Chapter 2418: Chapter 2321: Causing Trouble

Of course, sacrificial items aren’t limited to the three animals, but also include things like Jade and Silks. So-called Jade and Silks naturally refer to jade and silk textiles.

In the Jin Dynasty, these items were considered luxury goods. Ge Hong was quite wealthy, so naturally, these things were not lacking in the Burial Pit.

Zhou Shitao had just started handling those oxen-heads and horse-faces, while Xie Daoyuan opened a chest over here that contained a major discovery.

Under the lamp light, a few black boxes were filled to the brim with silk fabrics.

"Is this... brocade?!"

Seeing the silk textiles reveal their true colors under the light, even Xie Daoyuan couldn’t help but exclaim.

"Let me take a look!"

Hearing Xie Daoyuan’s exclamation, Zhou Shitao’s spirits immediately lifted; he couldn’t even bother with the 1700-year-old ox-heads and hurried over to Xie Daoyuan’s side with a few quick steps.

Huo Sining saw this and followed along. Sure enough, she saw several boxes filled with silk brocade.

Jin Dynasty silk textiles from 1700 years ago, though not comparable to Han Dynasty Su Sha Duan Yi, were certainly significant with several large boxes like these.

Seeing this situation, not only Zhou Shitao, but also the archaeology team members behind them were all thrilled.

Xie Daoyuan also became excited and, wearing gloves, squatted in front of the chest and started cleaning together with Zhou Shitao.

These artifacts were of national treasure level after all. The Cultural Relics Bureau’s archaeological team members were still too young, and Zhou Shitao didn’t quite trust their methods, fearing carelessness would cause trouble, so the work of cleaning the artifacts was done by him, Xie Daoyuan, and Shi Qingyun.

The remaining staff were holding sealed plastic bags and archive bags, each labeled, waiting for the artifacts to be packaged into the bags.

These bags are used to record the order in which artifacts are unearthed; this is the rule of archaeological excavation. An archive bag needs to be established for each numbered artifact unearthed from the burial pit for future research documentation.

Huo Sining did not need to be responsible for these tasks; she just assisted Zhou Shitao.

Seeing the brocade inside the boxes, with quite a few patterns on it, although sealed for 1700 years in this ancient tomb, it still looked as good as new when opened.

Huo Sining was very interested in the patterns on the brocade and couldn’t help but ask:

"Teacher, is this pattern Kuiwen?"

Zhou Shitao shook his head upon hearing this and said: "Kuiwen is a type of traditional decorative pattern, but it generally appears on the Bronze Ding. The dozen or so Bronze Ding we saw when we entered had Kuiwen engraved on them."

"This is called Fengniao pattern. The Phoenix, in mythology, is the leader of all birds, the most beautiful among the feathered, and when it flies, it is followed by all birds, revered as the king of birds. In ancient people’s minds, the Phoenix is an auspicious bird."

"This pattern is often used on brocade, representing auspicious colorful birds, and is a special ancient totem originating from ancient mythology."

"In ancient times, the Phoenix was regarded as a divine bird, believed to be the closest to the divine beasts, and during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, this totem was more commonly used."

"With the rise of the legend of Phoenix Nirvana, more people regarded the Phoenix as a spiritual symbol of inheritance and rebirth, so many high-ranking officials and nobles liked to use the Fengniao pattern on daily items, including textiles and items like wine vessels and the Incense Burner."

Zhou Shitao looked at these silk textiles, a gleam in his eyes:

"Of course, ordinary people have no right to be particular about patterns; plain clothes and skirts are already very good, but silk textiles are something they simply cannot afford."

"These brocades are called Cloud Brocade, and their history can be traced back to the thirteenth year of the Jin Dynasty. At that time, the Emperor established a specific office in Jiankang to manage brocade weaving, named Brocade Office, marking the birth of Cloud Brocade."

"Cloud Brocade is so named because of its glossy and splendid colors, beautiful as the clouds in the sky, and since its inception, it has been known as ’an inch of brocade worth an inch of gold’."

"With a history of 1700 years, continuing to this day, only Cloud Brocade still maintains its traditional characteristics and unique skills, preserving the traditional jacquard wooden loom weaving method, a technique still impossible to replace with modern machinery."

"I have participated in the excavation of several Jin Dynasty tombs, and items like Cloud Brocade have been discovered before, but this is the first time I have seen such a complete Cloud Brocade; it is truly priceless!"

Zhou Shitao looked at these silk brocades with some emotion, and Huo Sining was also quite surprised, thinking of what she had read about Cloud Brocade in a book before, and then curiously asked:

"Is this the crown of the four famous brocades?"

Zhou Shitao nodded:

"Yes, in ancient silk textiles, brocade represents the highest level of technology, and Cloud Brocade accumulates the artistic achievements of the weaving crafts from all dynasties."

"Since its inception, it was classified as royal tribute, and its culture and connotation were hailed as the last milestone in the history of Huaxia’s ancient brocade weaving crafts."

"Of course, at its inception, Cloud Brocade was simple, not like today’s Cloud Brocade, which inherits the excellent traditional base of past brocade weaving and incorporates the precious experience of other various silk crafts, reaching the pinnacle of silk craftsmanship."

"But you can see from the brocade in this chest that, at the time, having such exquisite materials, fine manufacturing techniques, and such splendid brocade patterns already condensed the essence of China’s silk weaving skills, certainly a brilliant crystallization of China’s silk culture..."

Zhou Shitao was explaining in detail the origins of these brocades to Huo Sining and the archaeology workers behind him, but unexpectedly at this time, an archaeology team member carrying a spray bottle walked up rashly, took up the spray bottle, and started spraying the antioxidant on the brocade.

Previously, the staff responsible for the antioxidant work did it like this, so the team member didn’t think much about it, assuming based on his work experience and naturally proceeded to do so.

Seeing this, Zhou Shitao’s expression changed almost instantly, urgently shouting, "Stop, no, you can’t do this..."

But by the time he shouted, it was already a bit late; that staff member had already pressed the spray bottle, and the mist-like oxidating agent had already been sprayed toward the brocade—it was too late to stop.

Everyone collectively looked towards the box of brocade, and under the watchful eyes of all, the box of brightly colored fabrics, as colorful as clouds, instantly turned to ashes under the spray.

The worker who caused the trouble was instantly stunned, holding the spray bottle with a bewildered look at what had happened, and then realizing what he had done, in the next second, all blood drained from his face, leaving him in a state of panic and distress.

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