When I heard these five words, my whole body stiffened.
"Along the River During the Qingming Festival"?!
Guan Zhenwan looked at me and said, "Mr. Xiang, surely you don't not know this painting?"
What a joke!
If I didn't know "Along the River During the Qingming Festival," then I wouldn't have to bother mixing in the antique circle.
"Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is a long scroll painting depicting the scenery of Bianliang, painted by the Northern Song dynasty artist Zhang Zeduan. It vividly portrays the capital city of Bianliang during the Qingming Festival, holding immense historical and cultural value and being a national treasure.
As far as I know, this "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is currently housed in the Yan Jing Museum.
Seemingly sensing my confusion, she said, "There are three versions of 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival.' One is Zhang Zeduan's Song Dynasty version, currently in the Yan Jing Museum. Another is the Ming Dynasty..."
Before she could finish, I chimed in, "The Ming Dynasty Qiu Ying version, and then there's the Qing Court version of 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival,' right?"
She nodded.
The Qiu Ying version of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is housed in the Liao Cheng Museum, while the Qing Court version is said to be in the museum on the island across the strait.
"Don't tell me the one your family lost is a fourth version," I said.
She shook her head, "The one my family lost is the Qing Court version of 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival'."
I was taken aback.
The so-called Qing Court version of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" began in the first year of Qianlong's reign and was a collaborative effort by five painters: Chen Mei, Sun Hu, Jin Kun, Dai Hong, and Cheng Zhi.
Although this painting was a copy, its value was also very high.
Now, Guan Zhenwan claimed this painting belonged to her family, which I found somewhat hard to believe.
She gazed at the mountains in the distance, her eyes filled with a sense of reminiscence, and began to tell me a long-unveiled story.
In 1931, after the Mukden Incident, the Japanese invaders occupied North China and began to loot the cultural relics of the Forbidden City.
At that time, the Republican government, to prevent the looting, transferred a large number of cultural relics, including the Qing Court version of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival."
In the winter of 1932, it was snowing heavily in Harbin. Guan Zhenwan's maternal great-grandfather, Guan Jiaxiang, woke up early as usual to open his pawnshop for business.
But as he pried open the wooden board at the entrance, he saw a dying person lying by the door. The person looked like a beggar, dressed in thin cloth clothes.
In those times, such people were very common. Just as Guan Jiaxiang was about to send him away, the person said he had something to pawn.
Guan Jiaxiang found it strange. What could a beggar possibly have to pawn?
However, adhering to business etiquette, he invited him in.
Once inside, the beggar asked Guan Jiaxiang to get him something to eat. Guan Jiaxiang then had his wife heat up the leftover food from the previous night and brought it over.
After the beggar ate his fill, he was reluctant to say what he wanted to pawn, which annoyed Guan Jiaxiang.
He felt he might have been tricked by this beggar, and just as he was about to lose his temper.
The beggar said, "The item I want to pawn to you is of extraordinary value. If I pawn this to you, you must promise me one thing."
Guan Jiaxiang, somewhat impatiently, asked, "What is it?"
"You must promise me that this item will not fall into the hands of the Japanese invaders."
At that time, Harbin was teeming with Manchukuo police, all of whom were informants for the Japanese.
Under such circumstances, Guan Jiaxiang did not want to provoke the Japanese.
Seeing Guan Jiaxiang's hesitation, the beggar added, "The value of this item is beyond your imagination. If I were not driven to desperation, I would never have pawned it to you."
With that, Guan Jiaxiang's curiosity was piqued, and he asked what the item was.
The beggar replied, "Only after you promise me what I asked earlier can I tell you what it is."
Driven by curiosity, Guan Jiaxiang pondered for a moment and then gritted his teeth and nodded, "Alright, I promise!"
Seeing Guan Jiaxiang agree, the beggar stood up and took off his dirty cloth clothes, then his inner garment.
Looking at the emaciated body, Guan Jiaxiang couldn't help but frown, wondering what this beggar intended to do.
He saw the beggar spread the inner garment on the table and then tear it open forcefully.
There was a hidden compartment within the inner garment, and inside it, there was clearly a painting.
When the beggar took the painting out of the inner garment and placed it on the table, Guan Jiaxiang stared at it and was stunned!
While he was not an expert appraiser, the moment he saw the painting, he knew it was definitely not a fake!
Ultimately, Guan Jiaxiang gave the beggar one hundred yuan and bought the painting.
As the beggar left, he told Guan Jiaxiang to keep the painting safe and that