong version" (meaning that the seventh day of the first lunar month in the second year of Jianzhong in the Tang Dynasty (781)) was completed at Daqin Temple in Chang'an The creation of ancient characters by "Hu Shenyao" (referring to foreign gods) such as "The Popular Chinese Stele of Nestorianism in the Great Qin Dynasty" (now in Xi'an Stele Forest Museum) is equivalent to the creation of characters by literary officials Cangjie and Jusong during the Huangdi period, the ancestor of our Chinese nation. Rope makes characters. The textual research and review of "This can be the farthest and most ancient carving in the universe" (Ye Changchi's "Yushi" Volume 2 "Two Principles of Europe and Africa") is said to be comparable to Sima Xiangru's "Fan Jiang Pian" in the Western Han Dynasty , Jia Li, a doctor in the Eastern Han Dynasty, wrote the calligraphy book "Pang Xi Pian". However, it is not easy to decipher this hieroglyphic script. It is obvious that the knowledge is profound and the unpopular secret knowledge is obvious; it will definitely require the efforts of experts in ancient Egyptian philology such as Mr. Yan Haiying, who are hard at work, and who burn anointing and follow the sundial, to get to the bottom of it and succeed. Zhengguo, easier said than done! Therefore, as a real layman in the game, the author's humble article is nothing more than to throw out bricks and stones to ask for directions, and intends to use stones from other mountains that can attack jade, in order to achieve earth-shattering ideal academic research and judgment results. In particular, Mr. Yan's "Ancient Egyptian Cultural Relics in China's Collection" and Professor Li Xiaodong's translation and annotation of "Egyptian Historical Inscriptions" do not seem to involve the meaning of the ancient Egyptian stone coffin fragments passed down by Zhang Zuyi of our museum. Therefore, it is even more urgent to submit this topic and I hope to rely on all the big names in the industry to clear up doubts and spread the word.
It should also be noted that as one of the four major ancient civilizations in the world, ancient Egyptian civilization was equally extensive and profound; and the ancient Egyptian aristocracy was world-famous for its extremely luxurious and complex tombs. Over the centuries, archaeologists have discovered the Book of the Dead in ancient Egyptian tombs that symbolize the path to the afterlife, lifelike mummy portraits of the deceased, Shaboti figurines that serve the deceased in the afterlife, and cards made of mummies in full bloom to extract the internal organs of the tomb owner. There are more than ten kinds of funerary objects and decorations such as Nopis jars, golden tongues, decorative murals, carved scarab amulets, statues of gods, jewelry, mummies of deceased pets, masks of deceased mummies, etc., including ornaments with A multi-layered sarcophagus coffin with illustrations or engraved with the name of the deceased and hieroglyphic prayers for him.
As an important window for "The World Sees China" and "China Sees the World", especially in recent years, brand exhibitions such as "Dialogue with the World" and "Why China" have set international standards, winning global attention and attracting audiences at home and abroad. The "Shanghai Expo" that Yueyuan came to visit as a check-in destination will be grandly launched this time. The "Ancient Egyptian Civilization Exhibition" will be the largest export exhibition of ancient Egyptian cultural relics in the world and the highest level in Asia in history. In addition to revealing the face of ancient Egyptian civilization and announcing the latest archaeological discoveries and research results of ancient Egyptology to Chinese, Asian and even global audiences and the ancient Egypt academic community, it will also create an immersive exhibition for all audiences through exhibition narrative, cultural relic display and digital technology. experience, and thereby jointly draw a vision for mutual learning among civilizations.
Therefore, the author hereby strongly advocates that this ancient Egyptian cultural relic, which is hidden in a high cabinet of the museum and that no one cares about, but is of great academic research value, should be brought to the treasure shrine to participate in the grand event and be made public. Because through the display, on the one hand, ceiling-level experts can be recruited to decipher the text; on the other hand, it is also hoped that the clues of this rubbing can be traced to the location of the other rubbings of Zhang Zuyi's biography. At the same time as soliciting experts' opinions, it is equivalent to pooling wisdom and efforts with the society and cultivating the audience's awareness of participation. The third one can further trace the origin of the British rough stone based on this ancient Egyptian "black tiger", and carry out a traceability study from Shanghai → London → Egypt to find the true origin of the original source of the stone coffin and clarify the story of its "Exodus". It can be seen that this move is not only a secret love intention like unrequited love, but it is entirely possible that it is an international cooperation where two countries or even multiple countries interact and communicate. It is of extraordinary significance to be able to catch the tiger's den but not to catch the tiger's den. I believe it may become a cultural event of epigraphy that integrates ancient and modern times; it may even awaken the stone coffin originally engraved with "Crouching Tiger" that has been sleeping in the homes of descendants of the Phils family in Britain and the United States.
Finally, it is particularly necessary to remind and inform Shanghai audiences that, in fact, the "Shanghai Expo" ancient Egyptian stone rubbing incident is inextricably linked to Shanghai from beginning to end. For example, the person who presided over the Songhu Li Bureau, supplemented Su Song's military training and supervised Jianghai, and started his "Xijian Chronicles" from Wusongkou on the general journey. He was "acquainted with barbarian sentiments for a long time in Shanghai, calmly judged, and knew the truth." "(Yu Yue's "Chun Zaitang Essays", Part 5, Volume 5 "Epitaph of Liu Gong, Governor of Guangdong") Liu Ruifen. Zhang Zuyi, who followed Liu Fangyang, relied on his excellent epigraphic calligraphy and seal cutting skills to spread traditional Chinese culture. At the same time, he also carefully collected exotic epigraphic treasures. With his expertise in stone vertebral rubbing, he not only taught Chinese rubbing techniques to the Western cultural circles, but also passed on to Chinese ancient Egyptian academic circles the rare original hand-made rubbings of ancient Egyptian stone coffins, so he is honored as such. It is absolutely no exaggeration to say that he is a pioneer of ancient Egyptian epigraphy in China.
And as mentioned before, Zhang Zuyi, together with Wu Changshuo and other calligraphy leaders, are known as one of the "Four King Kong" of recent maritime calligraphers. They are clearly among the elders of the maritime calligraphy community. He was also the first to give the name "Shanghai School" to the painting school in the Shanghai area in recent times. He can be said to be the final name of the "Shanghai School Painting". He played a decisive role in the recent calligraphy, painting and seal cutting art circles in Shanghai and even Jiangnan. For example, the Qianshan Stone, the landmark building of the "Xiling Seal Society" on Gushan by the West Lake in Hangzhou, rivals the French Inscriptions (Epigraphy) and the École des Beaux-Arts (today's École des Beaux-Arts). The four dignified and elegant official script inscriptions in the market are all from Zhang, who is proud of his calligraphy and seal cutting. Therefore, the display of rare books from overseas can be said to be the best of both worlds and complements the current Shanghai-based efforts to create a new style and theme of Shanghai-style and Jiangnan culture that embraces all rivers and pursues excellence.
Zhang Zuyi's ancient calligraphy
What's more, Zhang Zuyi's "Qing Dynasty Wild Notes" contains limited anecdotes about studying abroad; but his "London Bamboo Branch Poetry" contains definitely new things in England. For example, it is said that "everything is there in the great museum. There are many ancient Egyptian steles like the images of Wuliang Temple. What's even more strange is that corpses that have not rotted for thousands of years are also displayed in glass cabinets. There are thirty The remaining items are all dated to two thousand years ago." Then he wrote a poem that said: "The treasures are as precious as the crystal cabinets in the house. No matter how simple the broken tablets are, they should be put on the shelves as novelties. "Chen." This situation and scene are completely in line with the exhibition scenery of "Shanghai Expo" and seem to be from another world. They echo each other and the objects and places are consistent. How could we discard such a wonderful coincidence and not take it?
Therefore, the savages offer celery and let the authorities inspect it.