adminFor a long time, this graphic was mysterious and elusive, and no matter how hard he searched, there was no clue. Now, upon hearing this, Jude Kao was extremely excited. He immediately asked someone to brew a pot of fine tea and respectfully presented it, requesting the old scholar to elaborate on the matter.
The old scholar, having nothing much to do and seeing Jude Kao’s keen interest, became interested himself and recounted the events of that time.
This happened thirty years ago. At that time, the old man was a professor of Chinese studies at Peking University and a member of the Kuomintang. His son-in-law was a brigade commander under Zhang Lingfu. After the defeat of the 74th Division, the remnants of the Kuomintang army scattered. His son-in-law took the remaining troops and fled to the Qimeng Mountains, becoming a bandit and hiding in the mountains for three years. Later, when the People’s Liberation Army launched a large-scale crackdown on bandits, his son-in-law was cornered and connected with Kuomintang spies, preparing to escape to the United States.
After securing a route, the old man and his family were brought into the mountains by his son-in-law to wait for news of a boat. Due to the tight situation, it was inconvenient to bring the family along. During this time, his son-in-law arranged for them to stay in a Taoist temple, disguising them as Taoists while waiting for the spies’ assistance.
Although it was called a Taoist temple, it was actually a type of folk shrine. However, unlike other temples in the mountainous areas, this Taoist temple was built between two cliffs that were less than fifty meters apart, with the ground below being completely open, making it quite unique. The entire temple resembled a gigantic staircase, with seven levels in total. The walls were made of mud and painted yellow, very rudimentary. The upper four levels were simply wooden planks laid between the two cliffs, without even a railing. Several altars featured clay statues of the Three Pure Ones, as well as Guanyin and the Earth God, showcasing distinct Chinese characteristics.
The entire temple was managed by two old Taoists, with the older one being the father of the younger Taoist. During that chaotic time, the incense offerings were sparse, so the old man’s son-in-law provided them with some money as a cover.
The old professor lived in the temple for two months. The temple was deep in the mountains, making it inconvenient to climb up and down, and with nothing much to do, he began to study the antiques in the temple. It was during that time that he discovered something strange. Many of the items in the temple were crudely made local goods of little value, and occasionally there were a few antiques from the Ming Dynasty. However, on the very top level of the temple, there was a bronze alchemical furnace that was quite peculiar in shape, resembling an inverted lotus flower. The copper rust on it indicated it was very old and significantly different from the other items in the temple.
The old professor was not a historian, but he had some experience with such matters as an old scholar. He became very interested and asked the old Taoist where the furnace had come from.
The old Taoist praised his keen insight, stating that the furnace was indeed extraordinary. It had come from a landslide during an earthquake before the liberation, and many human skeletons had also been unearthed at that time. The villagers were frightened and brought the remains here to appease the spirits, and it had been over sixty years since then. The old Taoist had been young at the time and did not know the specifics of the situation.
The old professor found the matter increasingly interesting. However, due to the chaotic state of affairs at the time and his special status, he couldn’t conduct further investigations. He pondered over it for a while in the Taoist temple, but ultimately, there were no further developments. Nevertheless, the circumstances and environment at that time left a deep impression on him, and he remembered the shape and patterns of the alchemical furnace very clearly. So, when he saw the image that Qiu Dekao showed him, he immediately recognized it.
He told Qiu Dekao that this pattern was on the lid of the alchemical furnace and was identical to the image. He was absolutely certain he wouldn’t remember it wrong. If Qiu Dekao wanted to know more, he could find a way to investigate that Taoist temple, but given how much time had passed, it was uncertain whether that place still existed; it all depended on his luck.
After hearing this, Qiu Dekao felt both excited and disappointed. He was excited because it was clear that the significance behind this image was richer than he had imagined; he was disappointed because, after hearing those descriptions, he still knew nothing about the image.
He was eager to see the bronze alchemical furnace that the old professor spoke of, but at that time, this was nearly impossible. It was quite difficult for an American to travel to China, especially for someone like him, a notorious artifact dealer.
However, Qiu Dekao was very self-assured and believed that nothing could stop him from doing what he wanted. He thought of a way: although he couldn’t go to China himself, he had built a solid network of connections over years of dealing with artifacts. He began to reach out to his old contacts in China, trying to find someone to get into Qimeng Mountain and visit that remote Taoist temple to gather information. Ideally, he hoped to be able to steal the alchemical furnace and bring it back to America.
At that time, China had just gone through ten years of turmoil and was in a state of rebuilding. His old connections had vanished, and the older generation of artifact dealers had either died or fled during the post-liberation purges. The smuggling of artifacts had completely reshuffled. He tried to leverage his connections within the Kuomintang, exhausting nearly all his channels, but he couldn’t find anyone he knew.
In desperation, he had no choice but to take risks and seek help from a few artifact smugglers he was not familiar with at the time, asking them to introduce him to some newcomers in the industry in Changsha.
After several setbacks, he finally managed to connect with a Chinese person willing to cooperate with him: Jie Lianhuan.
How Jie Lianhuan got into this line of work was a mystery to Qiu Dekao. Given the circumstances of the time, even the elder of the Jie family dared not engage in their old business and could only rely on their past resources. Smuggling artifacts was a serious crime, akin to drug trafficking today, a dangerous endeavor where one’s life was at stake. Generally, unless someone was in urgent need of money for survival, no one would dare to get involved.
Jie Lianhuan was just a spoiled rich kid, a complete second-generation heir. The elder of the Jie family intended to distance him from the family business, preventing him from getting involved or learning anything. Therefore, in terms of courage, vision, experience, or any other objective conditions, he had no reason to enter this line of work, let alone connect with major smugglers abroad.
In simpler terms, the field of cultural relic smuggling requires a certain level of skill. The techniques of sourcing, appraising, and authenticating artifacts cannot be mastered without two or three decades of experience. If you lack these skills, even if you are eager to enter the industry, you won’t find a way in; potential buyers will not pay any attention to you. Therefore, if Jude Cowell could connect with Jie Lianhuan through an intermediary, it indicates that Jie Lianhuan must have already established business relations with these people and gained their trust. Given Jie Lianhuan’s capabilities, this seems highly unlikely.
This issue had been troubling Uncle San until he returned from his first trip to the Xisha Islands and began investigating the matter. After asking the eldest member of the Jie family, he learned some background information. However, this matter is unrelated to Jude Cowell, so there is no need to elaborate further.
Once Jie Lianhuan got in touch with Jude Cowell, Cowell sent his plan to Jie Lianhuan. It was a detailed document that included a sketch of the bronze dan furnace drawn by an elderly man and a sophisticated camera. He instructed Jie Lianhuan to first confirm whether the Taoist temple still existed—during that period, ancient sites and temples were considered part of the “Four Olds” and might have been destroyed. Then, he needed to gather information about the dan furnace, take photographs, and send them back to the United States for confirmation. If everything checked out, they would then look for an opportunity to smuggle the item out of the country.
Although Jie Lianhuan was not familiar with the practical aspects of this task, he was capable of visiting a location to check if the item was still there and to inquire about the situation. After receiving the materials, he went to Shandong and, based on the elderly man’s recollections in the documents, found the mountainous area where the ancient Taoist temple had been built.
Fortunately, because the temple was quite remote, it had not been disturbed much and had miraculously survived the tumultuous decade. However, the old Taoist priest had passed away, leaving only his elderly son, who was also in poor health. Jie Lianhuan photographed the temple and the bronze dan furnace and sent the images back to the United States. Jude Cowell compared the translated patterns, and indeed, the design on the lid of the bronze dan furnace matched exactly with what was depicted in the silk manuscript. However, regarding the origins of the dan furnace, due to the passage of time, the old priest’s son could only provide a rough idea, which aligned closely with what the old professor had said, yielding no additional clues.
Despite this, Jude Cowell was overjoyed and instructed Jie Lianhuan to start preparations to find a way to secretly smuggle the dan furnace out.
However, once Jie Lianhuan began his preparations, he realized that this was actually an impossible task. Jude Cowell had not considered that the dan furnace was much larger than he had anticipated; times had changed, and such an item could not be exported through customs in China at that time. If they opted for smuggling by boat, they would first need to reach the Zhejiang or Guangdong region, which posed significant risks due to the chaos in the southeastern coastal areas at that time—something unimaginable for ordinary people.
They tried various methods but to no avail, which instead drew the attention of Lei Zi. In desperation, Jude Cowell came up with a frenzied idea. He instructed Jie Lianhuan to smash the entire dan furnace into over forty pieces, mark them, and mix them in batches with the silk being exported at that time to transport them out.
This is an outrageous act for the archaeological community, but Jude doesn’t care at all, as the value of this item has lost its significance for him; what he wants is the information it holds. It could also be said that it was a stroke of luck. When Jie Lianhuan was sawing the bronze furnace, he discovered a very clever mechanism at the bottom of the furnace. It was this mechanism that ultimately revealed the secrets of the mysterious patterns in the Warring States silk manuscripts.
