In 2017, a Ming Jiajing multicolored fish algae pattern lid jar was sold for HK$213 million, which made Jiajing porcelain set off another boom. For a time, this gorgeous Ming Dynasty art style entered everyone's field of vision, and people could not help but wonder why the style of Porcelain painting in the Ming Dynasty of Jiajing suddenly changed? What is the story behind this elaborate ornamentation?
Ming Jiajing Colorful Fish Algae Pattern Lid Jar Christie's Hong Kong sold for HK$213 million in 2017
"Fanatical Cultivator" Zhu Zongxi
Successive emperors of the Ming Dynasty had an indissoluble relationship with Taoism, and Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was once like a brother with the Taoist priest Zhou Qianxian, and after Zhou Qianxian's death, he personally wrote the "Biography of zhou Qianxian" with the respect of the emperor to record his affairs. The Yongle Emperor relied on the Advice of the Daoist Priest Yao Guangxiao to seize the throne from his nephew Emperor Jianwen, and the subsequent emperors of the Zhengtong, Chenghua, Hongzhi, and Zhengde dynasties all had different degrees of respect, but during the Jiajing Emperor, the Ming Dynasty's Zundao really reached the point of reaching the pinnacle.
The Jiajing Emperor was particularly a believer in Taoism, and during his reign the imperial kiln fired about one million porcelain, of which porcelain with Taoist colors accounted for a considerable share. The Ming Shi Food Chronicle records: "Thirty-seven years ago, jiangxi sent officials to make 30,000 porcelain in the inner temple. "Jai Ji is simply a Taoist ritual, everyone in the TV series to see those wearing The Robe of the Law, holding a magic instrument to jump the Immortal, in fact, is doing jai, and can burn so many porcelain for this matter, it can be seen how much influence Taoism has on the Jiajing Emperor, and how strong the Taoist color of the porcelain of this dynasty is.
Emperor Mingzong (1507-1567)
Why did the Jiajing Emperor have such admiration for Taoism?
First, because he lived in the Hubei area when he was a child, when the customs of worshiping ghosts and gods and respecting ancestors were extremely popular, it naturally had an impact on it; second, the Jiajing Emperor was weak from an early age and often fell ill, and the idea of self-cultivation and immortality promoted by Taoism was of great practical value in the eyes of a person who had been ill for many years, and Jiajing's physique could reign for 45 years, to a certain extent, it was also related to his emphasis on the Taoist health care method.
Ming Jiajing blue and white three sheep pattern bowl
Collection of the Palace Museum
Jiajing himself believed in Taoism, requiring his subjects to also believe in Taoism. Generally, when holding the Taoist fast, it is necessary to write "Qingzi", as a blessing for the heavens, at that time, if anyone who wrote a good Qingzi was good enough, the Jiajing Emperor would give him a promotion, so a large number of "Qingzi Zaixiang" appeared during the Jiajing period, that is, those who wrote Qingzi well and were promoted to the cabinet seat, including Yan Ne, Li Chunfang, Guo Pu, and the traitorous minister Yan Song.
A well-written word leads to a promotion, on the contrary, a courtier who does not respect the Tao will be demoted. At that time, Jiajing asked the ministers to be like themselves when they went to the court, wearing the Taoist "crown of fragrant leaves" on their heads, and some courtiers were unwilling to live or die, so they were degraded by Jiajing. It can be seen from this that the Jiajing Emperor was so fanatical as a Taoist...
Ming Jiajing Blue and white dragon phoenix outside the fish algae pattern reclining foot bowl
Collection of the Palace Museum
Jiajing porcelain on the "Xianfeng Dao bone"
The preferences of a generation of emperors can naturally be reflected through the utensils circulating in hand. Jiajing's reverence for Taoism also made this dynasty porcelain tainted with a strong atmosphere of cultivation and immortality, which was reflected in all aspects.
Colorful & five elements
The social atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty before Zhengde was still relatively simple, and the corresponding artworks were also simple, but after entering the Jiajing Dynasty, the wind changed day by day, and porcelain began to become decorative, colorful, and highly saturated multicolored became a distinctive feature of this period.
Ming Jiajing Multicolored fish algae pattern lid jar
Collection of the Palace Museum
Jiajing Dynasty five-colored porcelain has both blue and white five colors and pure glaze five colors, and the two are equally important. Generally speaking, the five colors of white, red, green, black and yellow in the five colors represent the five elements of gold, fire, wood, water and earth. At this time, when the palace is set up, many colorful flags will also be hung in the altar.
We carefully look at the Jiajing multicolored fish algae pattern lid jar, its avoid yellow eating red, precise temperature control porcelain making process is a must, large and small red carp swimming in lotus, water grass and duckweed, not only in the color fit the five elements of Taoism, in the pattern also reflected Zhuangzi "son is not me, an know I do not know the joy of fish", an time to be smooth Taoist thought, is really exquisite.
Ming Jiajing Blue and white fish lotus pattern bowl
Collection of the Palace Museum
Ming Jiajing Blue and white character bowl
Collection of the Palace Museum
Depiction of gold & longevity
Gold was also a scarce resource in ancient times, but in the jiajing period, there were many court daily utensils and furnishings, such as Gong Hong depicting gold, purple land depicting gold, etc., which is actually related to Jiajing Chongdao.
At that time, there were often Taoist priests in the palace, and the Taoist monks spared no effort to exaggerate the role of gold, saying that using gold to hold food, the chance of recruiting gods and immortals would be greater, and "drinking gold" could live forever... The Jiajing Emperor believed it to be true, so he ordered that many gold drawings be burned, and if you want to ask why not use gold directly? Because there is not so much gold...
Ming Jiajing depicts a bowl with gold floral patterns
Collection of the Palace Museum
Ming Jiajing Multicolored plus golden blue convex garlic head bottle
Collection of the Palace Museum
Crane & Feather
"Cranes sing nine gao, the sound is heard in the sky." In ancient times, the crane symbolized the Taoist bone fairy wind, auspicious longevity, it is the embodiment of the immortal in Taoism, so the Taoist is also called Yushi, the Taoist costume is called "Crane", and even the taoist walking posture when practicing is very similar to the crane step, which is "cloud crane tour".
The Jiajing Emperor loved the crane very much, and we can see from the archway he built the "Zhishi Xuanyue" that there are 48 cranes carved on it, which means that he wishes for his 48th birthday, and the crane is the most patterned in it.
"Zhishi Xuanyue" archway
In the porcelain painting, the crane is combined with various patterns, such as the cloud crane pattern, the cloud crane bagua pattern, the fu gong crane pattern, the eight immortal crane pattern, the dragon and phoenix crane pattern, the lotus crane pattern, the peach crane pattern, the Gaoshitu crane pattern... Composed of various auspicious allegorical patterns, the soaring crane has a long neck and a curved neck, and the crane wings are full of wings to show the immortal wind Dao bone that has been left alone.
Ming Jiajing Blue and white crane phoenix pattern jar
Collection of the Palace Museum
Ming Jiajing Blue and white peach crane pattern plate
Collection of the Palace Museum
In addition to the crane, at this time, many Taoist patterns were painted on porcelain in large quantities, more common Bagua patterns, gourd patterns, eight treasure patterns, Ruyi patterns, Lao Tzu preaching scriptures, etc., the layout of the painting samples is more symmetrical, the painting techniques are more double hook flat, and the painting style is natural.
In addition, text decoration is also a major feature of porcelain in this period, and it is common to use tree trunks to form "Fu", "Shou", "Kang", "Ning" and other words as decorative porcelain.
Ming Jiajing Blue and white "Shou" character eight immortals picture jar
Collection of the Palace Museum
Gourds & treasures
Green robes, swords, and gourds are standard for Taoists, swords are used to slay demons and evil spirits, and gourds are used to contain elixirs and wine. During the Jiajing period, the emperor revered the Tao, and the number of Daoist monks in the country increased sharply, and the number of gourds that Daoists had to wear naturally increased.
At this time, the number of porcelain gourd bottles made by the government and the people's kilns is large, and the style is also very rich, in addition to the general shape, there are also four squares, six squares, eight squares, the upper circle below and other shapes, and more Taoist related ornaments are painted.
Ming Jiajing Blue and white "Guotai Min'an" cloud crane pattern gourd bottle
Collection of the Palace Museum
Ming Jiajing blue and white cloud dragon pattern gourd bottle
Collection of the Palace Museum
Ming Jiajing Blue flower blossom light eight immortal figure gourd bottle
Collection of the Palace Museum
Without the agility and nature of the Ming Dynasty, nor the slenderness and delicacy of the Qing Dynasty, the Jiajing porcelain that is immersed in Taoist culture is "clumsy" and not vulgar, showing a unique artistic style, which is really wonderful.