Not out of pu, warm as jade.
Not for music, the sound is like a chime.
No luxury, always difficult to leave.
Don't be public, the rain is over the sky.
Chinese CHINA in English comes from porcelain China. The peak of porcelain appeared in the Song Dynasty, and the official kiln porcelain represented by the Ru kiln was one of the core carriers of the beauty of the Song Dynasty.
Chengdu Museum's current "Empty Bright Streamer - Song Porcelain • Five Famous Kilns Special Exhibition" brings together the song dynasty official kilns, folk kilns and later imitation Song porcelain, which can be described as the grand view of the fine porcelain of the Song Dynasty. In the luster of Song porcelain, it seems to travel back to the Song Dynasty a thousand years ago.
"Empty Streamer" exhibition site
Although the beauty of Song porcelain is clear at a glance, it still needs to be identified and compared in order to deeply appreciate the three ambiguities. The reason why Song porcelain is highly respected is hidden in the differences with the porcelain of later generations.
Official kiln porcelain: return to Park
Porcelain is different from pottery. Pottery is fired with clay, most of which are fired at temperatures below 1000 ° C, absorbing water and not transmitting light; Porcelain is fired with porcelain clay, the firing temperature is above 1200 ° C, can be transparent without absorbing water. The history of pottery is much earlier than porcelain, pottery has appeared in the Neolithic Age, and the most primitive porcelain appeared in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and the time difference between the two is at least thousands of years.
Porcelain in the true sense appeared in the Han Dynasty about two thousand years ago. During the Tang Dynasty, "Southern Qingbei White" was the most famous, that is, the celadon produced by the Southern Yue Kiln and the white porcelain produced by the Northern Xing Kiln.
At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the official kiln was born on the basis of the folk kiln, in short, the official formulated utensils, shapes, colors, in the selection of materials, craftsmanship, firing does not consider the cost, the finished product is specially for the use of the court and not sold by the people.
Today's five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty, Ru, Guan, Ge, Jun, and Ding, all belong to the official kiln system, but most of them are also developed from the folk kilns.
The saying of the five famous kilns began in the Ming Dynasty and has been passed down to this day. However, in recent years, the latest achievements in scientific and technological appraisal and ceramic archaeological research have proved that the "five famous kilns" are more of a saying lineage than a strict archaeological concept or academic expression, for example, many people believe that most of the porcelain passed down to the Ge kiln is actually a Yuan Dynasty product, and the Jun kiln is more likely to be as late as the Ming Dynasty Yongle Xuande period. However, collectors often reject the above statement, because once it is true, the value of the existing Kiln Jun kiln porcelain will inevitably decline.
Although there are still too many fogs to be clarified, the general characteristics of the Song Dynasty official kiln porcelain can be determined: simple style, basically not yet ornamental, the shape of the system is not small, and the glaze color is almost all plain and monochromatic.
From top to bottom, they are Ru kiln, official kiln, Ge kiln, Jun kiln and Ding kiln porcelain. ("Empty Streamer" exhibit)
This aesthetic feature is very different from the folk kilns of the Song Dynasty and the porcelain after the Song Dynasty.
Folk kiln porcelain: skillfully prepared
The biggest difference between the folk kiln and the official kiln, the simplest understanding is that the official kiln produces art, and the folk kiln produces goods. Since it is intended to be promoted, the general public likes to see what kind of porcelain, and what kind of porcelain is produced.
The famous folk kilns of the Song Dynasty were bounded by the Yangtze River, the north was the Dingyao, Junyao, Cizhou and Yaozhou kilns, and the southern ones were Raozhou kilns, Longquan kilns, Jianyao kilns and Jizhou kilns.
If you simply summarize, the characteristics of folk kiln porcelain compared to official kiln porcelain are: happy decoration.
The representative work of the folk kiln is the well-known white porcelain child pillow. Cizhou kiln decoration methods as many as dozens of kinds, roughly is the three types of knife carving, stroke and two-pronged three types of way, the text such as "forbearance" on the porcelain is also the characteristics of the Cizhou kiln. Yaozhou kiln focuses on the use of knives, known as "knives and knives see mud".
Cizhou kiln white ground black flower plum vase. Black flowers on a white background are typical features of Cizhou kilns. ("Empty Streamer" exhibit)
Yaozhou kiln green glaze carved peony pattern plum bottle, fine lines on the petals are obviously visible. ("Empty Streamer" exhibit)
Longquan kiln produces celadon porcelain, and the style is more inclined to the official kiln; Fujian's kilns are famous for black porcelain, which is mainly used for tea drinking, because the Song people drink tea differently from the tea drinking methods that began in the Ming Dynasty today; The Jizhou kiln can be regarded as the Cizhou kiln in the south, but the depiction is more elaborate than that in the north.
However, the most important position among the folk kilns is the Jingdezhen kiln, which is called the Raozhou kiln.
Jingdezhen was originally named ChangnanZhen, and in 1004 Song Zhenzong, who changed the name of Jingde to Yuan Jingde, especially liked the porcelain of Changnanzhen, so that Changnanzhen marked the word "Jingde" on the tribute, so Changnanzhen became Jingdezhen.
Jingdezhen's biggest advantage is that it produces kaolin clay, which can be mixed proportionally to become the top porcelain clay, which has made it a porcelain powerhouse since the Song Dynasty. There is even a view that the Chinese "China", named after porcelain, is the transliteration of "Changnan".
Jingdezhen kiln green and white glaze carved folded branches lotus leaf lotus pattern Ding-style furnace. ("Empty Streamer" exhibit)
Jingdezhen in the Song Dynasty mainly produced blue and white porcelain, a kind of porcelain that combines the length of celadon white porcelain and the appearance is similar to jade. But after the Song Dynasty, Jingdezhen became famous for another kind of porcelain: blue and white porcelain.
The fundamental reason for the emergence of blue and white porcelain is that the Song Dynasty was replaced by the Yuan Dynasty. Yuanren is still white, and does not want to see the azure or turquoise aesthetic of the traditional Song Dynasty official kilns, so white porcelain is popular.
More importantly, the Mongols opened up the continental passage from China to Europe, and the Persians, who loved blue, came to Jingdezhen and asked for custom porcelain with blue flowers on a white background, and blue and white porcelain was born.
Yuan Qinghua "Ghost Valley Downhill" large pot. In July 2005, it set a record of 230 million yuan at the London auction, and two tons of gold could be bought according to the current price. (Source: Christie's)
Jay Chou's song "plain embryo outlines blue flowers" and "azure and other smoke and rain", in fact, the color of the former is blue, the latter is turquoise slightly blue, completely different. Even though the Yuan Dynasty was replaced by the Ming Dynasty, blue and white porcelain flourished for a long time. What really makes Chinese porcelain famous in the world is more the achievements of blue and white porcelain than traditional celadon white porcelain.
From the Song and Yuan dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties, the porcelain making process has been progressing. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, colored porcelain has become quite common, and "Doucai" is a typical representative of this period.
On April 27, 2014, Liu Yiqian told the story of the bowl cup he bought for HK$280 million in Chengdu. (Photo by Wang Qin)
After the ming dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, the three generations of Kang Yongqian were another prosperous era of porcelain. Yongzheng's aesthetic attainment is the highest, and the quality of imitation Song Dynasty official kiln porcelain is also the highest. Qianlong, on the other hand, was famous for his farmhouse aesthetics, and spent his life tirelessly composing poems on the blank inscriptions of rare calligraphy and paintings and at the bottom of Ru kiln porcelain, like an earth dog that declared his possession by defecating everywhere.
From the Song Dynasty folk kiln to the Ming and Qing dynasty porcelain, the style opposite to the Song Dynasty official kiln porcelain is the mainstream: the shape is diverse, the color is colorful, and the craftsmanship is exquisite. In a simple sentence, if you are in the same room, the first thing that jumps into view should not be Ru kiln porcelain.
The Palace Museum holds the Ru kiln azure glaze washing. ("Empty Streamer" exhibit)
The French Jimei Museum has a collection of Qingqianlong pastel "Ten Thousand Flowers Without Dew" bottle, and there is no white on the porcelain. (Source: Guimet Museum)
In short, the aesthetic style of Song Dynasty official kiln porcelain was actually interrupted after the Song Dynasty, and was not followed by folk kiln porcelain and later generations of porcelain. Although the difference in visual style is clear at a glance, if you dig a little deeper, you will find that it is easy to distinguish styles, but it is extremely difficult to define beauty.
The beauty of Song porcelain: light but not shine
In the Song Dynasty, Yang Wen suppressed martial arts and was famous for his civil rule rather than martial arts, and the emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty were deeply influenced by the literati class. Although the aristocratic door valves since the Shang Zhou Dynasty have completely perished at the end of the Tang Dynasty, their aesthetic concepts have been passed down from generation to generation and passed down among the scribes in the Song Dynasty and beyond.
Although Emperor Huizong of song was the emperor who led to the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, his artistic aesthetic was the super-first-class among the emperors of the past, and the central idea of this aesthetic on porcelain was: simplicity.
The Palace Museum has a Ru kiln azure glazed bowl, which is no different from the most common bowl. At present, there are only two pieces of Ru kiln bowls from the Song Dynasty, and the other is collected by the David Foundation in London, England. (Source: The Palace Museum)
In "Zhuangzi Shanmu", it is written that the craftsman Beigong extravagant casting bell, the principle is "both carving and craftsmanship, return to simplicity": no matter how manpower is carved, the final result should be attributed to natural simplicity, and the fainter the traces of artificial craftsmanship, the more intelligent.
Although the times are different, the aesthetic view of advocating nature has not changed for a long time. The first sentence of the opening chapter of the Ming Dynasty horticulturist Ji Cheng's "Garden Ye" is "Although it is made by man, it is like opening from heaven." ”
The Song Dynasty official kiln porcelain represented by the Ru kiln is generally a masterpiece of this simple aesthetic. Most of the shape is basins, plates, bowls, washing (stationery), there is not much strange shape, the Southern Song Dynasty official kiln imitates the Shang Zhou bronze ceremonial vessels, but also because after crossing the river, the original is missing and had to be replaced by porcelain. As for the porcelain that the descendants are getting bigger and bigger and can hold people, it is even more impossible to enter the eyes of the Song Hui Patriarch.
The Palace Museum houses the Ru kiln azure glazed parrot-shaped incense burner lid button. Different from the appreciation of modern people, this piece is a rare animal-shaped porcelain in ru kilns, and it should be highly sought after for rarity, but it has been far less concerned than other Ru kiln porcelain over the centuries, and the shape is different from its artistic value. ("Empty Streamer" exhibit)
As for the azure color, it may not have originated from the Ru kiln, but the only surviving wood kiln that has neither physical objects nor kiln sites. The Qing Dynasty Zhu Yan's Tao Shu records:
Chai Sejong was a burner, so it was called a wood kiln. According to legend, on the day of the porcelain style, Sejong approved its shape: "Where the rain passes through the sky and the clouds break, the color of the person is like the future." ”
that, "this." According to legend, the requirements of Chai Rong of the Later Zhou Dynasty for color matching were not completed until more than a hundred years later, when the Northern Song Dynasty was about to perish. Ouyang Xiu wrote in the Guitian Record, "Who sees the color of the wood kiln? Azure rain is outdated. Ru kiln magnetism is more similar, the official bureau is selfless", since few people have seen the color of wood kiln porcelain, then the azure color of Ru kiln is the closest.
Ru kiln azure glaze round washing. The word "B" is engraved in the center of the outer sole, which is generally believed to have been engraved after entering the Court of the Qing Dynasty. (Source: The Palace Museum)
The requirements of Ruyao kiln for color are not only the pursuit of special azure colors, but also the key is to be elegant and not dazzling. The Southern Song Dynasty scholar Ye Huan recorded in the "Tanzhai Pen Balance", "In this dynasty, Dingzhou white porcelain was unusable, so he ordered Ruzhou to make celadon porcelain." ”
It is more practical to interpret mang as "glow" rather than "mangstrings", because even if the porcelain of the folk kilns wants to solve the mangstrings, it is not difficult. At that time, white porcelain was still a luxury product of the aristocratic class, and it was rare for the people to use it, but the emperor still felt that the color was too harsh and conspicuous, "unsuitable".
Jingdezhen kiln green and white glaze stone drops. The aesthetic style of porcelain is sometimes reflected in the attitude of the maker or holder towards life and the world. ("Empty Streamer" exhibit)
Jin Dynasty Changzhi kiln red and green color peony pattern bowl. ("Empty Streamer" exhibit)
Not pursuing colorful and ornamental patterns is also a deliberate aesthetic pursuit rather than being limited by the production process at that time. The Changsha kiln and qiong kiln of the Tang Dynasty already had brightly colored porcelain, that is to say, The Song Huizong did not seek to be gorgeous and colorful, but also could not be, but also did not do it. As the 95th Emperor, if he wants intricate porcelain, it is effortless.
In short, the Song Dynasty official kiln porcelain represented by the Ru kiln pursues such a style: the surface is unremarkable, not at all eye-catching, never want to attract applause at the first time, and only shine in the eyes of the knower. If this simple aesthetic is taken as the mainstream, most of the porcelain in the future generations will seem vulgar.
Qing Kangxi Qinghua Wan "Shou" character Dazun, Jingdezhen firing, "Shou" character increased from 100 in the Ming Dynasty to 10,000. (Source: The Palace Museum)
For example, Cao Zhao at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty commented in the "Treatise on gegu essentials": "There are blue flowers and five-colored flowers, and they are very vulgar. The definition of "customary" hidden behind it, in addition to the lack of cultural accomplishment of the suspected Jinren Yuanren, is roughly the closer it is to satisfying the sensual pleasure or flattery and pandering, and the closer it is to the vulgar.
The difference between aesthetics among the niche masses is objectively existent. The public tends to prefer bright colors, and the more colors the better. Taking the Apple mobile phone as an example, Jobs's iPhone before his death only had two colors of black, silver and white, and two years after his death, there was a local luxury gold, and now there are more than twenty colors, and personal preferences finally give way to promotion.
When porcelain is not a work of art but a commodity, it is inevitable to go to the other end of the popular world, and not everyone is as green-eyed as Song Huizong in this particular aesthetic style - and the commodity must win the majority.
Qing xian feng ji red glazed porcelain bowl. Compared with the Song Dynasty, it was easy to fire glazes of various colors in the Qing Dynasty, but the artistic value of porcelain was not simply based on the porcelain-making process or the age. (Exhibits of Chengdu Museum)
Judging beauty requires certain standards, and the most difficult is the standard: seemingly high-end, may be ungrounded self-righteousness; It seems to be clichéd, but it may also be a classic of wearing brown jade. Large, it may be magnificent or it may be large and undignified; Small, it may be a narrow atmosphere or a leaf and a world.
Simplicity, may be the real simplicity of the complex or just monotonous; Complexity may be unnecessary showmanship, or it may be the complexity and simplicity of the moon.
In addition to the rain over the azure, there are also the pink of the first bloom of peonies, the yellow of the sunset molten gold, the green of the verdant, the red of the sun like blood, and there is no lack of rainbows or birds of color, and no color is naturally superior to other colors.
So beauty varies not only from person to person, but also from time to time and place. If beauty can be simply defined by simple style and simple color, then the criterion for judging beauty is much easier, and how to calculate the faience pottery that existed as early as prehistoric times?
The National Museum holds a collection of Yangshao culture fish pattern faience pots. Monochrome or color is not a simple criterion for determining the artistic value of artifacts. (Source: National Museum)
In fact, porcelain has both the beauty of the natural carved and decorated qingshui hibiscus, as well as the vivid beauty of the colorful gold, which is difficult in a pair of insightful, tasting, floating essence, and de-counterfeiting wisdom. The difference between fine products and vulgar utensils is often not a judgment, but only between a millimeter of a line.
Although beauty is difficult to define and interesting is not controversial, the elegant beauty of official kiln porcelain as a symbol of Song Dynasty civilization, and its low-key and calm, bright but not dazzling, and simple and powerful signature style, are also really impressive.
With the development of science and technology, the craftsmanship of imitation by future generations has become more and more exquisite, but no matter how much imitation is chaotic, the imitation of later generations does not have the frank meaning of the original Song people, but it is common parrot learning tongue cottage gas.
Ru kiln azure glaze oval daffodil pot, the seventh surviving Ru kiln daffodil pot. ("Empty Streamer" exhibit)
Qing Yongzheng imitated ru glazed rectangular pots. The imitation Song porcelain of the Yongzheng Dynasty has been a fine product of imitation Song porcelain after the Song Dynasty. ("Empty Streamer" exhibit)
More opinions such as Ma Weidu believe that "there is no philosophical factor in the aesthetics of ceramics after the Song Dynasty", and this is the reason why Song porcelain is still difficult to reach.
Ru kiln azure glazed sunflower-shaped tea cup holder. Fragile porcelain is not easy to pass down to this day, and the daily necessities of the court thousands of years ago have long been works of art in museums. ("Empty Streamer" exhibit)
Porcelain is still an indispensable daily necessity in life, touching and seeing each other every day. (Exhibits of Chengdu Museum)
Porcelain, which is both a daily necessity and a work of art, may not only be practical and appreciative. The color of porcelain depends on the content of metal elements, for example, the more iron content of celadon is, the blacker it is, and the whiter it is; The main component of the enamel is grass and wood ash; The formation of porcelain tires must be water and porcelain clay; The firing of porcelain requires a furnace fire...
As an artifact that integrates the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire and earth, the meaning of porcelain in the eyes of the ancients may far exceed the so-called aesthetics sought after by today's people. The mystery hidden beneath the style and glaze color may be the key to determining how porcelain was made.
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