Just as Qi Baolin ordered everyone to begin, Chu Chen had already been drawn in by the many precious artifacts before him. There were various bronze vessels, porcelain, jade objects, and more, as well as all kinds of Han-dynasty human figures. Among them, the most precious was undoubtedly a gilded-bronze Han-dynasty feathered human figure.
As its name suggested, a feathered human was someone whose body was covered in feathers or who wore a feathered cloak and could fly. They first appeared in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, where they were called the Feathered People.
During the Qin and Han periods, the pursuit of immortality was widespread. People longed to transcend death and live forever in the paradise where the immortals dwelled. Because feathered humans had wings and could fly, they were synonymous with immortality. Thus, Han-dynasty tomb murals contained many scenes depicting ascension to immortality, especially images of feathered humans guiding people riding dragons into the heavens.
Judging from archaeological research, there were many artifacts depicting Han-dynasty feathered humans. Of course, some were good and some were bad. The gilded-bronze feathered human in Ma XiongLin's collection was undoubtedly an exceptionally exquisite piece.
This feathered human stood more than thirty centimeters tall. It wore a facial ornament and had a high nose, deep-set eyes, prominent cheekbones, and broad ears. Horns rose from the top of its head, while its hair hung loose, and wings grew from its shoulders and back. It knelt on both knees, holding square and round objects in its hands.
This was not the first time Chu Chen had seen the objects held by the feathered human, but the archaeological world had never reached a definite conclusion about what they represented. At most, people guessed that they were a "medicine" chest containing "medicine" such as Lingzhi immortal