Peng Fei, feeling a little embarrassed, said, "Brother Zhuang, it's alright. It's my fault for being too nervous earlier. This is the capital of Myanmar, under government control, unlike the chaotic remote areas..."
"Brother Zhuang, over here! I heard there's an antique market next to that Golden Pagoda. Shall we go check it out later?"
Zhuang Rui had just reached the hotel entrance when he saw Yang Hao. That guy was really impatient; he had already hailed a taxi and was waiting there.
The shower was a waste of time. Stepping into the sweltering taxi, sweat immediately began to drip down his forehead. Zhuang Rui rolled down the window and stuck half his head out of the car, which made him feel a little more comfortable. The short taxi driver, on the other hand, seemed to have gotten used to the temperature, as there wasn't a trace of sweat on his face.
Fortunately, the hotel wasn't far from the Shwedagon Pagoda, only a five or six-minute drive away. After turning past the next building, the view opened up, and a towering golden spire appeared before Zhuang Rui.
Chapter 436 The Great Golden Pagoda (Part 2)
"This...this is the Shwedagon Pagoda?"
Looking at the slender spire that shimmered with dazzling golden light in the sunlight, Zhuang Rui was deeply impressed.
In the distance, the Shwedagon Pagoda rises from the horizon like a golden, mysterious object, a breathtaking wonder gleaming in the sun. Its shape is neither an Islamic dome nor a Hindu minaret, but rather an upright gourd. "Yes, this is our Shwedagon Pagoda. The World Heritage Organization has said that our Shwedagon Pagoda, along with Borobudur in Indonesia and Angkor Wat in Cambodia, is considered a gem of Eastern art, one of the most famous pagodas in the world, and a symbol of Myanmar..."
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, the dark-skinned, thin driver unexpectedly began explaining to Zhuang Rui in Chinese. Although his Chinese was somewhat broken, he still managed to convey the meaning, and he wore a proud expression as he spoke.
Zhuang Rui originally wanted to use the Great Wall of China to refute the driver, but at this moment the car had arrived at the outer perimeter of the Shwedagon Pagoda. Upon seeing the entire Shwedagon Pagoda, Zhuang Rui was stunned and could no longer utter the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
The over 100-meter-tall golden pagoda stood before Zhuang Rui. It felt like standing beneath a 30-story building, making one feel incredibly small. Around the massive pagoda were dozens of smaller golden pagodas, surrounding it. Everywhere one looked was golden, a powerful visual impact on Zhuang Rui and his companions, giving them a sense of grandeur and magnificence. After getting out of the car, Zhuang Rui saw that after Yang Hao paid the fare, the driver didn't leave immediately. Instead, he got out of the car, respectfully clasped his hands together in front of the pagoda, and chanted Buddhist scriptures. After about a minute, he drove away again.
After the taxi drove away, Yang Hao said with a smile, "That driver was interesting, acting like a monk..."
"I bet that driver really was a monk. You don't know anything about Burmese history, do you..."
Before coming to Myanmar, Zhuang Rui did some research on the country. He knew that Myanmar, like Thailand, was a famous Buddhist country. Buddhism had been introduced to Myanmar for more than 2,500 years, and more than 85% of the population practiced Buddhism.
The abundance of pagodas, temples, and monks are the three major characteristics of Burmese Buddhist culture. Burmese men are expected to shave their heads and become monks at least once in their lives, which is considered a way to cultivate virtue and accumulate merit. This is why Zhuang Rui mentioned earlier that the driver might have been a monk.
Burmese Buddhists believe that building pagodas brings blessings for one's lifetime and future lives. It is estimated that there are over 100,000 pagodas of varying sizes throughout the country. Therefore, Myanmar is known as the "Land of Pagodas." The Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, built over 2,500 years ago, is a masterpiece of Burmese pagoda architecture, a gem of world Buddhist architectural art, and one of the oldest and most valuable pagodas in the world.
The Shwedagon Pagoda stands 100 meters tall and is surrounded by 64 smaller pagodas. The entire pagoda is covered in gold leaf, with the main pagoda alone containing nearly 30,000 pieces of gold leaf, weighing more than 7 tons. The top of the pagoda is cast in gold and inlaid with 5,448 diamonds and 2,317 rubies. The entire Shwedagon Pagoda is radiant, magnificent, and spectacular.
"This is the most valuable antique in the world..."
Zhuang Rui was amazed. The value of those diamonds and gems was beyond monetary measure, not to mention the more than 7 tons of gold. This gold tower was equivalent to one-thousandth of the United States' gold reserves in the World Bank.
As the saying goes, "Seeing is believing," and when Zhuang Rui saw the description of the Shwedagon Pagoda in the local gazetteer of Myanmar, he was still somewhat dismissive. If we're talking about man-made structures, the Forbidden City in China represents the highest level of ancient architecture. So when he arrived in Myanmar, he had no interest in sightseeing.
However, after seeing the Shwedagon Pagoda, Zhuang Rui realized that he had been a bit arrogant before. This Shwedagon Pagoda is indeed something that the people of Myanmar should be proud of.
The Shwedagon Pagoda is built against the mountain. Zhuang Rui spent three dollars at the entrance to buy a colorful brochure about the pagoda. It was written in Chinese, English, and Burmese, and it detailed the history of the pagoda as well as many myths and legends.
The legend begins with two merchant brothers who encountered the Buddha… They received eight strands of the Buddha's hair, intending to send them to Myanmar as offerings. Upon arriving in Myanmar, the brothers, with the help of the local king, found a sacred mountain that housed many treasures of the Buddha.
When the eight Buddha hairs were taken out of the two men's golden box and offered as an offering, some incredible things happened: the light emanating from the hairs penetrated heaven and hell, enabling the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the mute to speak clearly; moreover, thunder roared from the sky, the earth shook, and even Mount Sumeru was affected; gems rained down from the sky, reaching up to knee-deep; and the trees on the Himalayas blossomed and bore fruit even when it was not their flowering season.
These are all legends, of course, but inside the Shwedagon Pagoda, there are indeed relics of four Buddhas, including the staff of Krakucchanda Buddha, the water purifier of the Buddha of Perfect Enlightenment, the robe of Kassapa Buddha, and eight hairs of Buddha Shakyamuni. These relics are worshipped and offered incense by countless devout Buddhists every day.
Upon entering the mountain gate, one can see the massive pagoda base, which has a circumference of 433 meters. Surrounding it are 64 small pagodas and 4 medium pagodas, each with a different style, built of wood and stone. Each of the four entrances to the pagoda is guarded by stone lions, and behind the entrances, a series of steps leads directly to a platform on the mountain.
More than 15,000 gold and silver bells hang around the tower. When the wind blows, the bells ring out in a clear and melodious sound that can be heard in all directions.
The Shwedagon Pagoda has gates in all four directions, and each gate is guarded by a pair of tall stone lions, similar to those found in front of Chinese temples. Inside the gates, there are long stone staircases leading to the top of the pagoda. The staircases are lined with stalls selling Buddha and human statues carved from wood, bamboo, bone, ivory, and other materials, as well as incense, candles, and flowers for offering to Buddha, and various Burmese snacks.
Zhuang Rui, Yang Hao, and the other two are now standing at the entrance of the south gate of the Golden Pagoda. On both sides of the gate, there are a pair of lion-faced human statues guarding it. Zhuang Rui doesn't know if this building, which is said to be 2,500 years old, has any mysterious connection with the Egyptian pyramids.
Following the staff's instructions, Zhuang Rui and the others removed their shoes before entering the Shwedagon Pagoda. This was to show respect to the Buddha; even foreign heads of state and presidents would remove their shoes upon arrival.
Above the series of steps are images of Buddha, while the base of the pagoda is made of bricks covered with gold bricks. These are genuine gold bricks made of pure gold, donated by Buddhists from all walks of life in Myanmar. Inside the pagoda, niches on the walls enshrine jade Buddha statues of various shapes.
Walking through the foreign golden pagoda, barefoot monks occasionally passed by. Although the pagoda was extremely luxurious, Zhuang Rui felt an unprecedented peace and tranquility when he stood inside. All the worldly troubles in his heart seemed to have disappeared.
Today is the last day of 2004. Many devout Buddhists have come here to prepare for the start of the new year. As a result, the pagoda is full of people, but no one is making a fuss. Everyone is orderly following the flow of people to worship each Buddha statue enshrined in the pagoda.
After walking around the Shwedagon Pagoda and visiting several Buddhist relics, Zhuang Rui, Yang Hao, and their companions exited from the southeast corner. The sun was still shining brightly, but Zhuang Rui and Yang Hao didn't feel as hot this time, perhaps due to the tranquility of their hearts.
At the southeast corner of the Shwedagon Pagoda stands an ancient Bodhi tree, which is said to have been transplanted from the sacred tree nursery of the Vajrasana of Shakyamuni Buddha in India. To the left of the Bodhi tree is a Chinese temple called "Fu Hui Palace", built during the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty with donations from overseas Chinese.
This place was much more lively, with many vendors selling souvenirs and antiques on the ground. The grand temples with their distinctive Chinese characteristics, combined with the vendors' calls in Chinese, made Zhuang Rui feel as if he had come to an antique market in China.
"Peng Fei, see what fun things you can do, buy some for Nannan and Yaya to take back home..."
Yesterday, after Ouyang Wan brought Nannan back to the courtyard house, the little girl immediately became familiar with Yaya. Her other older brothers and sisters are all much older than her and they can't play together. Now that Yaya is here, little Nannan has immediately become Yaya's little shadow, and the two little girls have an extremely good relationship.
Before coming, Zhuang Rui had taken out $30,000 and placed it with Peng Fei, so Peng Fei paid for all the expenses along the way.
The stalls here mostly display carvings of figures or Buddha statues, made of ivory and wood. Although the carving is not bad, Zhuang Rui doesn't think much of it. He never believed that foreign monks could chant sutras, so why would he come here to ask for Buddha statues?
"Come and take a look, gentlemen. These are all genuine ivory, bamboo, and old wood root carvings, no fakes whatsoever..."
When the group arrived at a stall, the stall owner's fluent Mandarin attracted Zhuang Rui and the others. It's true that many Burmese people can speak Chinese, but you can clearly hear the awkwardness in their language. This man, who looked to be in his thirties, spoke fluent Mandarin, which showed that he was definitely Chinese.
His stall had a relatively wider variety of items. In addition to Buddha statues carved from wood, ivory, and bone, there were also handmade bamboo vases, which were just decorations and could not hold water. They were quite exquisitely made. There were also rattan products and brightly colored sarongs covered with sequins, which were very characteristic of Myanmar.
Zhuang Rui was drawn to the sarongs and squatted down to examine them. He casually asked the stall owner, "Brother, judging from your accent, you're Chinese, right?"
The stall owner replied, "Yes, my grandfather's generation came to Myanmar more than half a century ago, but he went back to his homeland to reunite with his relatives two years ago..."
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and asked, "Was your grandfather one of those who stayed in Burma during the Chinese Expeditionary Force?"
There are quite a few Chinese people living in Myanmar, and most of them are military personnel.
During the War of Resistance against Japan, China sent two expeditionary forces, totaling 260,000 troops, to fight in Burma. Due to the Allied forces' mismanagement and poor cooperation, the first expedition ended in failure. The number of people who died or went missing in the rout, including those captured, bombed, starved, or succumbed to infectious diseases, reached as many as 70,000.
Many surviving Chinese soldiers stayed in Myanmar until the 1990s when that long-buried history was rediscovered. At that time, a campaign was launched to welcome the remains of the fallen heroes back to the mainland, and many veterans also returned to the mainland to trace their roots.
The second group of people who stayed in Myanmar were the Kuomintang troops led by Li Mi, who were defeated in Yunnan and other places during the Liberation War and entered Myanmar, where they occupied the Golden Triangle region.
Chapter 437 Ivory Carving
Back then, after the Kuomintang Eighth Army was defeated in Yunnan, Li Mi fled to Taiwan alone. For half a year, the 93rd Division was homeless and wandered from place to place. On New Year's Eve of 1950, they finally managed to escape and entered Burmese territory. During their escape, the 93rd Division, along with the remnants of another regiment and a division, brought 7,000 soldiers and their families who refused to surrender to foreign lands.
However, the Burmese government did not want to accept them, so war broke out. Although the Nationalist army suffered repeated defeats in the civil war, they were more than capable of dealing with the Burmese government army, quickly defeating them and finally gaining a foothold in the Golden Triangle.
Meanwhile, Li Mi, who was in Taiwan, saw that his old subordinates had gained a foothold in Burma and immediately clamored for a counterattack against the mainland, which they did indeed launch. However, the result was heavy casualties, and they retreated back to Burma.
Meanwhile, the Burmese army had reached an agreement with India, deciding that India would send troops to assist the Burmese army in driving out the remnants of the Kuomintang army. It was a fierce battle, and the Kuomintang army won the final victory, but it was also a Pyrrhic victory. The Kuomintang remnants, with less than 10,000 troops, managed to defeat the Indian-Burmese joint forces and completely establish a foothold on the Sino-Burmese border.
In the 1960s, the 93rd Division began fighting against the Burmese Communist Party again. Due to the loss of supplies from Taiwan, it suffered heavy casualties and its manpower dwindled with each battle. Dozens of armed groups of varying sizes formed in the border areas of Yunnan, Thailand, and Burma.
Later, due to years of war and lack of supplies, the Nationalist army, the Burmese Communist Party, and the Communist soldiers of the Burmese branch began to collectively cultivate opium in the Golden Triangle region, forming the world's largest armed drug production and processing base: the Golden Triangle!
The Chinese who remained in Myanmar were nothing more than these two groups, which is why Zhuang Rui asked this question. Regardless of the reason for staying, they were all descendants of Yan and Huang, and they were all fighting for survival. Now that the three links with Taiwan are about to be established, Zhuang Rui naturally doesn't care about their identities.
Hearing Zhuang Rui's words, the stall owner looked somewhat embarrassed. He said, "My grandfather stayed in Burma during the Expeditionary Force period. At that time, they fought guerrilla warfare against the Japanese in the jungle, but later they joined the defeated Kuomintang troops and fought against the Burmese Communists..."
The soldiers who remained in Burma were mostly veterans who had fought countless battles. After the war with the Japanese, they had settled down peacefully. However, the defeated Kuomintang soldiers fled to Burma, and out of a sense of kinship, many veterans took up arms again. Of course, these people are now all over sixty years old, and the large-scale war is over.
"What's your name, sir? How's business here? What's the price of this ivory figure carving?"
Zhuang Rui squatted down. Just because the other party was Chinese, he should help them out. Buying some small things wouldn't cost much.
The stall owner glanced at the ivory carving in Zhuang Rui's hand and casually replied, "My surname is Li, and my name is Li Yunshan. That's five US dollars, or five thousand Burmese kyats. It'll be slightly cheaper if you buy it in US dollars..."
In Myanmar, the US dollar is a hard currency; one dollar can be exchanged for 800 kyats, and on the black market, it can be even higher.
Zhuang Rui did the math in his head. It was only a little over forty yuan, which was still a good deal. More importantly, the ivory carving was made of old ivory. Upon closer inspection, it was solid and dense, with a soft and smooth luster. The entire object was pure white with a slight yellow tinge, as if it were something that had been around for a long time.
Ivory, though described as white gold, is actually mostly yellowish in color. There are two types of ivory: African ivory and Asian ivory. Both male and female African elephants have tusks, which are mostly pale yellow, with a fine texture, good luster, and high hardness. Asian ivory is whiter, but it will also turn yellow over time. Therefore, the age of an ivory carving is usually determined by its color.
Some collectors prefer its white color and will soak it in soybean residue before rubbing it to make it naturally white. After bleaching, it also has an oily, clean white luster and a smooth, delicate feel, making it a top-quality product. In contrast, most bone imitations are bleached, resulting in a dry, rough texture, while plastic imitations have a dull, unnatural, and lackluster white color.
Since the 1980s, due to concerns about elephant population protection, the international community, including China, temporarily banned the ivory trade. This severely impacted the domestic ivory carving market, which relied entirely on imported ivory raw materials. After my country ceased direct imports of ivory from Africa on June 1, 1990, and completely banned international trade in ivory and its products in 1991, no commercial imports of ivory were approved. The ban on raw ivory fueled a surge in ivory collecting, and ivory carvings appreciated significantly during this period of prohibition.
With the ban on ivory trade and the shortage of raw materials for ivory products, the quantity of ivory carvings has dwindled. As the market depletes these pieces, surviving ivory masterpieces will become increasingly rare. Consequently, the price of ivory artifacts has skyrocketed by 100% for some time, and ivory carvings are highly sought after by collectors.
Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and other places are considered the homeland of Asian elephants, so ivory products are still very common there.
"Business is alright. Just enough to make ends meet. I've heard things are developing well back home, and I'd like to go back if I have the chance..."
Li Yunshan was very talkative. Although there were many Chinese tourists in Myanmar, he didn't often use Chinese. He then started chatting with Zhuang Rui at length.
"Um, this... and these few too, I'll take them all. Brother Li, could you calculate how much they're worth in total?"
Zhuang Rui picked out several ivory carvings from the stall. These items are currently highly sought after by domestic collectors, and their value is over a thousand yuan. If they are ivory miniature carvings or royal utensils from the Song or Ming dynasties, their value can even reach hundreds of thousands or millions of yuan, making them priceless treasures and extremely rare.
However, Zhuang Rui wasn't interested in making that much money. He mainly wanted to enrich his basement, which was rather shabby, except for a few pieces of porcelain and ancient paintings.
"Young man, it's $138 in total. Just give me $130, and I'll wrap it up for you..."
Zhuang Rui bought quite a lot of things, more than a dozen in total, and the prices were all different. Li Yunshan took out more than a dozen small boxes from the large box behind him, each containing a corresponding ivory carving, and put them in one by one.
"Brother Li, why don't you sell jade here? Isn't Myanmar a jade-producing region? I've seen other stalls selling it..."
While Peng Fei was paying, Yang Hao, who had been standing aside watching for a long time, finally couldn't hold back any longer. The stall had rubies, ivory carvings and other items, but surprisingly no jade, which puzzled Yang Hao.
"yes……"
Upon hearing Yang Hao's words, Zhuang Rui realized that this stall indeed did not have any jade or jewelry, while other stalls had more or less of those items.
"Hehe, is this your first time in Myanmar, young men?"
Li Yunshan smiled and asked in return.
"Yes, what's wrong? Does Myanmar prohibit the buying and selling of jade?"
Even Zhuang Rui was puzzled. Banning the export of raw jade was one thing, but if the Myanmar government were to restrict finished jadeite as well, that would be going too far. Moreover, doing so would prevent their domestic jewelry companies from developing.
"It's not that buying and selling is prohibited, but when you two purchase jewelry and jade, especially jadeite, you must go to reputable stores and avoid buying raw jade stones—that is, unprocessed and unpolished stones—as these fall under the scope of national export controls. After purchasing, be sure to ask for a receipt for inspection at customs. Most of what those people sell is fake jadeite; even if they have genuine pieces, without an invoice, they've already crossed the border. I don't want to deceive my customers, so I simply don't display them..."
Li Yunshan looked down on the behavior of the other stalls, his face showing a dismissive expression.
Zhuang Rui and the others were hearing this for the first time. No wonder Myanmar is rich in jadeite, but there isn't a single famous jade company. It turns out that it is indeed restricted by the government. But thinking about it, it makes sense. Myanmar's jadeite is probably like Arabia's oil, a major source of foreign exchange earnings, so it is naturally subject to government control.
"Thank you, and we welcome you to visit China again in the future..."
Zhuang Rui took the ivory carvings that had been placed in the packaging bag, stood up, and was about to say goodbye to his fellow countryman when his eyes were suddenly drawn to an item in the box behind him where the boxes were placed. He then pulled back the foot he had taken in front of him.
"Brother Li, are the things in that box of yours for sale?"
Because he had been squatting, Zhuang Rui could only see clearly when he stood up that in the box next to the stall owner, there was an ivory Buddha statue about fifty centimeters tall and as thick as a child's arm. The statue's clothing was decorated with openwork, and the design was elegant and the carving was extremely exquisite.
What surprised Zhuang Rui was not these things, but the shape of the Buddha statue. It was the wrathful Vajra in Buddhism. As the saying goes, "Bodhisattvas lower their eyebrows, Vajras glare fiercely." This Buddha statue had a fierce Vajra face and held a vajra. The amount of material used in the entire carving was rare. Moreover, a ruby was even inlaid on its forehead, like the Vajra's heavenly eye, which made the entire ivory carving even more imposing.
Zhuang Rui liked the object from the bottom of his heart the moment he saw it. How impressive it would be to display this in the living room of a courtyard house! Speaking of which, such a large ivory carving is really rare in China, apart from the exquisite large ivory carving of children playing with Buddha and the ivory carving of a sailboat in the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall.
"This thing..."