Li Gonglin (149-116) (Figure 1), whose name was Bo Shi, was a monk named Long Mian. Many famous paintings, such as Wu Ma Tu and Long Mian Villa Tu, have been handed down from generation to generation. The world knows him as a famous painter in the Northern Song Dynasty, but he is also a famous collector of ancient artifacts. This article will introduce Li Gonglin and his collection.
Figure 2 Zheng Fangding in Li's collection in Lujiang
Figure 3 Li's collection in Lujiang
Figure 4 Jade Belt Hook in Li's collection in Lujiang
In the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, there was an upsurge of collecting antiques from top to bottom in society, from the royal family to the literati. For example, Song Huizong Zhao Ji himself is not only proficient in calligraphy, but also loves collecting. He organized people to write the famous "Xuanhe Bo Gu Catalogue", which recorded more than 8 bronzes collected by the royal family in Xuanhe Hall in the Song Dynasty from Shang Dynasty to Tang Dynasty. Similarly, the literati and officialdom in this period were also keen on collecting, and now we can get a glimpse of it from the descriptions of people at that time, such as the Collection of Ancient Records by Ouyang Xiu (17-172), the Archaeological Map by Lu Dalin (144-191) and the Records of the Stone by Zhao Mingcheng (181-1129). ?
Similarly, Li Gonglin once wrote many descriptions of epigraphy, such as Ancient Wares, Archaeological Maps, Zhou Jiantu, etc. Unfortunately, these descriptions have long been lost, and now we can only see the introduction of Li Gonglin's descriptions of epigraphy from some historical books. For example, it is recorded in the History of Song Dynasty: "Li Gonglin's" Ancient Ware Map "is a volume"; The History of Shu records: "There are five volumes of Li Boshi's Archaeological Map, and each volume of the Archaeological Map is a description of each device, and its interpretation, writing, words, righteousness and use are always preface and praise ..." The History of Shu also contains: "Zhou Jiantu of Li Boshi is a volume. Yu used the gold of nine pasturages to cast a tripod, which was carried by clever thinking and engraved ...' Fourteen items were carried by merchants, with more than 38 characters and less than one or two words. Postscript says:' I used to see the ancient times, but I didn't see the stone drums. Because of the Yi wares, I am quite familiar with Xia and Shang Dynasties. Fortunately, I saw that scholars should resume their blog and see the distant stream. Therefore, if you place it in the middle of the road, you should take it at your discretion.' "From these records, it is not difficult to see that Li Gonglin had a good study of ancient artifacts, especially Shang and Zhou bronzes, especially recorded and interpreted the inscriptions on bronzes, and was regarded as a scholar of epigraphy. ?
Lu Da-lin is another great master of epigraphy at the same time as Li Gonglin. Lu Da-lin also wrote an Archaeological Map (1 volumes). According to the article Review of Archaeological Map by Rong Geng, a famous ancient philologist, Lu Da-lin's Archaeological Map contains 224 pieces of bronzes, 1 piece of stone tools and 13 pieces of jade from 38 collectors of the royal family and other places at that time, among which Li from Lujiang is the most. Lujiang County is an ancient place name in Shuzhou, and Li in Lujiang refers to Li Gonglin (word Boshi) in Shuzhou. Rong Geng also said that Lu Dalin's Archaeological Map quoted Li's Record more, and Xue's Yi Qi Kuan Zhi was written as Li's Ancient Records, that is, the five volumes of Li Boshi's Archaeological Map contained in Shu Shi. ?
Lu Da-lin's Archaeological Map contains 62 pieces of Li Gonglin's antiquities, with pictures of ancient artifacts. In addition, the words in the Archaeological Map written by Li Gonglin are quoted in many places, which makes people know about Li Gonglin's collections and works in those years, which is really rare. For example, Zheng Fangding (Figure 2) in Volume 1 was recorded by Li in Lujiang, and the time and place of the excavation were recorded: "Yuan You Bing Yin (186) was cultivated by a savage in Xinzheng in the spring", and the text of Li Shilu was quoted. Although these textual researches are not necessarily correct now, it was a very important attempt at that time to combine unearthed objects with literature records. Another example is Zhong Ai's Traveler in Volume 6 (Figure 3), which is collected by Li in Lujiang, with pictures of the extension inscription. The explanation is "Zhong Ai's mother works as a traveler for her ten thousand-year-old son Sun Yongbao", which shows that Li Gonglin had a study on bronze inscriptions at that time and the explanation was accurate. ?
In addition to the collection of bronzes, Li Gonglin also has a collection of jade articles. All 13 jade articles included in Lu Dalin's Archaeological Map are Li Gonglin's collections. For example, the jade belt hook in Volume 8 (Figure 4), collected by Li Zang in Lujiang, is the hook of the belt tied by the ancient aristocrats. This kind of jade belt hook was popular in the Han Dynasty. It shows that Li Gonglin has a rich variety of collections.