Shadows of the saddle and the pen

Author: Zhang Chengzhi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-09-01
Features: The content of this book: I am a retired archaeologist and often have the privilege of being the first to see artifacts. In the summer, I heard that three wooden artifacts had been unearthed from a large Western Han in Changsha. Everyone was shocked upon recognizing them—they were the ancient musical instruments called zhu, which had been written about by Sima Qian but had long been lost to the world. Coincidentally, I was studying in Hunan at the time and heard about this news, so I quickly sought out my classmates in Hunan. As a result, I obtained special permission from the Changsha Archaeological Team to visit this batch of waterlogged ancient zhu. Three zhu were unearthed in total, all fragmented. They were still preserved in water, with ripples gently caressing the broken bodies. For a moment standing in front of the zhu, one finds words failing them. Was it Sima Qian's beautiful prose that made it so renowned, or did it grant him a rare insight? Was it only I who had long been captivated by this object, or do all hearts stir, though wordless, unable to delve deeper at that moment.