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", unveiled the current situation, dilemma and opportunities faced by urban intangible cultural heritage, focusing on the inheritance and promotion of the future, speaking out for the intangible cultural heritage, and continuing the pulse of culture.
"Urban intangible cultural heritage, not necessarily non-genetic inheritors, can also be intangible cultural heritage promoters, can promote intangible cultural heritage projects to young people, to the whole society, to overseas." This is more conducive to the survival and development of intangible cultural heritage in the city. ”
Jun porcelain, one of the five famous porcelains of the Song Dynasty, "into the kiln one color, out of the kiln ten thousand colors". On July 29, 2003, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine approved the implementation of geographical indication product protection for "Jun Porcelain". In 2008, the firing technique of jun porcelain was selected into the national intangible cultural heritage list. However, this technique, which has been passed down for more than a thousand years, has stagnated in the process of merging with modern life, and its industrialization road has not been smooth. In the process of transformation and development of jun porcelain, from the main leaders to ordinary practitioners, they are all promoters of jun porcelain. With the joint efforts of everyone, this "Wang Xietang Qianyan" finally "flew into the homes of ordinary people".
The transformation of jun porcelain begins with a pot
"Jun porcelain (firing technique) is a national intangible cultural heritage, it has been developing for a period of time to face confusion, jun porcelain changes began from the Central Plains pot. It can be said that since then, I have been involved in the promotion of intangible cultural heritage. On March 15, Feng Chen mentioned his identity as an intangible cultural heritage promoter, and he did not give in.
Feng Chen said that because of family factors, he has had great feelings for Jun Porcelain since he was a child. By chance, he has always had close ties with the main promoter of the Zhongyuan pot, the Henan Arts and Crafts Industry Association, and is not only familiar with the industrial transformation of Jun porcelain, but also actively participates in this transformation.
Jun porcelain, which began in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty, is one of the five famous porcelains in ancient China, and is an important symbol in the history of Chinese ceramic art, and its artistic characteristics of "entering the kiln and coloring the kiln" are even more amazing. However, for a long time, the development of jun porcelain has entered a bottleneck period, only doing ornaments and large pieces, and it is difficult to integrate into public life.
"You think, such a big thing, placed at home, in a few days to fall a layer of ash, but also have to wipe, time-consuming and laborious, just say that it looks good, look at the two eyes OK, fresh a few days later will be turned a blind eye." Jun porcelain is only made of art, and it has become a decoration. Any kind of technology, a product that is divorced from public life, will only become narrower and narrower. Feng Chen said that this was the situation that Jun Porcelain was facing at that time.
In September 2011, after several visits to The Temple, Kong Xiangqing, the then secretary of the provincial party committee, gave Kong Xiangqing, a national-level non-hereditary heir of the Jun porcelain firing technique, a jingdezhen tea set called "Seven Bowls of New Tea", consisting of a pot and a lamp and seven small cups, named after the Tang Dynasty poet Lu Tong's song "Seven Bowls of Tea". Lu Tong is equally famous as the tea saint Lu Yu, known as the Tea Immortal, a native of Jiyuan, Henan. Jiangxi Jingdezhen porcelain can be made into tea sets, and it is also named after the poetry of Lu Tong, a Native of Henan, but what about Henan Jun porcelain?
"He is a representative figure of jun porcelain, but the secretary of the provincial party committee gave him a set of Jingdezhen porcelain, and you taste this taste." Feng Chen said. Kong Xiangqing found the Provincial Arts and Crafts Industry Association, and everyone agreed that this is the secretary of the provincial party committee pointing out the way out for jun porcelain, not only to make large pieces, but also to do small pieces, small pieces to do big articles, so that jun porcelain into thousands of households.
Taking this as an opportunity, Kong Xiangqing made a jun porcelain tea set and named it Zhongyuan Pot. Let the tea set become the carrier of the practical use of jun porcelain, so as to drive the development of the industry, and the transformation of jun porcelain has begun.
The tea set allows jun porcelain to fly into the homes of ordinary people
Feng Chen said that the proposal of zhongyuan pot made him see a blue ocean. He immediately made a decision, resigned from the original unit, and invested in the research and development and production of jun porcelain tea sets. Since ancient times, the production of jun porcelain has been said to be "seventy-two processes", and the production process is complex. Raw material processing, modeling design, drawing blanks, repairing blanks, forming, vegetarian firing... There are many production processes of jun porcelain, and firing is not easy. No matter which process is slightly careless, a small mistake will be abandoned, which is also the reason why the rate of jun porcelain treasures is extremely low.
"Designed the tea set myself, demanding dexterity and refinement. Jun porcelain could not be made so thin at that time, jun porcelain was generally larger and thicker. "Some old jun porcelain artists only consider the color of jun porcelain when firing tea sets, and the designed teapot is not ergonomic and uncomfortable to hold. In addition, although they burn tea sets, they do not understand the nature of tea, and the pots they make are not convenient for making tea. Tea sets have a great impact on the brewing effect of tea leaves, what kind of pot is needed for green tea to brew, and what kind of pot is needed for black tea to brew, are not the same. According to the tea properties of each kind of tea, Feng Chen designed the teapot in a targeted manner, so that the teapot could exert the characteristics of the tea to the greatest extent.
The slogan that Feng Chen created for his jun porcelain tea set is: jun porcelain is unmatched, the kiln is unmatched, and each piece is a lone product. His work "Dream as a Horse, Not Living Up to Shaohua" won the Tea Set Design Award of the Fifth Oriental Tea Ceremony Competition, "Liuyun Kettle" won the Bronze Award of the "Zhongyuan Good Design" Cultural and Creative Special Award, and "Small Pearl Kettle (Jun Porcelain)", "Li Bowl (Jun Porcelain)" and "Xi Shi Ju (Jun Porcelain)" won the Gold Medal in the 3rd Zhongyuan Kettle Design Competition. The works "Static Tank" and "Square Circle Bamboo Kettle" won the national design patent certificate. This made Feng Chen's jun porcelain tea set very popular. His jun porcelain works have been collected by ambassadors to China and domestic cultural figures, and he has participated in many important exhibition activities.
In 2020, at the 13th Cross-Strait (Xiamen) Cultural Fair, Gao Zheng, director of the Department of Industry of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, visited the Henan exhibition hall and saw Feng Chen's exhibition of tea sets of jun porcelain intangible cultural heritage projects, which gave high praise. Director Gao said: "Small utensils, big industry." ”
Feng Chen said that this is the way that Jun Porcelain should take, and it is also the best promotion of intangible cultural heritage.
"In the whole town of Jingao, one-third or even greater proportion of kilns are mainly firing tea sets, and if they are not fired tea sets, many kilns have long since closed. Today's kilns are famous for their large works and make money from tea sets. Feng Chen said.
As of 2017, there are 186 jun porcelain production enterprises in Yuzhou, including 39 enterprises above designated size, with an annual output of 2.2 million pieces (sets), an annual output value of 2.4 billion yuan, and 28,000 employees.
Call on young people to drink tea and promote intangible cultural heritage
"Water is the mother of tea, and utensils are the father of tea." Good water and good utensils can produce good tea. However, only good water and good utensils are not enough, Feng Chen said, a good cup of tea, but also need a good mentality, a good lifestyle. What he is currently trying to promote is the life of jun porcelain, the art of life, "let the good instrument (jun porcelain) into life, let life and intangible cultural heritage connection." ”
In 2013, Feng Chen went to Beijing to participate in the "Young Tea People Program", which aims to let young people better enjoy tea culture. After returning, he began to engage in the youth tea life movement in the province, "calling on everyone to feel the qinqi calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine and tea, feel the traditional culture, and better publicize the tea culture." "This drinking of tea is not to show off, but to advocate for young people to pursue a new, healthy lifestyle."
Feng Chen said that the youth tea life movement gathered a group of fashionable post-80s, post-90s and even post-00s, and then used different ways and methods to promote tea sets and tea culture. Since 2016, Feng Chen has organized hundreds of public welfare activities through the youth tea lifestyle, with more than 50,000 participants. Feng Chen said that like the Four Seasons Tea Party, through the aesthetic way of tea life, the traditional Chinese culture such as tea, tea set, tea ceremony, and incense path is intuitively presented to young people, guiding more young people to enter the beautiful traditional cultural field, so that young people can understand the relevant history and culture, and pass it on.
Unlike the general non-genetic heirs who only produce products, Feng Chen not only designs and produces jun porcelain tea sets, but also sells tea sets, tea, provides tea space, tea life, has formed a complete closed chain, which makes his customers adhere to a high degree of adhesion, "My customer, the small one is only 3 years old, to experience the tea art." Most of the customers are young, generally above the middle class, and at the cultural level, most of them have studied in college and have a relatively high level of education. ”
Feng Chen's shop is different from the general place to drink tea, because it advocates a healthy lifestyle, the store does not allow card gambling, and there is no mahjong machine. Come to the store to consume, no smoking, no alcohol. Can't stop wanting to smoke, sorry, please go out and smoke.
"I am now actually a provider of intangible cultural heritage aesthetics, mainly tea, as well as the experience of a variety of intangible cultural heritage items such as incense and flower arrangement, advocating a more elegant and more traditional cultural aesthetic life." Feng Chen said that in order to survive in the city, it is necessary for someone to promote the intangible cultural heritage lifestyle, hoping that more people can feel the intangible cultural heritage life and experience the beauty of the intangible cultural heritage.
Expert reviews
Ge Lei, Director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Theory Department of Henan Academy of Culture and Art:
Feng Chen is not a non-hereditary inheritor, he is a designer and seller of jun porcelain products, and a promoter of the intangible cultural heritage lifestyle. Since the creation of ceramics, practicality has always dominated, and jun porcelain is no exception, which can be seen from the actual jun porcelain that has been handed down. However, in the past period of time, affected by other porcelain varieties and new materials, Jun porcelain has embarked on the road of viewing utensils, which is not only the creation of the times, but also can be said to be a helpless move. Nowadays, Jun Porcelain has re-entered modern life, which is not so much an innovation as a return.
Feng Chen is a participant and witness of Jun porcelain returning to life, and his case has certain enlightening significance: from the product point of view, the process should enter modern life, Jun porcelain can not only burn ornaments, but also develop more tea utensils, dinner utensils, wine utensils, etc.; from the audience point of view, we must firmly grasp the group of young people, products and activities should try to fashion an expression; from the channel, there must be a proper display platform and space, the same Jun porcelain works, placed on the stall and placed in an elegant space, the perception is different from cloud and mud From the promotion point of view, it is not only to promote the product, but also to create a lifestyle with this product as the core, just like his own positioning - "intangible heritage life aesthetics provider".