2) Pingantie, or "Safety Wish Script" by Wang Xizhi
Within only eight minutes, "Safety Wish Script" by ancient Chinese calligrapher Wang Xizhi (303 to 361) of the Jin Dynasty was sold to an anonymous buyer via telephone at the autumn auction of the China Guardian on Nov. 20, 2010.
The starting bid was 55 million yuan (US$8.3 million), but only after a few minutes the calligraphy was sold for a staggering 308 million yuan (US$46.4 million). According to the vice president of the auction company, the piece was a copy of Wang's original work, but as none of his original works exist, the high quality copy could be sold at such a high price.
The copy of the original script had nine lines, but was later divided into two parts. The item sold at the auction was the first half, which has four lines with only 41 characters.
