Feng shui implication of locomotive

There is a museum in Shanxi called Sanduotang, which means that many children are blessed and live a long life. It is the original address of Cao Jia, a rich man in Qing Dynasty. Sanduotang has many precious cultural relics, the most famous of which is the golden bell jar for motorcycles given to Cao family by Empress Dowager Cixi. How did this locomotive golden bell get to the Cao family? This has to start from the last century.

At the beginning of the 20th century, when Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, Cixi had to retreat to Shanxi with the emperor. At that time, Shanxi was a famous gathering place for wealthy businessmen. Cixi and her party left the palace in a hurry, but they didn't bring enough money. Coupled with Cixi's habitual extravagance and waste, they were already in trouble when they arrived in Shanxi.

So Cixi put her mind on the two rich people in Shanxi at that time. In the feudal society of China, the status of businessmen was not high, so when they heard that there was an opportunity to curry favor with Lafayette, they all expressed their willingness to lend money to Cixi. As a result, Qiao's family lent Cixi 100,000 taels of silver, which was already prepared, and also got a plaque inscribed by Cixi personally, which was a family heirloom.

Another rich Cao family, although his family property was slightly inferior to that of the Qiao family, took out a full 302,000 pieces of silver, which greatly moved Cixi, and gave the Cao family a small train, saying that if he could not pay back the money after returning to the palace, he would use it as collateral. As soon as the Cao family saw the baby, they knew it was money well spent. Even if Cixi didn't pay back the money as promised after she returned to the palace, the Cao family was not at all dissatisfied and felt that they had taken advantage. What happened?

First of all, let's learn about the origin of this train.

This train is no ordinary thing. It was a precious treasure given to the emperor by France during the Qianlong period and has been kept in the palace. This train is beautifully made, and the whole train is made of all kinds of precious metals. There is also a clock and barometer. If you wind it up, the train will tell the time and drive slowly on the matching track. This is a golden locomotive clock.

This motorcycle clock is also one of Cixi's favorite rare treasures, and its preciousness can be called a national treasure. Giving this clock to the Cao family, Cixi has been very reluctant to give up her love. Cao Jia also knew that the value of this treasure was more than the 302,000 silver lent, so after receiving this clock, he carefully protected it as a family heirloom.

Next, let's talk about the experience after the golden locomotive clock.

1938, the Japanese army attacked Shanxi, and after hearing about Sanduotang, they began to rob the treasures in Sanduotang crazily. It is said that the Japanese army used trucks to pull treasures from Sanduotang for two months, and countless precious cultural relics were robbed, including precious calligraphy and paintings left by literary masters such as Tang Bohu. Fortunately, the Cao family protected the golden locomotive clock very well, so this treasure was not taken away by the Japanese in this sweep. But it may be affected by this robbery. Since then, the gold locomotive clock can't work normally due to clock damage. It is a pity that such a world-famous national treasure was seriously damaged by the war.

Today, this national treasure remains in Sanduotang Museum as the treasure of the town hall, and as a cultural relic that has witnessed hundreds of years of history, the value of the golden locomotive clock has long been incalculable. It's a good thing that Cixi gave it to the Cao family, at least ensuring that it was not taken away by other countries in the war, but kept in China.