There is a piece of mahogany that wants to be a part of high-end furniture and refuses to be used for any other purpose. . . Can Sequoia choose its own destiny?

An unexpected fire destroyed the redwoods. From the appearance, there is almost no difference between mahogany and ordinary charcoal. Only Sequoia knows that it is only covered with charcoal. Essentially, without charcoal on the surface, it is still a good mahogany. . .

The farmer picked up mahogany as charcoal and spent all day with charcoal. Mahogany is very depressed. How can redwood live in the circle of charcoal? Redwood doesn't want to be burned as charcoal. Fortunately, it has been stranded, waiting to take off the coat of charcoal and restore the elegance of mahogany. . .

Time flies, mahogany is close to decay in the sigh of "talent has not met", and mahogany would rather rot than make charcoal. . . Finally, the mahogany is completely rotten, and farmers will no longer burn it as charcoal. The mahogany is rotten to the extreme, which is sad. . .

Sequoia can't choose its own destiny, but it can choose to accept its own destiny. It can't be a part of high-grade furniture, but it can become other wood products, even charcoal, which is valuable. It can emit light and heat, even dead wood is valuable. Perhaps, the mistake of mahogany is that it only sees one aspect of its own value, and ignores and gives up its other values in order to realize this value. . .

There are many people in life, just like this kind of mahogany. Are you such a person?

★ The story of mahogany:

Friend Jing is one of Huayi's shareholders. He has frequent contact with him and is a little interested in mahogany.

Once, I saw a set of Ming-style armchairs with round wings in an antique handicraft shop in Daliang: exquisite workmanship and old and new wood (as shown in the picture, it was not oiled at that time). The owner quoted 1.800 yuan/set, so he put down the deposit of 500 yuan and promised to pay the balance in the afternoon to pick up the goods.

In the afternoon, Jing and I went to pick up the goods together. After seeing the scenery, I also recognized that the old wood is rare. If the factory can't make the price, it must be the remaining loan for export. Unfortunately, no one likes it. I think what am I afraid of with you as a manufacturer? Give me the task of going to Beijing factory when you come back-what else do friends have besides eating, drinking and having fun? I found a bargain, and he helped me paint it black in the future. I want to paint it matt in the future, so that I can taste its wood grain carefully.

There was also a chicken wing chair at that time, because there was a crack in the back of the chair, so I didn't buy it. I've always wanted to regret that there was no asking price, 900 yuan. I said, you have to do it when you have to. Unfortunately, I didn't buy it.

★ The story of mahogany:

Narrator: Mr. Li

On April 2, I flew from Changchun to Beijing. This trip goes straight to Yuan flagship store, Hongmu Street, West Third Ring Road. With grandpa's heavy hope and the entrustment of the whole family, I want to buy grandpa some mahogany furniture close to ancient times to fulfill his wish for half a century.

Since I first came to Yuan's store, I can't hide my concern about these mahogany furniture. Those round and old mahogany furniture, with very soft feel and visual sense, burst its banks and missed him for half a century. It turns out that time can be a runaway jump. Even after 50 years, seeing these mahogany furniture again, grandpa can still recall the past, just like a conversation between yesterday and today, which gives people the release of thoughts and the shock of the soul, giving people endless memories ... Some memories are really clearer the longer.

When people are old, the surrounding scenery is western-style, and they will feel rootless and unable to find feelings. Grandpa and mahogany furniture have feelings that are hard to give up. When people are far away from an era, the more they feel the mystery of that era, the more they have some nostalgia and nostalgia for that era. Grandpa is a Manchu, and he has been used to reading palindromes and heads-up cases at home since he was a child. During the Cultural Revolution, the whole country was "dilapidated", and none of the old mahogany furniture at home was preserved. So in my childhood memory, my grandfather took me to the antique market. For a small mahogany ornament with exquisite shape and moist wood, grandpa can enjoy the scene of the day there. I couldn't understand this seemingly stubborn hobby when I was young. But with the growth of years and the expansion of my own experience, I will understand that psychological landscape is a kind of cultural imprint, and how clear the landscape is, the imprint will be strong. Grandpa has worked hard for most of his life, which is not easy. Now his children have a successful career, and the third generation of grandchildren have entered the society. It's time to repay his old man. Maybe it shouldn't be called repayment. Parents and children never need to care about giving and returning. We just want to satisfy the simple wish of an old and rare old man. The whole family sent me to Beijing after the family meeting, because there are more and more products in Yuan flagship store, and it is a big deal to help grandpa buy mahogany furniture. I must carefully inspect and select the mahogany furniture suitable for grandpa and bring it back to Changchun.

With a "crunch", the wooden door of Yuan flagship store was pushed open, and a suffocating ancient force suddenly spread. The eyes are full of carved objects, and the nose is full of the original fragrance of wood. The top of wood, the window of wood, the color of wood, the smell of wood. Looking around, I was shocked by the safety in the air and vaguely felt the breath of the city. I remembered Nalan's poem "Life is like seeing at first sight". On this day, I saw the mahogany furniture of Emperor Lin Yuan, which was vaguely ancestral. This kind of furniture with rich national style and oriental characteristics tells that the clouds are light and the wind is light. I understand that grandpa's mahogany complex after more than half a century has just precipitated his softest thoughts.

Narrator: Mr. Li

In nearly 2000 square meters of Yuan flagship store, I walked slowly and savored it carefully. I was thinking, grandpa has such a heavy yearning for mahogany furniture. Is it time that precipitated his memory? Or memory wake-up time? I also met them today. The texture of those smooth wooden handles is still clearly visible, and the graceful and long artistic conception, encounter, is actually a word "encounter"

Yuan, a professional shopping guide, enthusiastically introduced me to the reasons for buying mahogany furniture and some ideas, and mainly recommended a new suitcase to me. The precious rosewood is fresh and meaningful, which makes people feel comfortable in the breeze. What surprises me even more is that the four door panels of the trunk are carved with plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum patterns, which are lifelike and make people clap their hands. The "four gentlemen" are elegant and dignified, lofty in character, not coquettish or flattering; Washing people's dirty intestines and clearing their bones makes people's mind and demeanor attractive in noble character and deeply loved by Bosch people. When I was a child, I often heard my grandfather talk about the four gentlemen of Mei Lan and Zhu Ju, which respectively represented the four qualities of noble, clean and indifferent in China traditional culture. Although at that time, "the speaker had a heart, but the listener had no heart", grandpa's inculcation really played a subtle role in our future study. Some things are just knowledge.

I asked the shopping guide that the patterns on these roofs are very realistic. Are they all carved by machines? The lady told me with a smile that this is the top cabinet that Yuan's three workers spent five months carving out. Because it is handmade, it is precious. This set-top box has never been in short supply since it came out. Many people come for its exquisite festivals and symbolic significance. After listening to the introduction of the shopping guide, I was shocked again. In an era of pursuing fast food culture and in an anxious society, how many hearts can be carved? However, it actually took them three workers nearly five months. If we can produce hundreds of sets of panel furniture on the industrial assembly line at the same time, it will not be a problem. This kind of workmanship, which does not seek quantity but quality, allows a young man living in a modern impetuous life to think in addition to thinking. I think the result of industrialization is to clone a large number of objects with different personalities. When we think mahogany furniture is an expensive consumer product, I believe that after owning one or two pieces of mahogany furniture, you will definitely cast a contemptuous glance at those western-style furniture glued with plywood.

Yuan's mahogany furniture is very attractive. You can find him in it, like him and be moved by him. "Classicism is eternal fashion", full of philosophy of life. Wandering in the flagship store of Emperor Lin Yuan, I finished a mahogany plot for an old man, but I was intoxicated by the silence of "no ears, no chariots and horses".

The first mahogany furniture I want to buy.

Narrator: Mr. Li

I ordered the first cabinet in Yuan, and after consulting my grandfather, I'm going to buy a bed of arhat. On the second floor of Yuan's flagship store, a single-board enclosure of arhat bed caught my attention. This arhat bed is surrounded by relief dragons with bulging legs and teeth, and Yunlong is engraved on the tooth plate. The whole bed is dignified and dignified, and it is really the best work. I told Yuan's shopping guide that although I like mahogany furniture very much, I am still a layman. I'm worried that such a big bed will be transported from Beijing to Changchun. The shopping guide answered me professionally. Yuan's mahogany furniture adopts tenon-mortise structure made in Beijing, and the whole furniture production process does not use any glue, so as long as professionals are sent, the tenon-mortise structure can be disassembled accurately without worrying about transportation. Once again, I secretly marveled at these beautiful mahogany furniture. As a customer who came to Beijing from Changchun, I certainly can't miss visiting Yuan Factory. On the one hand, it is to examine the brand strength of Yuan, on the other hand, through the initial contact with mahogany, I feel a love for it from the bottom of my heart.

I came to the factory in Daxing, Lin Yuan non-stop, and rows of huge hardwoods lay quietly in the factory. Yan Yang, the head of Emperor Lin Yuan, told me that raw materials are increasing by 30% every year, and there are less than one good wood, so we should cherish it. To tell the truth, seeing these primitive and stout trees, I have to be moved by these stalwart and excellent species! Creation is so great, and human beings are so small. When we get these gifts from nature, what should we do with these noble species? Yan Yang told me that these stalwart materials have passed through the hands of excellent craftsmen, and they hope that he will continue to maintain the identity and dignity of the rosewood aristocrat. Although today's mahogany furniture is "the old days when Wang Xietang died and flew into the homes of ordinary people", Yuan always insisted on being slower, thinner and better when processing these precious mahogany.

Although it is only a brief contact and understanding of mahogany furniture, I can already understand the mahogany complex of an old man. Obsessed with mahogany furniture, in the final analysis, is to return to the traditional culture of China. Perhaps today, mahogany furniture is one of the things that can best reflect the characteristics of China. When many things in the world go up in smoke, we can still see mahogany furniture standing there like the backbone of China culture, which proves a spiritual character. I feel a little ashamed to write here. After we have received a lot of western culture and education, we can talk more when we look back at our own national culture and education. I think: One day, the contemporary furniture in China, especially mahogany furniture, can reflect the strong cultural origin of China and the characteristics of this era.

Finally, I ordered these two pieces of furniture in Yuan. Back in Changchun, you can bring a surprise to grandpa. More importantly, I want to report to him the emotional story of this trip to Beijing.

Rosewood Jade Ruyi and the Story of the Qing Emperor

Ruyi was first used as a Buddhist tool, and by the end of Ming Dynasty, it became a literati's elegant play under the atmosphere of respecting the ancient times, and the Qing emperor's admiration for Ruyi reached a historical peak.

The rosewood treasured by Emperor Qianlong is wishful thinking.

Among the emperors of the Qing Dynasty, the most admired emperor was Emperor Qianlong. Twenty years of Qianlong (1755). In the early Qing Dynasty, the rebellion of the Hui people's department in Yili was put down and the Hui people's department was allowed to surrender. The preparation department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs presented a piece of rosewood to the court at the right time. Emperor Qianlong was very happy after appreciating it. So he took the opportunity to write a masterpiece "Ode to Ruyi", which combines praise, memory and warning, to praise this piece of wishful thinking (pictured above), showing the heroism and mind of a generation of emperors. Emperor Qianlong not only loved Ruyi himself, but also often gave Ruyi to people around him. According to historical records, on the first day of New Year's Day, Qianlong will give the children of the Eight Banners, maids, eunuchs Jin Ruyi, Yin Ruyi, Yu Ruyi and silver money as "lucky money". When Princess Xiao, the daughter of Qianlong, got married, she also got a box of ***9 red sandalwood inlaid with jade from Emperor Qianlong.

Emerald Ganoderma Ruyi

Although Ruyi prevailed in the palace and was highly praised by the emperors, among the emperors of the Qing Dynasty, one publicly expressed that he did not like Ruyi. He is the son of Emperor Jiaqing and Emperor Qianlong. Xiao Shenyang was a favorite of Emperor Qianlong and the biggest corrupt official in Qing Dynasty. In his later years, Xiao Shenyang realized that once the emperor died, he would lose this umbrella, so he began to look for new shelter. He discovered the intention of Qianlong to establish the fifteenth elder brother Yan (later Emperor Jiaqing) as his successor, so he wanted to tell the fifteen elder brothers the news in advance. After careful consideration, he decided to send a jade handle to please the future emperor. However, Emperor Jiaqing's bribery and perverting the law against small Shenyang has always been abhorrent. As soon as Emperor Qianlong died, Emperor Jiaqing sentenced Xiao Shenyang to 20 counts of property theft.

Modern ruyi

By the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Guangxu had embarked on the road of decline, and even those who decided on the choice of queen and concubine became Cixi behind the emperor. According to records, Tang, the eunuch present after Guangxu's election, described this in detail: "After the election, I prepared a jade handle in advance and embroidered two pairs of purses. Whoever receives the jade is the queen, and whoever receives the purse is the concubine. Guangxu came to Dexin's eldest daughter with Jade Ruyi in his hand. Just as he was about to give it to her, Empress Dowager Cixi said loudly, "Your Majesty!" And hinted that Guangxu gave Jade Ruyi to Gui Xiang's daughter. Guangxu had to do so. Cixi forced Guangxu to choose a queen she didn't like, and worried that Dexin's daughter would fall out of favor once she was chosen as a concubine, so she refused to let Guangxu choose again and directly instructed her to give her purse to her two daughters. "Guangxu's choice of the queen is not satisfactory. The woman who fell in love at first sight lost the election, and Ye He Na Lashi, the niece of Cixi, became the empress of Guangxu. A satisfactory handle changed the fate of several women's lives.

In 2006, Jia Dechun shot a poem entitled "The Imperial Red Sandalwood of Qianlong is inlaid with Hanyu inlaid with gold and silver", which fetched a high price of 4.29 million yuan. Carved from fine rosewood, the head, abdomen and tail are inlaid with white jade, jade sword and jade sword lattice of Han Dynasty, and the back of wooden handle is inlaid with gold and silver pieces to write poems. It's really worth selling the emperor's favorite things at such a high price.