Chapter 0437 – Tooth Sculpture

Back then, after the defeat of the Eighth Army of the Kuomintang in Yunnan, Li Mi fled to Taiwan alone, and for six whole months, the 93rd Division was homeless and displaced, and on New Year’s Eve in the year ’50, it finally managed to escape and enter the territory of Burma. In escaping, the 93rd Division, along with the remnants of another regiment and division, brought 7,000 soldiers and their families who were unwilling to surrender to a foreign land.

However, the Burmese government did not want to take them in, and so the war began. Although the national army generals had lost many battles and battles in the civil war, they were more than capable of dealing with the Burmese government forces, and in three separate battles, they beat the Burmese army to a pulp, and finally gained a foothold in the Golden Triangle.

As for Li Mi, who was in Taiwan, as soon as he saw his old subordinates standing firm in Burma, he immediately clamored for a counterattack on the mainland. It did counterattack, but the result was heavy casualties and a return to Burma.

At this time, the Burma Army had already reached an agreement with India, and decided that India would send troops to assist the Burma Army to drive away the remnants of the Kuomintang. It was a vicious battle, and the national army achieved a final victory, but it was also a disastrous victory, and the remnants of the Kuomintang, with a force of less than 10,000 troops, hardily defeated the Indo-Burma allied forces, and completely stood firm on the China-Burma border.

By the time of the 1960s, the 93rd Division began to fight with the Burmese Communist Party again, due to the loss of Taiwan’s supplies, heavy casualties, people are more and more fight less and less, in the Yunnan, Thailand, Burma border area, the formation of dozens of large and small armed.

Later, years of war, no supplies, the national army and the Burmese Communist Party and the Communist generals of the Burma detachment began to collectively plant opium in the Golden Triangle region, forming what is now the world’s largest armed drug production and processing base: the Golden Triangle!

Stay in Myanmar Chinese, is no more than these two groups of people, so Zhuang Rui has this question, regardless of which reason to stay, are the children of the Yellow Emperor, the same is to survive in the fight, and now and Taiwan are about to be three, Zhuang Rui naturally do not care about their identity.

After hearing Zhuang Rui’s words, that stall owner was a bit embarrassed. Said: “My grandfather was left in Burma during the Expeditionary Army period, at that time they fought guerrilla in the jungle with the Japanese, but then they followed the Nationalist Party’s collapsed troops and fought with the Burmese Communists.”

These people left in Burma by the Expeditionary Army, almost all of them were veterans of a hundred battles, and after fighting the Japanese, they had settled down peacefully, but then the defeated troops of the Kuomintang fled to Burma, and out of the idea of being of the same spirit, many of the veterans took up arms again, but, of course, now these people were all over the age of old age, and the large-scale wars, too, were no longer in existence.

“What’s the name of this big brother? How is your business here? What’s the price for this ivory figure carving?”

Zhuang Rui squatted down, just by the fact that the other party is Chinese, then we have to help out a little bit, buying some small things won’t cost a few dollars.

The stall owner looked at the ivory carving in Zhuang Rui’s hand, casually replied: “My name is Li, called Li Yunshan, that five dollars, the kyat is five thousand. Buy it with dollars, it’s slightly cheaper ……”

In Burma, the dollar is hard currency, one dollar can be exchanged for eight hundred Burmese coins, and in the black market, it is even a little higher.

Zhuang Rui calculated in his heart, but is more than forty dollars RMB, or very cost-effective, more importantly, this ivory carving or old ivory, fine look solid and dense, color and lustre soft and smooth, the whole object is pure white slightly yellow, like a thing of the years.

Ivory this thing, although it is described as white gold, but its color, but more yellow, ivory sub-African ivory and Asian ivory, African male and female elephants have tusks, tusks were more yellowish, fine texture, good luster, high hardness, Asian ivory color is relatively white, time will be yellow, so look at ivory carvings of the old, generally from the color to distinguish.

Some collectors also prefer its white color, it will be soaked in soybean dregs and then rubbed naturally white. Its bleaching also has a glossy white oil, feel moist and delicate, also can be called top quality. Most of the bone counterfeit imitations are made by bleaching, which appears dry and rough after bleaching, and the white color of the plastic products is dull, unnatural and lusterless.

Since the 1980s, the international trade in ivory has been banned for a time, including China, for the protection of elephant populations. This makes the domestic ivory carving market, which is completely dependent on imported ivory raw materials, has brought a great impact.

In our country on June 1, 1990 to stop the direct import of ivory from Africa, in 1991 a total ban on the international trade of ivory and its products, any commercial import of ivory is not approved. In the case of ivory raw materials banned led to a high rise in ivory collection, ivory carving is banned in the extinction of the appreciation.

With the ban on the ivory trade, coupled with the ivory products of raw materials in an emergency, the number of ivory crafts are sold less and less, with the consumption of the market, the survival of the ivory carving boutique will be more and more difficult to come by. Therefore, for a period of time, the price of ivory crafts has risen wildly by 100%, ivory carving art by collectors warmly sought after. And Myanmar Thailand Laos and other places, is considered the hometown of the Asian elephant, so ivory products, here is still very common.

“Business is okay, make a meal money. I heard that the country is now developing well, and I still want to go back when I have the chance.”

Li Yunshan is very talkative, although there are a lot of Chinese tourists in Myanmar, but he does not often use the Chinese language, when the gushing and Zhuang Rui chat up.

“Well, this …… and these few, I’ll take them all, Brother Li you calculate how much it’s worth in total?”

Zhuang Rui picked out several ivory carving objects on the ground stall, this thing is now very sought after by domestic collectors, the value of all above a thousand dollars. If it is the Song and Ming period of ivory micro-carving and royal utensils, the value is even in the tens of millions of dollars above, can be called priceless treasure, extremely rare.

However, Zhuang Rui is not trying to earn these few dollars, he mainly wants to enrich his basement, that is to say, in addition to a few pieces of porcelain and ancient paintings, there is nothing, too shabby a bit.

“This little brother, a total of one hundred and thirty eight dollars, you give one hundred and thirty on the line, I’ll wrap it up for you …….”

Zhuang Rui bought a lot of things really, Lin Lin sum up, there are more than ten, and the price is also different, Li Yunshan from the big box behind him, took out more than ten small boxes, actually each has a corresponding tooth carving, one by one to put in.

“Brother Li, why don’t you sell jadeite here? Burma is not the production of jadeite? I see other stalls are selling it!”

When Peng Fei paid, Yang Hao who stood aside and watched for half a day, finally couldn’t help it, this stall has ruby tooth carvings and other objects, but there is no emerald, making Yang Hao a little strange.

“Yes!” Hear Yang Hao so say, Zhuang Rui also reacted, this stall is indeed no jade jewelry and other things, while in other stalls, but more or less have some.

“Hehe, it’s the first time for several little brothers to come to Burma, right?” Li Yunshan smiled and asked rhetorically.

“Yeah! What’s wrong? Could it be that Burma doesn’t allow the trading of jadeite?”

This time even Zhuang Rui is also a little strange, banning the export of wool is also even if the Myanmar government if even the finished jadeite is also restricted, that would be a little too much, and to do so, will also make their domestic jewelry companies can not develop.

“It’s not that we don’t allow trading, it’s just that the two of you are buying jewelry and jade, especially jadeite. Be sure to go to a regular store, and don’t buy raw jade, i.e. unprocessed and unpolished raw stone, which all fall under the scope of state-controlled exports. After purchasing, be sure to ask for shopping vouchers, in order to prepare for the inspection of customs clearance, those who sell, most of them are fake jadeite, that is, there is the real one, there is no invoice, and you can’t get out of the customs when you buy it, I don’t want to cheat the customers, so I simply don’t set up.”

Li Yunshan was very disdainful of the behavior of the several stalls next to him, with a look of disbelief on his face.

Zhuang Rui and others are the first time to hear that there is this statement, no wonder Myanmar is rich in jade, but there is not a famous jade company, dare to really be restricted by the government, but when you think about it, it is also normal, Myanmar’s jadeite is estimated to be like Arabian oil in general, as the main income of generating foreign exchange, it is natural that it should be controlled by the government.

“Thank you, you are welcome to return to the country more often in the future to see ah!”

Zhuang Rui received those dental carvings into the bag, stood up, was about to say goodbye to this exotic hometown, his eyes were suddenly attracted by an item in the box behind him, and the foot that was stepping forward, was put back again.

“Brother Li, the thing inside that box of yours, is it for sale?”

Because just now is squatting, this one stop up, Zhuang Rui only to see, in the box beside the stall owner, there is a high about fifty centimeters, thick as a child’s arm like a tooth carving of the Buddha, and in the decoration of its clothes, with all the skeletonization techniques, modeling elegant, carving is extremely delicate.

Let Zhuang Rui surprised is not these, but the Buddha’s modeling, is the Buddhism in the angry eyes of the King Kong, as the saying goes: the Bodhisattva low brow, the King Kong angry eyes, this Buddha carving King Kong face vicious, holding a mortar and pestle, the whole carving with the material of the large, can be said to be rare, and in the forehead, actually inlaid with a piece of ruby, as if the King Kong eye, making the whole tooth carving doubled the power.

Zhuang Rui first look at this object, on the heart eyes like, this thing placed in the living room of the courtyard, that much wind ah! That is to say, such a large root tooth carving, in addition to the President’s Memorial Hall in the country that fine large tooth carving of children playing Buddha ornaments and sailing ship tooth carving, folk collection is really not much.

“This thing ……”

Li Yunshan face showed a hint of hesitation, this object is his grandfather back in the year from the hands of the Japanese captured, has been kept as their own trophies, just the old man died a few years ago, this thing left him. Although he was ready to sell it, but when Zhuang Rui asked to buy it, he was really a bit reluctant to part with it.