Appraising Antiquities in the Flourishing Tang: Turning Treasures into Gold in Chang'an

On the streets of Chang’an, a ragged boy crouches by a treasure-gambling stall. The instant his fingertip touches a broken corner of a pottery figurine, the phantom image of an ancient bronze mirror suddenly appears before his eyes: “Kaiyuan Year Three. Yuezhou kiln. Craftsman Chen San. Sui seal carved on the base!”

The foreign merchants watching burst into laughter. “A penniless fortune-teller dares call that busted figurine a relic of the Sui royal house?” Li Zhao pulls the half of a bronze fragment hanging around his neck. “How about you come with me to the mass grave south of the city? The real figurine is buried beneath the third root of the old pagoda tree!” A survivor of the former Sui royal house awakens the Bronze Appraisal System. A touch reveals whether porcelain is genuine; a brush against jade uncovers hidden secrets. From gambling games in the Western Market to a black-market forgery den, he becomes embroiled in royal treasures and a Tibetan conspiracy. See how, piece by piece, he turns antiques into gold amid the tumult of the prosperous Tang, uncovers the truth behind his family’s massacre, and preserves the spark of civilization.