52 CHINESE IDEAS OF ANTIQUES 



bribed Lu (#) by the gift of an ornamented Su Ting 

 (if 0), and a Ting (Jfe) pattern mirror. General Ioh I (US IS) 

 when general of the soldiers of Yen (Wi) fighting against the 

 state of Ts'i (3£) brought back as trophies a sacrificial vessel, 

 a bamboo musical instrument (jz S), and also recovered 

 an ancient Ting (ffi), which had been taken from them by 

 the State of Ts'i (3fr) at a former time. These precious 

 articles were hidden away, and were rarely ever shown to 

 any ; and their existence was only revealed after much 

 pressure. So it may be safely affirmed that these ancient 

 States and feudal princes only relinquished their antiques, 

 when forced to do so by superior force, or cunning diplomacy. 



The Chinese curio dealer does not expect a daily turn 

 over. A few transactions in the year is enough, owing to 

 the great profits in the business. As the saying runs one 

 deal pays a year's expenses. K'ai p'an ch'ih ih nien (^ $£ 

 v£ ~* ¥•). Every expert curio dealer has a secret book, 

 which he keeps for reference, to assist him in recognizing 

 real antiques, and also in the detection of counterfeits. 



The copper wares dating from the San Tai period may 

 be classed under three heads (1) Lapis Lazuli (W fffc), 

 (2) Quicksilver (7jt fll), (3) Coarse gray baize (H f*). 



If a copper utensil has been buried in the earth for a 

 long period of years near the base of a mountain, the colour 

 will be cerulean. This is caused by the damp from the 

 mountain side thoroughly soaking it, combined with the 

 steaming caused by the heat of the sun's rays. 



If the article in question has been secreted on the brink 

 of a river, or has been near some natural fountain of water, the 

 colour will be likely a dark green. This is caused by 'the 

 vapour of the river, combined with nitrous salt gradually 

 permeating, and eventually corroding the whole vessel. 



The Chinese connoisseur, Ts'ao Ming P'an f i# has 

 said that " If a copper vessel should be buried in the earth 

 for 1000 years, its colour will be cerulean, resembling the 

 azure vault. If it has been submerged in water for a similar 

 period of years, its colour will be green, but resembling a 

 tender pumpkin skin. If it has been submerged or buried 

 for a lesser period, then the colours will be imperfect. 



1 ' When real antiques come forth from their long im- 

 prisonment in the earth they should resemble a nephrite 

 gem. " 



Owing to the fact that from the " San Tai " period down 

 to the present time, we have considerably exceeded one 

 thousand years, it is difficult to wholly accept this theory 

 without careful investigation. If we grant the point that 

 articles buried or submerged for the period of one thousand 



