Apart from brand fraud, the issue of deception in the cultural relics market is even more alarming. The antique community is often quiet and reserved; sometimes even professional appraisers of cultural relics face situations that can be described as “a loss in the midst of gain” (where winning and losing are difficult to determine). This is especially true for small collectors of cultural heritage, who often experience losses but remain hopeful for luck. What if you place the right bet? However, nine out of ten bets are often lost, and when family heirlooms are brought for appraisal only to be deemed fake, the psychological gap can feel like a fall from heaven to hell.
Sometimes, museums also create replicas, but not for profit; rather, it’s due to certain cultural relics being too precious to be displayed for long periods. They can only use professional means to create cultural artifacts that closely resemble the originals for exhibition purposes, or sometimes need to be taken abroad for display. These invaluable cultural relics are often fragile, forcing them to choose alternative options.
However, throughout history, there has been a national cultural heritage that even museum staff cannot replicate, known as the “orphaned treasure,” which cannot be faked. This treasure is the tomb drum (drum base) made during the reign of King Hou Yi Jian. It was excavated in Suzhou, Hubei in 1977. This is the ceremonial drum gifted to King Zang Hou Yi from a vassal kingdom over 2,000 years ago. The base of the Zang Hou Yi drum is 0.45 meters tall, with a bottom diameter of 0.8 meters, weighing 192.1 kg.
The base of the Zang Hou Yi drum.
The drum was a popular musical instrument during the Warring States period. This instrument consists of three parts: the base, the stand, and the body of the drum. The base of the drum is the treasure found in the tomb of Zang Hou Yi.
The base of the ceremonial drum gifted to Zang Hou Yi is made of bronze, a material that is not particularly rare; what stands out the most is its bizarre shape. The entire body of the tomb drum gifted to Zang Hou Yi is composed of 8 pairs of large dragons along with several smaller dragons intertwined, inlaid with turquoise. Although chaotic, it creates a strange and dazzling feeling for the viewer, clearly vibrant and orderly. The dragons on the drum base are all climbing, and due to their entanglement, it is impossible to determine how many dragons are present on the base. This also poses a challenge for replication or restoration.
Once, a foreign expert who visited to observe the Zang Hou Yi drum base spent an entire day just counting the dragons on it. He counted 108 dragons! However, the reality is that the number counted by each person from different angles yields different results, so 108 is not an accurate figure, and no one knows the total number of dragons.
What complicates matters further is that the Zang Hou Yi drum base cannot be replicated as it is a unique artifact, a national treasure, making it very difficult to move for exhibitions. There is a need to restore a relic to replace it for domestic presentations. Consequently, despite the high level of current scientific and technical knowledge, no one has been able to replicate it.
Each time a copy is made and compared to the original, it is clear that it is fake; it fundamentally does not reflect the essence of the original artifact, and even the sound produced is not as mystical and vibrant as the original.
Many metallurgical experts, both domestic and international, have discussed and concluded that the bronze casting process used is primarily the lost-wax casting method commonly employed by ancient craftsmen in China. In modern times, this method is referred to as the mold casting method, which requires extremely high skills to cast tools precisely and delicately. However, the Hubei Provincial Museum has invited many formidable units to replicate this drum base, but each time a copy is made and compared to the original, it is clear that it is fake; it fundamentally does not reflect the essence of the original artifact, and even the sound produced is not as mystical and vibrant as the original. Thus, the Zang Hou Yi drum base remains an “orphaned relic” that cannot be restored.
