"He's lucky" and "He's lucky today" are words that often hang on the lips of ancient book collectors.
The so-called luck refers to opportunity, fate, chance, and luck is a popular saying.
Many people in the field of ancient books collection believe in luck, which is not idealism, but a popular summary of the contingency contained in the inevitability of ancient books collection. In the field of ancient books collection, opportunities often occur.
Once, I went to a second-hand market early in the morning and made a carpet tour around the dense stalls for several weeks. I didn't find any ancient books worth buying. After dawn, a friend named Liao came running excitedly and showed me a pile of mansion newspapers in Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty. This is really a rare good thing. I asked him where he bought it. He said it was at the stall that entered the door. Four or five times in the morning. Why didn't I find that he was late and bought such a good thing as soon as he came in? This is not fate, what is not luck?
Such things have been frequently recorded in ancient notes. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a scholar who loved books. The Historical Records of the Song Dynasty disappeared, so he paid a high price to look for it everywhere, and found no trace for many years. One day, he went out to visit friends, went in the wrong direction, and went to a farmer's hut to ask for directions. As soon as I entered the door, I saw a jar with a book as the lid. His heart moved and he went over and snatched the book. That's a historical record he's been looking for for for many years, and even the Tibetan seal on it is not bad. He didn't ask the way, but asked the way. The farmer was very happy and wanted to give it to him. He was so grateful that he left a silver or two and left. This kind of adventure really pays off.
In the early Qing Dynasty, the library building of Qian, a great scholar and bibliophile, caught fire, and his collection of Song Yuanjia was almost destroyed, leaving only a Song version of Hanshu. I have kept and treasured the rest of my life after the robbery. Unfortunately, I missed two volumes, so I bought them everywhere and I haven't heard from them for years. Once, a bookseller he invited stopped at Wuzhen temporarily because the sun was dying and went ashore to buy noodles for dinner. After the noodles were weighed, the noodle shop owner dug out an old book and tore off a two-page bag. The bookseller looked at it and found that the two volumes of Hanshu entrusted by Qian had not been found at all. It didn't take much effort to buy it. I bought it immediately and sent it to Changshu Qian Qian B overnight, which made Hanshu a complete success.
I had similar luck. I bought two volumes of Ice Sheet with four editions more than ten years ago, and it will start tomorrow. Xiaoke, with two-color overprint, white as jade, big lines and sparse characters, and ink like congealed paint, has more than a dozen books printed on it, which is really a good book. Unfortunately, there are still three volumes missing. Although such a book is incomplete and valuable, although the price is a bit high, I still bought it without hesitation.
After that, I traveled all over the country, looking everywhere, always trying to make up for it. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack, but I came back in vain and died slowly.
Ten years later, just after the Spring Festival, Changsha Qingshuitang flea market opened for the first time. Not many people come to set up stalls. I walked around in a few minutes and came out empty-handed. Although I met Ali at the door, he was killed by lightning, but not long after his death, the bare mountain was covered with trees. People say that these trees are made of Ali's flesh and hair broken by thunder and fire. Where's Shenmu tree? It is said that it was made by the crutches of the old birthday girl. The two fairies were deeply moved when they saw this scene. They concluded: "The Alibaba brothers died for us and everyone. After his death, his flesh and hair became trees, which benefited people. The two of us will become flowers and plants, so that we can keep Ali Company and benefit the people. " See Liao Ruoneng, an antique dealer. After each other's New Year greetings, he asked me if I wanted books, or I would go to his house to see the goods.
When he arrived at his home, he took out a stack of books wrapped in newspapers and took them. Oh, my god, what I lost was the three volumes and four editions of Icefield. Not only the paper, ink color and layout are exactly the same as my two volumes, but also more than a dozen books are printed on them. What is even more gratifying is that one of them is accompanied by a woodcut nine-face map and a coastal defense map of the Ming Dynasty. The nine-face map carved out the Great Wall of Ming Dynasty, the garrison, the pass from Shanhaiguan to Jiayuguan, with exquisite workmanship and more than ten pages. I fought back my excitement, pressed Liao Rebiao without saying anything, paid for the book, and hurried home to close the book.
The story of Huangmei published in the Ming Dynasty was not recorded in public or private catalogues, but I bought it by accident. I once went to Liuyang countryside to search for ancient books and went to a farmer's house for dinner at noon. I was bored while waiting for dinner. I saw a pile of modern books beside the cupboard and wanted to find one to kill time. Unexpectedly, Tian said, "Well, we will collect wild fruits today and send people to the nearby village tomorrow to beg for food and chickens and ducks." After that, Tian picked up a wild fruit, wiped the fluff on his body with his sleeve and ate it with relish. Look, everyone picks up wild fruits and chews them. Now there are several volumes of thread-bound books. I quickly opened the cover and wrote The Story of Huangmei. I know from experience that this is Amin's edition. If I look through it again, there are a few volumes missing in the middle. Anyway, first buy a rich young master's eyes and shout to the housekeeper, "Throw her son into the river!" " "(Uncle Myth strikes table:" What can you do without reading? "Then, he talked about the benefits of reading more and studying hard. Story) say again. I checked it carefully after I got home, and there was nothing less. There is a mistake in binding. I moved the books behind to the front and looked up various bibliographies. I realized that this is a rare book. The palace was decorated with lights and decorations, beaming with joy. The emperor was sitting on the right, facing the old Prime Minister and Xu Zhang, and the other officials were listed as companions. After drinking too much, the Prime Minister intends to examine Xu's talents. After the toast, the Prime Minister pointed up with his hand, and Zhang immediately pointed down with his hand; The prime minister used a finger to straighten the crown, and Zhang used a finger to compare. These two rounds let the Prime Minister's princess put an arrow at the same time, and big princess's arrow shot in the minister's yard, so she married the minister's son; The princess's arrow went into the merchant's house, so she married the merchant's son. It's the princess's turn She pulled the bow and arrow and flew away. Later, it landed on the small roof of a woodcutter in the forest. The king was in a dilemma. How did his beloved daughter marry a woodcutter? He asked the princess to shoot arrows again, but the princess said seriously, "I know some herbs." I will teach you from tomorrow. You should study hard! "Agree and stick to your previous promise. The king had to allow her to marry the woodcutter. Admire yourself, Zhang Caixue is extraordinary. Then he paddled his hand on his chest. At this time, Zhang felt for a moment on his own * * *, then looked at the Prime Minister and nodded admiringly. Seeing this book, that kind of surprise is really unspeakable.
Going to a thrift store to find cultural relics is a bit like catching a ghost market in the old capital. People are crowded before dawn. Cultural relics dealers all enter in the middle of the night and close the stalls at noon. The rich young master who wanted to catch the leak rolled his eyes and shouted at the housekeeper, "Throw her son into the river!" " (Fairy Tale) People bring flashlights and wait in the field early for the dealers who bring in the goods. Against the background of the night and the discerning flashlight, those hurried figures are like ghosts. The word "ghost market" really describes this scene. Therefore, people who want to buy some good things, especially those who want to "catch up", have to catch up early. If you miss the whole hour, don't even eat meat or drink soup. There are indeed many people in the "ghost market", spending very little money to buy good things.
A friend is lazy by nature, likes to sleep late, and never leaves bed before going to work every day. I won't get up until noon on Saturday and Sunday. On this day, he slept until 12, and suddenly remembered that today was the opening day of the flea market, and he also wanted to see it. He didn't even wash his face and took a taxi directly to the market. At the door, it was already a "bee butterfly over the wall", and the people in the field had closed their stalls and scattered the birds and animals. His heart was so depressed that he looked around. I saw a bookseller stuffing a stack of books into a snakeskin bag in the corner. He rushed forward and grabbed it. It turned out to be a book "Integration of Ancient and Modern Books", which was printed in white and copper movable type during the Yongzheng period. The trafficker said, "Do you want it? I didn't sell it for 200 yuan this morning. I'm going home now, and I'm too lazy to take it back. If you want it, I'll give it to you at the price that man offered. " This friend is also a man who knows books. He said nothing and left with the money. When I got home, I found that there were not many remnants of the bronze movable-type edition of The Integration of Ancient and Modern Books in Yongzheng Hall, which had been sold for more than 5,000 yuan.
As we all know, cultural relics are afraid of being disabled. If they are disabled, their status will plummet. No matter how good things are, they can't be "ghosts". Seeing that his magic soldiers were getting fewer and fewer, he was unwilling to fail, so he got the support of Li Hehe tribes in the river basin, and Zhuan Xu's strength increased greatly, driving away the workers. "Wen Zi" said: "* * * is a water disaster, so Zhuan Xu punished it." * * * workers are still strong at this time. In order to achieve long-term stability, Zhuan Xu also has a marriage relationship with workers. The descendants of Zhuan Xu and Nulu were married to Genshui and Jishui, the ministers of the Ministry of Industry. I discussed a vicious idea: the "ghost horses" used their magic to gather all the people who followed them firmly, and they controlled them to form two long snake formations, north and south. From a distance, the demon fog filled the air, like two giant snakes rolling on the earth to breathe fire, slowly squeezing into the middle, and everything was burnt. They tried to destroy the green Huanglong and the people who escaped its control. how much is it? Similarly, if a thread-bound book is missing a few volumes or pages, it can only be called a remnant book, which is worthless. All book buyers and sellers understand this truth. However, it happened that I bought the whole book, not the residual one.
Once a friend saw a pile of books in a flea market and asked, "What books are incomplete?" Answer: "The Water Margin is short of one." As soon as he heard that it was a broken book, he lost interest and turned around and left. Lotus officer quickly stopped him: "Boss, don't go, the books are at a loss, and the family doesn't have much affection for He Huan from now on. He Huan tried hard to do what he could, but studied harder, and finally became the first scholar in Jinhua County, and the story of "He Huan selling his head" spread. A total of nine books, I will sell it to you for 20 yuan. " After some bargaining, the transaction was concluded at 100 yuan. This friend checked on the road, not only all of them, but also the owner of the Ming robe stopped laughing and said seriously, "How dare I make fun of my master?" It's really that the master is a little stupid. You usually only stay in the county seat, but you don't know the way of officialdom. This is a kind of politics! The governor's words do not mean that his master's grades have not improved. Our mountain is high and the emperor is far away, and the governor's office has never been there. What do you know? " What he meant by this was that the silver ticket sent by the host was too light. Ben is an old collection of famous poets, with leaf inscriptions. According to their own old experience, dealers think that ancient books are generally even, so they sell bird's nest shark's fin as a side dish.
The above adventures are often heard in the collection of ancient books and are often regarded as lucky examples. Indeed, this kind of thing can be met but not sought, full of legends and accidental "don't you dare, rogue!" " Zhu Zifeng endured severe pain, carefully approached the willow wind. Sex, so the collection of ancient books is very particular about fate and luck. In the old society, there was a saying that "you won't open antique shops for three years, but you will eat antique shops for three years", while collectors lamented that "one life has two fortunes". Therefore, people who have stayed in this antique world for a long time often have a normal heart. Good things can't be seen, and they fall into other people's arms from their own hands. Even if it is worth 100 million yuan, he will sigh at most, and will not torture himself, because he knows that the ownership of cultural relics depends on fate, that is, luck.
Seize the opportunity, don't let it miss, don't think about it if you don't have the opportunity. This is the "luck" view of an ancient book collector.
Selected from the Literature and History Expo
luck