Elephant News reporter Qiu Yanbo
Editor's Note:
Walk henan, read China.
In Henan, in Zhengzhou, there are many intangible cultural heritages (referred to as intangible cultural heritage). These excellent traditional cultures not only constitute the profound cultural connotation of the Chinese nation, but also carry the cultural origin and inner cultural genes of the Chinese nation. Intangible Cultural Heritage, born from the agricultural civilization. With the rapid development of urbanization, some intangible cultural heritage is losing the space for inheritance. In the process of irreversible urbanization, what is the current status of these intangible cultural heritages? How do they respond and adapt to this process? In the inevitable trend of urbanization, these non-heritage people will naturally become urban people. How to let intangible cultural heritage survive and develop in the city, and how can intangible cultural heritage be perfectly integrated with the city, take root and rejuvenate new life?
To this end, Elephant News, together with the Zhengzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, combed through the intangible cultural heritage of Zhengzhou, launched a series of reports on "urban intangible cultural heritage", unveiling the current situation, dilemma, opportunities faced by urban intangible cultural heritage, and good practice cases, focusing on the future inheritance and promotion, speaking out for the intangible cultural heritage, and continuing the pulse of culture.
China is a country of ceramics, however, many people do not know that between pottery and porcelain, there is a kind of shí. The ware is a product between pottery and porcelain, the sublimation of pottery, the predecessor of porcelain, also pottery and porcelain, non-ceramic non-porcelain. Dan Zhuo, let the clay covered with a layer of metal, not glazed but better than glazed. The only wood kiln in Zhengzhou that is still firing danzhu stands quietly on the banks of the Jalu River. It is said that Danzhuan began in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty, and took root in Gucheng Village, Huiji District, Zhengzhou City, on the bank of the Yellow River. In today's urbanized city, there is only one wood kiln left in Gucheng Village.
Don't be the first, just be the only
On February 20, 2022, on the banks of the Jialu River, Zhao Chengxiang's wood kiln was lit again. This is the first ignition since the floods on July 20, 2021. On July 20, 2021, the water destroyed Zhao Chengxiang's wood kiln, and it took him two months to repair the kiln. Unexpectedly, there was a heavy rain in September, and the kiln collapsed again. Zhao Chengxiang originally wanted to abandon the old kiln and re-hoop a new kiln nearby. Zhao Litao, director of the office of the Zhengzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, said: "Old Zhao, if you rebuild a kiln, you will not be able to burn anything in three years." This kiln has to be raised, and it takes three years to ship. Although the old kiln collapsed, the inner tank is still good, and it can still be used after repairing it. Zhao Chengxiang followed Zhao Litao's advice and rebuilt the old kiln.
On February 27, the kiln was opened. "It's not ideal, it was flooded, and the kiln is estimated to have to burn twice to fully recover." Looking at the fired Danzhuo, Zhao Chengxiang felt that there was no lustrous color in the previous works. Subsequently, Zhao Chengxiang put 43 works into the kiln and began to burn the second kiln.
Zhao Chengxiang's wood kiln has special requirements for geography and climate. This kiln face is backed to the north and south, semi-underground.
The works fired in the Zhao family wood kiln are called Dan Zhao. "My grandfather said that Dan Zhuo is a jade material made from Dan furnace firing." Zhao Chengxiang said.
In the firing of Danzhuo at different stages, a variety of fruit trees and Chinese herbal medicines are also used, "in a specific limited scene, the fruit trees and Chinese herbs are matched in a certain proportion, and the pharmacological effects and physical and chemical properties are produced by combustion." "The danzhu that comes out of the kiln is naturally transparent, solid and dignified, with a metallic luster, and like the quality of iron, like the run of jade, with the feeling of Ujin ink jade, smooth and comfortable with the hand, lustrous and delicate."
People who don't know Dan Zhuo may not even be able to read the words, and those who know it regard Dan Zhuo as a treasure. Because Dan Zhuo is fired according to traditional techniques, the cost is extremely high, and at present, only Zhao Chengxiang is fired in a kiln, and his Dan Zhao is difficult to find. Zhao Chengxiang's Danzhu has never worried about sales, and every time it has not been burned, someone has come to book it.
"I'm this thing, others don't have. I set the rules for myself: don't be the first, only be the only. Zhao Chengxiang said.
He learned his skills with his grandfather the "Kiln King" and became the leader at the age of 51
Zhao Chengxiang said that the Zhao family was the owner of the kiln and had been burning kilns for generations. According to generations of oral teachings from the Zhao family, combined with the Zhao family genealogy, during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, the ancestors of the Zhao clan settled in Gucheng Village. Gucheng Village is located in the northern suburbs of Zhengzhou City, south of the Jialu River, east of the Dongfeng Canal, north of the Yellow River five kilometers, due to the special geographical location and climatic environment, with high-quality clay and unique natural conditions, Zhao Jia Danzhuan is unique. Between pottery and porcelain, after generations of inheritance by the Zhao family, hundreds of years of evolution and development, Goseong Village has formed a unique Danju culture.
"My grandfather is known as the 'King of Dongli Kiln', from Kaifeng Chenliu in the east, to Xingyang in the west, to Taihang Mountain in the north, to Xinzheng in the south, and all the kiln burners respect him for three points, and no one dares to disobey." Zhao Chengxiang said that he grew up playing with mud with his ancestors. When he was a child, he mischievously wanted to run out and play, but Grandpa did not allow it, and tied a rope to his waist, tied to the front of the kiln, a book on the left, and a bowl of meat on the right. If you are hungry, you can eat meat, if you are bored, you can read a book, and if you don't read a book, you can watch your grandfather burn the kiln.
Hearing and teaching by example, Zhao Chengxiang unconsciously accepted the skills passed down from generation to generation by the Zhao family. At the age of 17, he can operate independently, at the age of 26 he becomes a qualified craftsman, at the age of 33 he becomes a master, and at the age of 51 he becomes a master.
"The man in charge is not easy to be, but the mule is a horse, and he has to pull it out and walk around." Everyone has to come up with their own work and put it to the test. I made 13 pieces of horns and picked out the two most beautiful. As soon as I took it out, everyone's eyes lit up. The shock of a third of a second is also the height of art. Zhao Chengxiang said that if a work can shock the observer within a third of a second, the work will be successful.
Zhao Chengxiang, who successfully shocked the clan, took the sword from his grandfather and officially became the head of the family, the fifteenth generation of the Zhao family Danzhuo. In Zhao Chengxiang's own words, it is "relying on the hereditary ancestral system and the support of the people."
"Only this eldest grandson can maintain the last remnants of the glory of the Northland kiln and the Gucheng kiln." Zhao Chengxiang's grandfather said so at the time.
When the Zhao family's northern kiln was at its most popular, it led the entire Gucheng village to burn the kiln. With the change of the times, the use of modern technology, the old-fashioned traditional kiln method is gradually abandoned. By 1978, only one kiln in Zhao Chengxiang's family was still insisting on firing in the traditional wood-fired method, and everyone else was looking for another way to make a living.
Abandon the most profitable industries and regain the skills of your ancestors
"People want to survive, families want to pass on, first of all, they must live." In order to survive, Zhao Chengxiang worked as a contract foreman. In this line of work, he has a good job, with millions of assets and more than 300 people in his hands. However, Zhao Chengxiang could never forget his grandfather's last words. Before his death, Grandpa called him to his side and said in a serious tone: "Culture is the soul, and skill is the basis of survival." As long as these two exist, our family will prosper. ”
"I can't let the things of my ancestors break in my hands." Zhao Chengxiang resolutely gave up his money-making job as a contract foreman and restarted the kiln.
Zhao Jia Danzhuo's requirements for mud and kilns are very high. First of all, the mud is dried, the original mud collected from the Yellow River is dried, and then the mud material is ground and sieved, poured into the mud tank and stirred with water, removing floating debris and sediment at the bottom, and taking the middle of the mud. Then, the puree is purified and trace elements are added, and the fermentation is simmered in a closed container to form a cooked mud. The cooked mud is pounded and kneaded to make it tough, and then the mud ball is lifted onto the turntable into various shapes of utensils, the utensils are ground as a whole, polished, and naturally dehydrated and dried in the shade. Finally, the qualified works are put into the kiln and fired according to the process flow.
Zhao Chengxiang said that the difference between his danzhong and others is that it is not painted or painted, not painted, not dyed, not carved or polished, polished by unglazed fine grinding, and then fired in a wood kiln, and the fruit wood and Chinese herbs used for firing are used. At the same time, with smoking, simmering, baking, burning, burning, roasting, simmering, steaming eight techniques to control the temperature of the kiln change.
"Earth meets water into mud, and mud meets fire into fire." Zhao Chengxiang said that Dan Zhuo is the art of mud and fire.
However, things are not so easy. Although Zhao Chengxiang made great sacrifices, returned to tradition, and regained his family skills, the heavens did not take care of him at the beginning. After spending a lot of effort and devoting all the energy, the first four kilns were not successful, and the loss was huge. "The fifth kiln succeeded, the sixth kiln failed again, and it was not until the seventh kiln that it stabilized." Zhao Chengxiang said that no matter what, the things of the old ancestor were not lost, and they were not lost in his hands.
Zhao Chengxiang's Danzhuo technique was rated as an intangible cultural heritage of Zhengzhou In 2016 and an intangible cultural heritage of Henan Province in 2021.
At present, Zhao Chengxiang has taught several apprentices, and his son also quit his auto repair job a few years ago to learn this ancestral craft from him. However, Zhao Chengxiang also had a vague worry. The village of Goseong was demolished a few years ago, and Zhao Chengxiang's wood kiln was also gone. The current wood kiln was built by Zhao Chengxiang in his original vegetable field. But as urbanization accelerates, no one can guarantee what will happen later. Zhao Chengxiang had an apprentice who rented 200 acres of land on the north bank of the Yellow River, and he had visited it, and it was not suitable for building a kiln at all. Zhao Chengxiang said that the construction of kilns has special requirements for geographical location, and the conditions are very harsh. If the wood kiln has no place to live, how can this provincial intangible cultural heritage skill be passed on?
"The soil that carries people's lives, the water that nourishes people's lives, and the fire that illuminates human spiritual civilization constitute the fine qualities of Dan zhao. Therefore, Dan Zhao is alive. It is the emotional sustenance of the author, the channel of energy, the carrier of information, the penetration of painstaking efforts and spirituality, and the fusion of soul and memory. Zhao Chengxiang said affectionately, hoping that in the process of urbanization, there can be a small quiet place that can accommodate a small wood kiln, so that the skills of the ancestors can be passed on.
Expert reviews
Associate Professor Xue Feng, School of Art and Design, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry:
The embarrassment that Lao Zhao is currently facing is precisely a microcosm of the traditional handicraft intangible cultural heritage projects in the urban area. Intangible cultural heritage is the most direct embodiment of china's thousand-year-old material civilization, but with the rapid advancement of urbanization, many handicraft projects have gradually lost their place to live. Of course, there are problems with traditional handicrafts, such as the high management costs caused by various noises, dust and pollution, and of course, there are also living space conflicts involved in the expansion of urbanization. If urbanites can still find some living intangible cultural heritage in the cement forest, and can feel the charm of Chinese civilization for thousands of years through hand-to-hand transmission, then the city will have a continuous appeal. Teacher Zhao's Danzhuo wood kiln now stands quietly on the banks of the Jalu River, hidden under a small hillside. Parents often bring their children to visit curiously, so that children can experience the most brilliant ceramic culture of Chinese civilization, and the cultural and educational significance of which is self-evident. Although with the advancement of the Jialu River comprehensive treatment project, such a domestic only wood kiln may be relocated, it is still sincerely suggested that the district-level government where the kiln site is located can carefully consider providing a suitable environment for such a provincial intangible cultural heritage project and create an excellent case of active intangible cultural heritage protection for Zhengzhou.