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 process of urbanization, these non-heritage people will naturally become urban people. How can intangible cultural heritage survive and develop in the city, and how can intangible cultural heritage be perfectly integrated with the city, so that intangible cultural heritage can truly take root and glow with 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 the land of ceramics, porcelain is exquisite and practical, but the fatal drawback is fragility. In order to save broken porcelain, curium porcelain came into being, a traditional technique that has been passed down for at least a thousand years and is on the verge of disappearing. However, in the life of Chengping, the tea wind rose, and curium porcelain found its living space again. With the help of the trend of short videos, this traditional skill is like inserting wings, but it flies farther and higher...
The egg shell is "patched", and the traditional technique is magical
On March 5, in The Artisan Ren Tang, Geng Jianhua took out a cracked egg shell. The eggshell is held by wire, and the "patch" can be clearly seen on the crack of the eggshell.
"It's also a curium nail, but it's very thin, so be very careful when curium is used." Geng Jianhua said that it is not a big deal to curium the cracked eggshell without leaking, and he can also curium the cracked bulb. However, not everyone can boast about this Haikou, "no diamonds, don't do porcelain work" - this is exactly curium porcelain.
How long the history of curium porcelain is impossible to verify. However, on the clay pots and clay pots excavated from the ruins of Dahe Village in Zhengzhou, there are drill holes next to the cracks in the broken pottery, and this ancient pottery restoration process may be the predecessor of curium porcelain. "At that time, there were no curium nails, and the ancients should have used bone needles." Geng Jianhua guessed.
Zhang Zeduan's "Qingming Upper River Map" of the Song Dynasty clearly depicts curium porcelain artists doing work, which shows that curium porcelain has been very common in the Song Dynasty and is closely related to people's lives. In the process of curium porcelain craftsmen walking the streets and alleys, pieces of broken porcelain, between knocking and tapping, sewing and repairing, have been given a second life, exuding a unique mutilated beauty.
In the Qing Dynasty, this mutilated beauty was deliberately created. Some dignitaries and eight flags deliberately put soybeans into the utensils and add water, using the principle of seed growth to break the utensils, and then let the curium smith repair them. Of course, the materials used for this restoration are more exquisite and more exquisitely restored. Different from the traditional rough work of repairing water tanks and large bowls in the streets and alleys, this kind of curium porcelain specially designed for the service of the nobility is called fine work, also known as xiuhuo, which is more artistic.
"Curium porcelain from passive restoration to active showmanship is actually an artistic creation and an aesthetic need of people." Geng Jianhua said that curium porcelain differentiates into show work, provides services for the antique industry, makes some broken antiques "come back to life", and also lays the foundation for today's curium porcelain technology to "come back to life" - today's curium porcelain is mainly a beautifully restored tea set, playing a show, is a delicate work.
Intangible cultural heritage is connected to modern life, and old craftsmanship is restored to society through the restoration of tea sets
"Intangible cultural heritage must be connected with modern life, so that it can survive and develop." Mr. Geng said his family's ancestors made a living from curium porcelain, but the traditional craft was almost lost. Curium porcelain has always been connected with life in the past. In the era of material poverty, people cherish things and love things, and after the porcelain is broken, they are reluctant to throw it away, waiting for the curium porcelain craftsman to come, and continue to use it. Later, because of social development, porcelain became more and more common, simple and easy to obtain, the price was low, and when it was broken, it was bought again, and curium porcelain was no longer needed, and this craft slowly moved away from life and faded out of people's sight.
How can the traditional curium porcelain craft be connected with modern life? Curium porcelain artists discovered a medium: tea sets. The tea set brought this soon-to-be-lost craft back to modern society.
In the life of Chengping, life is rich, and many people like to drink tea. When a delicate tea set is accidentally broken, the porcelain is broken at the same time, and the heart of the tea taster is also broken. "Many people who drink tea are affectionate, they cherish their own things very much, and they always want to bring their beloved things back to life. Curium porcelain, fulfilled their wish. Geng Jianhua said that he has a customer, the tea set is actually not expensive, only one hundred and ten yuan, after accidentally breaking it, he never forgot it, he couldn't give it up, and he had to let Geng Jianhua repair it. A tea set worth 100 yuan costs 1800 yuan to repair, but the customer is very happy. What is cultivated is the object, and what is replenished is the feeling, which is a kind of feeling, a kind of thought. Tea drinkers sometimes don't care how much money they spend, they care about the loss and recovery of their beloved things.
In this way, the curium porcelain craft was revived in the tea ceremony and returned to modern society.
I have tasted the warmth and coldness of human feelings and have an epiphany about the true meaning of life
Geng Jianhua did not start full-time in curium porcelain. He used to work on projects on construction sites. "On the construction site, you think, drink every day. There are too many friends at the wine table, and when drinking, they are all bold words, saying that they are all righteous and thin, and the two ribs are inserted into the knife. Geng Jianhua said that in 2014, he did a project and lost money, which made him realize that none of his friends when he had money, those friends at the wine table, were willing to help. After tasting the cold and warm of human feelings, Geng Jianhua lamented that the world was hot and cold, and he was depressed for two months.
"Once, I inadvertently watched a show, a big country craftsman, which had restored porcelain, which gave me a lot of inspiration." Geng Jianhua said that his family ancestors were curium porcelain, and he would, why not inherit this craft? Coupled with the fact that he likes to paint since he was a child, the sculpture and carving major he learned when he was in school, and he has dabbled in jade carving and jewelry design, is it not better to combine these with curium porcelain? Geng Jianhua said that at that moment he had an "epiphany" and decided to combine the knowledge he had learned with his ancestral craftsmanship and do a good job in the curium porcelain industry.
Geng Jianhua began to ponder, and in his creation, he integrated some wonderful pictures and Chinese characters into curium porcelain, which not only reborn the broken porcelain, but even more beautiful than the original.
Gluttony pattern and Zhongshan seal are commonly used elements in Curium porcelain by Geng Jianhua. Gluttony was formed by the ancients by combining the characteristics of various beasts of prey in nature and imagining them. The face of the gluttony is huge and exaggerated, and it is highly decorative, and it was often used as the main ornament of utensils in ancient times. Zhongshan Seal is the ancient Zhongshan kingdom script, this kind of writing structure is slender and beautiful, the knife and pen are strong and straight, elegant and elegant, and the posture is beautiful. There is also a fushou, which is also a theme commonly used by Geng Jianhua. The auxiliary head is a kind of base installed on the door ring, which is a traditional Chinese door decoration. The auxiliary heads on the gates of the palace are mostly tigers, stingrays, turtles, and snakes, implying that the stars guard the gate. China has been using auxiliary heads since the Spring and Autumn Period, and has been in use for more than 2,000 years. Geng Jianhua used the image of the auxiliary head on curium porcelain, often inlaid with the auxiliary head in the broken part of the porcelain, which not only could not see the damage, but also more beautiful.
"I chose Fushou and Zhongshan Seal as the theme, just to combine our excellent traditional culture and traditional curium porcelain skills, so that they can be better passed down and carried forward." Geng Jianhua said.
A pot of 800 yuan for two years no one asked, after curium someone spent 2800 yuan to "grab" away
Geng Jianhua's studio once had a teapot, which was originally intended to be sold to tea lovers who often came here to repair tea sets, with a price of 800 yuan, but no one cared for two years.
Once, when Geng Jianhua took this pot, his hand was not steady, and the lid of the pot fell off and broke a little. How can this be done?
Geng Jianhua easily repaired the lid of the pot with his own craftsmanship. However, in this way, the lid and the style of the pot body are different, how to see how awkward. Therefore, Geng Jianhua filled the pot with soybeans and soaked them in water. The soybeans swelled after eating water, and slowly broke the pot. Geng Jianhua lifted the broken pot again. After restoration, this pot has a chic beauty.
Geng Jianhua put this curium pot in the circle of friends, and many friends left a message saying that the pot was very beautiful and willing to buy it at a high price. Even, everyone began to bid on the message below. After 20 minutes, someone bid 2800 yuan to "snatch" the pot. This is the charm of curium porcelain.
The small video pulled 95% of the customers, and the order was queued up to six months later
Geng Jianhua, born in 1981, can keep up with the trend of the Internet. He took a small video of his usual curium porcelain work and played it on various platforms. After many netizens saw it, they felt incredible, the original broken porcelain looked worthless, and they did not expect that in Geng Jianhua's hands, it was like being reborn from the fire, more beautiful than before.
Netizens left messages at the end of the video, privately believing to him, hoping that Geng Jianhua could give their beloved something a curium. In September 2018, Geng Jianhua took a small video that was very popular and suddenly made his fans rise by more than 20,000. These fans have played a great help to Geng Jianhua's business. 95% of Geng Jianhua's list comes from short videos, of which 90% are repair tea sets.
Geng Jianhua summed up a bit, after watching the video to find him to repair there are three situations: the first is a valuable artifact, which needs to be repaired after damage; the second is that although the utensils in his hand are dozens of yuan or two or three hundred yuan to buy, but they have been used for a long time, they have feelings, and they want to repair after breaking, even if they spend thousands of yuan, they don't care; the third is that they feel that the original utensils are not good enough, so they directly send the complete utensils over, let him use soybeans to break the utensils, and then curium after breaking. This is not too much, there are about four or five cases a year.
"Now I don't dare to take too many orders, and I am lined up until half a year later." If you can't do it, the customer will have an opinion. Geng Jianhua said that he now takes orders and first tells the other party that it takes a long time to wait, and most need to wait for more than half a year, or even longer. The customer is willing to wait, he only takes the order.
Once, a customer asked Geng Jianhua to repair the artifacts, and as a result, he waited for almost a year and did not repair them, got angry, called geng Jianhua and asked him, he must have an explanation, otherwise, even if it is repaired, he will be sued. Geng Jianhua said: "If I want to repair it, I have to repair it more beautiful than the original, and my works must satisfy me. Later, the work was completed, and the customer was so surprised that he never said anything about the lawsuit again, "Your work touched me, and your craftsmanship was worth it." ”
In 2020, Geng Jianhua's curium porcelain technique was rated as intangible cultural heritage by Jinshui District of Zhengzhou City, and in 2021, it was rated as a representative project of Zhengzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Apprentices are located in more than 40 cities across the country, and more than half have their own studios
Geng Jianhua's curium porcelain videos on various platforms have also attracted apprentices from all over the world. They came to Geng Jianhua's Craftsman's Hall from all over the country to learn curium porcelain techniques. Up to now, Geng Jianhua has 81 apprentices in more than 40 cities across the country, and 60% of these apprentices have their own studios. Apprentices are male and female, and the proportion of females is 40%. Geng Jianhua was most impressed by a female apprentice from Wuhan, a graduate of the Fine Arts Department of Beijing Normal University, with aura and creativity, who studied with Geng Jianhua twice, the first time for a month, and the second for half a month. After completing his studies, he returned to Wuhan to open his own studio, and now he has a small reputation in the circle.
With these apprentices, the traditional skill of curium porcelain has no one to follow.
"Curium enamel techniques provide a platform for young people with ideals and love of art to find employment and study, helping them realize their entrepreneurial dreams." With this alone, curium porcelain, an intangible cultural heritage, is worth passing on. ”
Expert reviews
Ge Lei, Director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Theory Department of Henan Academy of Culture and Art:
Geng Jianhua's case has given us many inspirations to our intangible cultural heritage.
First, intangible cultural heritage is a process of continuous re-creation. Intangible cultural heritage is not a cultural relic, nor is it a "living cultural relic", it is like a river, constantly rushing forward, is a cultural heritage that has been passed down from generation to generation and constantly recreated. On the basis of traditional curium porcelain techniques, Geng Jianhua adds technologies such as metal engraving and jewelry inlay, and serves the "blue ocean" of tea utensils, which reflects the variability and creativity of intangible cultural heritage.
Second, the intangible cultural heritage should find a connection point with modern life. The rise of the current tea life has new and higher requirements for the functionality and aesthetics of tea sets, and curium porcelain keenly grasps this point. Its role in porcelain is not only the repair of the practical functional level, but also a sublimation of the aesthetics of porcelain art through superb craftsmanship, and there is a connection between nature and modern life, and modern people have a common discourse.
Third, intangible cultural heritage should become the "deep user" of new media. At present, many intangible cultural heritage also carry out some communication activities through new media, but most of them stay on the relatively shallow popularization introduction, which may have a certain impact, but do not bring actual benefits. Geng Jianhua is good at short video shooting and production, he has long insisted on releasing exquisite curium porcelain short videos, which not only expands the influence, but also becomes the main channel for recruiting apprentices and students, and has also become an important boost to the prosperity of the career, new media is not only a communication channel, but also a inheritance channel.