【What the Reader Says】
Author: Li Yanzu (Distinguished Professor of Jiangsu Normal University, Professor of Tsinghua University)
China is the mother country of ceramics, as early as the early Neolithic period, Jiangxi Wannian County Xianren Cave, Hunan Daoxian Yu toad Rock and other primitive people's gathering places appeared primitive pottery firing and use, which is characterized by thick, low firing temperature; Since then, many pottery such as gray pottery, red pottery, faience pottery, black pottery, white pottery and so on have gradually appeared on the land of China, most of which are the products of the characteristics of the times and the wisdom of design made by the primitive people for life and production. In the Jiangnan area of the late Neolithic period, porcelain pottery appeared on the basis of printed hard pottery, the so-called "primitive celadon porcelain", which laid the foundation for the firing of porcelain. Entering the Eastern Han Dynasty, porcelain, that is, celadon porcelain, with the increase of firing temperature and the use of porcelain raw materials, was successfully fired in Yuyao, Cixi and other places in Zhejiang, making China the earliest to enter the era of "porcelain". During the Wei and Jin dynasties, the kilns in the north fired "white porcelain" that was different from the south due to many factors of porcelain raw materials, and thus "Southern Qingbei White" created a new era in the history of the development of Chinese ceramics, until the emergence of colored porcelain.
Pictures of The Ru Kiln (Song) Three-legged Scroll from the History of Celadon Art
Thousands of peaks of emerald color, such as jade ice, famous kilns competing for beauty, porcelain art, creating the peak of celadon art in the Song Dynasty
From the perspective of the history of ceramic development, celadon is the earliest ceramic category, "south green and north white" celadon porcelain, first of all, relative to white porcelain, with the development of national porcelain production, the improvement of porcelain making technology and the use of new materials for porcelain making, blue and white porcelain continue to form different porcelain systems with regional characteristics and famous kilns, such as the famous celadon "secret color porcelain" of the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty Longquan celadon and so on, at this time the celadon is not only a kind of porcelain relative to white porcelain, but a representative porcelain standing on the peak of porcelain making.
As early as the Tang Dynasty, "secret color porcelain" was valued by people. The late Tang Dynasty poet Tortoise Meng once wrote a poem called "Secret Color Yue Instrument". The Song Ren Ye Zhi's "Tan Zhai Pen Balance" said: "The last custom is still beautiful, not expensive copper magnetic, so there are secret color kiln ware." The saying goes, 'The Qian clan has a national day, and the yuezhou is burned in, and it is not allowed to be used by the subjects, so the cloud is secretly colored'. Tortoise Mengshi: 'The nine autumn winds dew more and more kilns open, and seize the green color of a thousand peaks. Good to the mid-night feast, the common ji in the scattered bucket cup. 'It is known that the Tang Dynasty already existed, not from the Qian clan. This record was confirmed on the 13 pieces of secret color porcelain excavated from the underground palace of Famen Temple in 1987 and recorded in the inscription of the underground palace, which also confirmed that the so-called "Thousand Peaks and Green Color" in the poem of the late Tang Dynasty tortoise Meng's "Secret Color Yue Instrument" is not a false word. Mr. Ye Zhemin, a historian of ceramics, pointed out that the name of "secret color porcelain" began in the Middle Tang Dynasty and was burned in the five generations, and it was mostly used as a synonym for the finest products of Yue kilns.
Picture of Song Guan kiln Qun-shaped bottle from "History of Celadon Art"
In the "Tea Classic", Lu Yu praised the Yue kiln celadon "like jade ice" of "Qianfeng Cui", which is different from the silver and snow-like silver and snow-like porcelain of Xing kiln white porcelain. The connection between celadon and the color and character of jade is related to the Chinese nation's admiration of jade since ancient times, and the beautiful words of tasting jade are often used to evaluate celadon porcelain, so that the shadow celadon produced by the Jingdezhen kiln during the Tang and Song dynasties is called "fake jade" and "jade shadow green". According to the "Jingdezhen Taolu", "Tang Wudezhong town people pottery jade people carried porcelain into Guanzhong, called fake jade, and offered to the dynasty, so Changnan Town porcelain name world"; Another Tang kiln is the Huo kiln, "the porcelain color of the kiln is also plain, the soil is greasy, the quality is thin, and the best one is as beautiful as jade".
In the history of Chinese ceramics, the Song Dynasty had six major kilns and five famous kilns. The six major kiln systems include the Dingyao system, the Yaozhou kiln system, the Jun kiln system, the Cizhou kiln system, the Longquan celadon system in the southern region, and the Qingbai porcelain system in Jingdezhen. The five famous kilns are Ru kiln, guan kiln, Ge kiln, Jun kiln and Ding kiln. Ru kiln is also a celadon kiln, the first of the five famous kilns, the kiln site in the present-day Baofeng County, Henan Province, Qingliang Temple, which was not fired for the court for a long time, but its glaze color is as lustrous as jade, especially azure glaze is the most. Ru porcelain glaze belongs to the semi-emulsion glaze, from the glaze material, there is an analysis that the glaze contains agate end, contemporary Ru porcelain glaze is also equipped with agate end. According to the literature, some scholars pointed out that the azure glaze should have been created by Chai Rong of the Fifth Dynasty of Zhou Shizong, "The wood kiln began in Bi, and it is said that on the day of the vessel, Sejong approved its form: 'Where the rain passes through the sky and the clouds break, the color of the person is like the future'. The Ming Dynasty Zhang Yingwen's "Qing Secret Collection": "On kiln ware, it will be known that Chai Ru guan ge ding, chai can not be obtained." Smell its clouds: green as the sky, bright as a mirror, thin as paper, sound like a chime. This must be seen for one's own sake, and it is true. Qing Gaoshiqi's "Guitian Collection" Yun: "Who sees the color of the wood kiln, the azure rain is outdated." Ruzhou porcelain is more similar, and the official bureau is selfless. The pink tire is completely clean, and the light is dark. Fingers are snapped, and flowers must be planted. "Sejong's wood kilns do not see heirlooms, and as far as the literature is concerned, the glaze color of the chai and Ru kilns, such as jade, is the key to the owner's treasure and appreciation.
Mr. Ye Zhemin believes in the "History of Chinese Ceramics" that Ru kiln celadon has a close relationship with Yue kiln. In Zhejiang, the Longquan kiln and the Southern Song Dynasty official kiln were inherited and pushed to the peak of the Yue kiln celadon process. Longquan kiln is located in Longquan City, Zhejiang Province, and is a famous source of celadon since the Song Dynasty. According to the Ming Dynasty's "Zhejiang Tongzhi" record, "70 miles south of Chuzhou County, liuhua mountain, under the mountain is Liutian, most of the residents are engaged in pottery, and it is said that there were zhangsheng and two brothers in the past." The two did not know when the person, the main Ryuta burned the green vessel, the most beautiful crown at that time. The brother is called 'brother kiln', and the brother is called 'sheng er kiln'. Many documents in the Chuzhou FuZhi and the Longquan County Chronicle also have similar records: "Zhang Sheng'er did not know when he was a person, he tasted the main Ryutian kiln, and the mortal vessels were born out of the two, that is, Qingying, pure and flawless, such as beautiful jade." However, a bottle of a bowl is often more than ten gold. His brother's name is Zhang Shengyi, and the kilns of his master are all light white and broken, and the name is 'Hundred Broken Pieces', which is also the crown of the world. "From the perspective of the firing history of Longquan kiln, as early as the fifth generation and the Northern Song Dynasty, Longquan kiln has formed its own porcelain-making characteristics, its celadon shape is thick and dignified, the decoration is refined, the decorative techniques are diverse, such as carving, pasting, engraving, printing and other techniques, its ornamentation such as lotus petal pattern, string pattern and other concise and generous, glaze color is bluish yellow or bluish brown. The Southern Song Dynasty was the heyday of its development, and its ceramics were diverse and diverse, not only plates, bowls, saucers, cups, stoves, cups, cups, water injections and other daily utensils in the study room, but also Buddhist statues such as the Eight Immortals and Guanyin. Through the rational configuration of porcelain clay and glaze, the improvement of furnace kilns, the improvement of kiln technology and other aspects, the firing has successfully produced representative glaze colors such as pink green, plum green and verdant green, and has become a famous masterpiece of Song Dynasty ceramics.
Song Longquan kiln celadon lotus petal bowl picture selected from "History of Celadon Art"
The famous "official kilns" of the Song Dynasty were divided into two categories: "old officials" and "new officials". The so-called "old official" refers to the Northern Song Dynasty official kiln, and the "new official" refers to the Southern Song Dynasty official kiln. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Gu Wenxian mentioned in the "Negative Miscellaneous Records" that during the Xuanzheng period (1111-1125), "self-placed kiln firing, known as the official kiln". According to the Southern Song Dynasty's Ye Zhi 'Tan Zhai Bi Heng's Record:' Between zhenghe and jingshi, the jingshi set up a kiln to burn, known as the official kiln. Zhongxin crossed the river, and there was Shao Chengzhang lifting the Houyuan and the Shao Bureau. Raiding the legacy of the old Capital, the kiln was placed in the Xiunei Temple, and the name of the inner kiln was built. The clay is exemplary and extremely delicate. The glaze color is clear and cherished by the world. The Ming Dynasty Cao Zhao's "Treatise on gegu essentials" and Gao Lian's "Yan XianQing Appreciation Notes" and other works have relevant records. From the 1930s and 1940s to the end of the 20th century, some sites of the Southern Song Dynasty official kilns were found in Hangzhou, and the ruins of the Southern Song Dynasty official kilns and the tiger cave sites of Turtle Mountain were excavated through scientific archaeology and a large number of relevant materials were obtained.
As a famous celadon kiln in the Song Dynasty, the official kiln has a lot of uniqueness in art. First, the ceramic categories are diverse, adapting to the various needs of court life, such as plates, bowls, bottles, zun, stoves, washing, plates, yao, etc., imitation bronze and jade have become an important source of their modeling styles; The second is the graceful and dignified shape, with royal momentum; Third, the glaze color is thick and dignified, mainly cyan, and the color is rich, especially the "purple iron foot" and "ice cracking piece" formed by the thick glaze of the thin tire, so that the official kiln celadon shows the amazing beauty of luster connotation, jade like ice, and thousands of contexts.
The celadon system worthy of attention in the Song Dynasty also has the original shadow celadon of Jingdezhen. The firing history of Jingdezhen kilns can be traced back to at least the Tang Dynasty, song Dynasty blue and white porcelain is also known as "shadow blue", "ying qing" and "hidden blue", the glaze is blue glaze, and the porcelain tire is relatively white, and the color is between green and white. The decorative techniques are mainly based on scratching and carving flowers, and the themes are mostly lotus flowers, water patterns, peonies, swimming fish, baby plays, etc., which can be described as "thin and firm, glazed blue and moist, crystal transparent, beautiful as jade".
A history of ceramics is a history of civilization, a history of culture, and a history of artistic creation
As far as celadon is concerned, the Song Dynasty celadon created a new realm of Chinese ceramic aesthetics, and also established a high-order ruler for the shape and glaze color of future generations of ceramics, and constructed a new style of ceramic aesthetics. After the Song Dynasty, celadon continued to develop, and there were many new creations and achievements. In addition to celadon porcelain, new categories, new processes, new materials, new shapes, and new decorations continue to emerge, such as Yuan Qinghua, Ming and Qing Dynasty five-colored, enamel, pastel and many other colored porcelain.
"History of Celadon Art" Wu Yuebin's pictures by Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House are selected from "History of Celadon Art"
On the whole, porcelain has become a carrier of national culture and artistic wisdom and aesthetic feelings in the hands of successive generations of craftsmen and artists. Therefore, it can be said that a history of ceramics is a history of civilization, a history of culture, and a history of artistic creation. As a representative business card and relic of traditional Chinese civilization, ceramics is an outstanding contribution made by the Chinese nation to human civilization, it is not only the treasure of the world's major museums, but also the highest model of human ceramic craftsmanship and ceramic art, and has led the way in the history of up to a thousand years. This glorious history is not only worthy of our memory and praise, but also requires us to inherit, carry forward and study in depth.
Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House recently published "History of Celadon Art", written by Mr. Wu Yuebin, a native of Lishui, Zhejiang, and a professor at the School of Fine Arts and Design of Yangzhou University. After writing and completing the "History of Zhejiang Celadon Porcelain", he also focused on the writing of "History of Celadon Art", which is a work of more than 300,000 words, which can be said to be the culmination of many celadon research. As one of the readers of this manuscript, I think that there are several characteristics that deserve our affirmation and attention: First, the author systematically excavates and comprehensively sorts out the development history of Chinese celadon and constructs a narrative framework for the history of celadon history, and the information is detailed and reliable, so that readers have a clear understanding and grasp of the history of celadon development. The second is that the author tells the history of celadon from the perspective of art, that is, the history of celadon art. The writing of art history is not only selective, but also extremely important in terms of the concept of art on which it is based. The "end of art history" theory that appears in the study of contemporary art history is based on non-artistic cognition, and if this is the case, then there is no difference between "celadon art history" and "celadon history". Mr. Wu Yuebin's "History of Celadon Art", his view of art history is based on the traditional art cognition, and his narrative of the history of celadon and the interpretation of classic works are based on the scale of art and the intrinsic nature of artistic beauty. The third is the perspective of culture. Art is essentially a culture, but as far as the history of celadon is concerned, whether it is artistic or aesthetic, its historical existence is fundamentally a product of living culture, and art is only a derivative here, so it is not only reasonable but also fundamental to narrate from a cultural point of view. Just as the celadon culture, social culture, and cultural integration emphasized in the narrative of this book show that the author has a conscious humanistic consciousness, and also makes this work have a high degree of cultural cognition.
Picture of Song Ge kiln amphora three-legged furnace from "History of Celadon Art"
We know that the research on the history of Chinese ceramics has achieved quite a lot of results, but compared with the rich and magnificent historical existence, it is still relatively weak, and the historical data needs to be collected, sorted out and supplemented; It also needs to be recognized and interpreted from the height of historical development, as a classic part of the great culture and art of the Chinese nation, it needs the participation of more scholars. As a researcher of the birthplace of celadon porcelain, Mr. Wu Yuebin's unremitting efforts are worthy of our admiration and learning.
Guangming Daily ( 2022-09-01 11 edition)
Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily