A pot of goldfish turned into a dragon [Qing Shao Tycoon made purple sand fish into a dragon pot]丨China Guardian 2024 Spring Auction

A pot of goldfish turns into a dragon

【Qing Shao tycoon made purple sand fish dragon pot】

Text: Huang Jianliang

Brief introduction of the work

This pot is made of high-grade azure mud, and the tire is maroon, firm and beautiful. The body of the pot is flat and round, and the whole body is finely molded with wavy rib lines, and the rhythm is orderly. This style is commonly known as the fish dragon type, there is a scumbag sitting on the top of the gland, its back is a button, when pouring out the soup, the probe sticks out the tongue, the whimsy, the super easy and exquisite, is the best place for the whole instrument. The dragon turtle swims in the water, pulling out the cloud water pattern on the cover surface, rippling to the body of the pot, rippling to a bay stream, and will be in the center of the bottom of the foot. The body of the pot is decorated with a dragon and a fish on both sides of the body of the pot with a dragon and a fish, the fish is angry and jumping, and the dragon is half hidden in the water waves, probing the head and spitting out the beads, and its tail appears in the handle of the pot. The whole instrument is stable, the mud decoration is unambiguous, the line surface is clear, vivid, and it is really a good system. The word "tycoon" is an oval small stamp.

The fish leaps over the dragon gate and becomes a dragon

The earliest written record of the legend of the fish and dragon was found in the Han Dynasty Xin's "Three Qin Chronicles", which was further developed into the meaning that fish and dragon can change into each other, and then transformed into the meaning of "fish leaping over the dragon gate and becoming dragons". The ancients are like taking righteousness, often used to compare the scholars to the cold window hard reading, overnight to become rich, the price of a hundred times the situation, the pottery hand to accept it, because it turned into the creation of purple sand rib patterned ware.

At present, the most well-known fish-shaped dragon pot was first made by Shao Daheng (1796-1850), a famous purple sand player in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. Li Jingkang (1890-1960) pointed out in "The Illustrated Examination of Yangxian Clay Pots" that Shao Daheng's fish-turned dragon pot "may also imitate Zhongmei's relics", and there is a poem: "Whoever makes the pot is immortal." In the past, I heard that Zhongmei was like a fish and dragon, and I wanted to vomit my heart and liver. Chen Zhongmei (?-?), a famous sand kneader in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty. Zhou Gaoqi (1596-1645) listed it as a "divine product" in his "Yangxian Tea Pot Series", saying that it "is good for pots and soil, and it is intended to create all kinds of plays... or the dragon plays with the waves, stretching out its claws and eyes." With Li Jingkang's words, it can be pushed to the "dragon playing the waves, stretching out its claws and eyes" seen by Zhou Gaoqi, which should be the predecessor of the fish-like dragon. Although Chen Zhongmei's "dragon plays the waves, stretches out its claws out of the eyes" has not been handed down, in the book "Purple Clay Treasures", a piece of Ou Zisha "Dragon Play Haitao Applique Pot" sold in the early Qing Dynasty is recorded, that is, the lid design of the movable dragon head appears, so Shao Daheng's fish-like dragon style should have a foundation.

Appreciation of fish-style dragon craftsmanship

In the Guangxu period, the newly revised "Yixing Jingyu County New Chronicles, Volume 8, Character Art Record" talked about Shao Daheng, and remembered that "it is also a fish into a dragon pot, telescopic and spit out, and it is wonderful and natural." The tycoon died, and his law was extinguished. Local historians specifically mention the fish-dragon style, apparently because it is representative enough for potters. Sand art is a static image artwork, Shao Daheng, as a clever artist, is to extract the essence of the previous generation of works, take the movement in the stillness, so that the image is solidified in the kiln through the fire that moment of the artwork has a movement, and better than the previous generation, is to re-move the faucet and embed a tongue, so that the teapot out of the soup, when the water stops, can be telescopic and spit in. It seems that when Chen Mingyuan saw the lotus pot of his predecessors, he thought that "love is very short", so he "changed the ancient method" and created the style of "lotus seeds shake alive", and was praised by the audience as a "pot demon". Shao Tycoon's fish turns into a dragon pot, which is also a pot demon and the like. Chen Mingyuan's lotus pot is half embedded in the lotus seed on the lid and shakes it soundly, while Shao Daheng's fish-turned dragon style can move in addition to the dragon head and tongue, and it also has the function of pores and lifting, and the sentiment is obviously deeper.

Appreciating the appliqué clay pot works, in addition to the shape, the key point is whether the line outline is clear, and the skill is not deep, it will appear blurry and muddy. The cloud water pattern of this fish turning into a dragon, the fish and dragon on both sides of the body of the pot, and the cover of the top of the coffin, are all harmless. The dragon gave birth to nine sons, one of which is a turtle, which looks like a turtle, has no horns, has teeth, and the shape of the clay sculpture on the top of the cover, and the echo of the cloud water pattern of the body of the pot and the clay dragon belongs to the aquarium, which is also another innovation of Shao Daheng's fish dragon compared with the previous generation of dragons and waves. Shao Daheng is known for his craftsmanship in the appreciation of purple sand, but this fish-turned dragon pot proves that Shao Daheng also has the creative skills of an artist's emotional writing, as well as the ability to look at the whole instrument and carry out thematic creation.

Shao Daheng is his own person

According to the Yixing Genealogy of the Shaw Family, Shao was born in the 60th year of Qianlong and died in the 10th year of Xianfeng (1796-1860). The name "Youshiki", his biological father was Shao Yang, and after he became Shao Fu's heir, the original character was changed from "Dahong" to "Tycoon". The tycoon's brother Youxian (1802-1834) died young, so his son Chuanzhen became the tycoon's heir. According to the research of scholar Zong Weifang, in the record of "Yixing Jingxi County Xinzhi, Wushi, Martyred Gentry", there is an article "Shao Chuanzhen, Shangyuan people", which is suspected to be the pronunciation of "Shao Chuanzhen, Shangyuan people". The tenth year of Xianfeng was the first year of the Taiping army's real capture of Yixing, and there were more than 10,000 Yixing gentry and women who were martyred and had a record of their names, among which there was no name of Shao Daheng and his wife, but there was a record of the martyrdom of his son. According to the practice of local historical records, unless the world is special, the purple sand pottery people who are craftsmen are rarely recorded in the history, and the status of Shao Daheng, the protagonist of this article, is self-evident in the history of the cultivators.

The flesh and bones are even, and the elegance is antique

Gao Xi's "Tea Pot Says, Gift to Shao Dahengjun" commented on his own collection of pottery works in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, thinking that Wang Nanlin "has axe chisel marks in Cangjin", and the works of potters surnamed Xu are "quite vulgar, meaning close to today's famous hands, and rarely outstanding", and a Juxuan model "is old and playable, but it is inevitable that the island is thin and cold." Those who paid tribute to the palace were "a little moist, not extremely delicate." After Gao Xi looked at all the families, he sighed, "The ancient system does not exist, just like Yu Dun, Yin Hu, Ji Yi, and the sacrificial elephant can not be seen again." Gao Xi's quotation is intended to show that the breath of purple sand ware at that time in the middle of the Qing Dynasty was far away. The second meaning of Gao Xi's words may also point out the works of the middle Qing Dynasty, and there is no longer the bronze taste of the early purple sand.

Until Gao Xi saw a Shao tycoon pot, he praised the characteristics of Shao tycoon's pot art, and said antique: "Jun is not a style, and Yashan is antique, every time he sees the masterpieces of his predecessors, he will happily become a vessel." The ancient system is restored. The second is said to be appreciated by the elegant and the vulgar: "Its pot, shoulders and abdomen, flesh and bones are even, the elegance and vulgarity are appreciated, the ridicule of the unoriented, the person who knows is said to be the last, and the mouth is natural. It is said that the tycoon pot is evenly proportioned, without the disadvantages of the aforementioned Qing Dynasty, and the flow and the mud increase technique can make the whole body mellow and smooth, but without losing the spirit. The third is precision: "the mouth lid is straight and tight, although it is tilted sideways, there is no worry about the cap", that is, the accuracy of the lid is very good, and the lid will not easily loosen and fall off when pouring. "The inside of the mouth is thick and narrow, in case it is missing", it is suspected that the wall of the kettle flow pipe is thicker and the passage is narrower to prevent damage. "The air eye is small on the outside and huge on the inside, like a trumpet, so there is no disadvantage of suffocation. It means that the pore structure of the lid is flared, the inside of the lid is large, and the top of the lid is small, so that the water can be ventilated smoothly. The "good smell of the tea does not change after many years" means that the teapot has good airtightness, which can directly replace the Tibetan tea can, and the tea leaves are stored in it, and the flavor will not be lost too much after one year. Gao Xi commented that this is Shao Daheng's work "unprecedented", and the pot style "fish turns into a dragon, says a bundle of bamboo, and says the wind rolls sunflower," which is also "nothing else can do." That is, it is like seeing a lady with no hair. Shao Daheng's pot art is not only like this, the above discussion is "only to win with precision, not enough to exhaust the skill of the king." This means that none of these words are enough to describe the whole picture of the tycoon's sand art.

The above-mentioned bionic plastic objects such as the tycoon's fish dragon and a bundle of bamboo still exist today, and the fish dragon and appliqué clay sculptures can indeed show the delicacy and fineness of the tycoon's sand art, and the vegetarian ware also shows the strictness of the tycoon's craftsmanship. However, as far as the author has seen, the tycoon has gone to ancient times after all, and the bronze ancient meaning of his pot does not seem to be obvious compared with the works of the surviving Ming Dynasty, but Shao Tycoon is an artist to create pottery with the attitude of making sand pots, rather than craftsmen producing products to live, so it can change the loose and powerless purple sand pot since the middle of the Qing Dynasty, so that the sand art returns to neat and simple, perhaps this is Gao Xi's "ancient system" is also said.

Shao Daheng and Shi Dabin

From the perspective of the development history of Zisha, Dabin in the Ming Dynasty and Shao Daheng in the Qing Dynasty can be said to be a generation of giants before and after, and the interesting thing is that the encounters and personality of the two are similar in some aspects. The "New Chronicles of Jingxi County, Yixing" quoted above contains Shao Tycoon's "young and early name. Peng Nian wins with ingenuity, and tycoon wins with simplicity. The jade crystal light, the charm is gentle, and it is known to be made by famous hands. Although the tycoon is a potter, and the sex is lonely, the price is high, and it is not worth it when he is poor, a pot of gold, almost unobtainable, there is a town order to get it, buy the mud color, recruit into the department, and keep it with heavy profits. After ten years, the tycoon pretended to be an inferior person in response, and made him angry and cane, and did not call for it. It is also a fish-turned dragon pot... Among them, "sexual loneliness, self-exalted price", just as Shi Dabin "provoked to be sparse, negative and self-excited, the scholar asked for his pot, and the etiquette and simplicity were permitted." No, although it is very expensive, it is also known. (Ge Yingqiu's "The Story of the Clay Pot"). And Shao Daheng "is not worth his hardship, a pot of gold, almost impossible to get", just as Dabin "will be empty for a long time, and there is no way to call a loan, and the door will be closed day by day, and it will become a vessel" (Xu Yinglei, "The Book of Da Bin"). Another example is the creative attitude of the two, Shao Daheng is "elegant and antique, every time he sees the masterpieces of his predecessors, he will happily become a tool." Otherwise, you will do nothing all day long, or force you to do it, and you can't do it. (Gao Xi, "Tea Pot Says, Gift Shao Tycoon"). Shi Dabin "or March and May Buddha touched, or closed the door to sixty or seventy Buddha, then undressed and pounding, the head of the department and the arm for the pot, single-minded, handy, the style is not the same, strange, forced to come." (Ge Yingqiu's "The Story of the Clay Pot"). Both of them made pottery "with the intention of anger, and only one or two for it". In addition, Shao Daheng was forcibly retained by the county order, "to keep it with heavy profits." After ten years, the tycoon pretended to be an inferior person to respond, and he was angry and cane, and he did not call for it", just as Dabin was "Lingyi chased Bin pot for dozens of years, and he responded in March." Ling was angry, arrested and imprisoned, but sat in prison for more than a month, drunk and sang freely, and the pot was also deserved. The temperament of the two artists is very similar to that of the unscrupulous officials.

The character of Shi and Shao is only revealed when they are strong in the face of the powerful, but they may not be in normal times. Min Gongchen's "Tycoon Jun Xiaoxu" contains Shao Tycoon's "Approachable, very modest, but knowing the skill of the king, and the gentleman's personality is also important." It is similar to the difference between Shi Dabin and Shi Dabin in the "Yixing Porcelain Pot Record", which is "Dunya Gumu, the pot is like it, the waves are leisurely, and it is pleasing and respectful", which can be called a double Xin of virtue and art. The same is true for alcoholism, as stated in the "Tycoon Jun Xiaoxuan" that Shao Tycoon "is quite an alcoholic, often travels to Shu to drink, and returns in the evening, chic and free." Da Bin is "sexually addicted to alcohol, and the money he gets is paid to the restaurant, and he drinks with the old drama of the village husband and the village, and it is exhaustive" (Xu Yinglei, "The Book of Da Bin"). When the Shao family invited Min Gongchen to the clan to compile the family tree, Shao Tycoon lived recently, so he "went to the middle of the bureau every time", obviously very concerned about the major affairs of the clan. When Min Gongchen came to visit Shao Daheng, what he saw was "a few bright windows, and the house is clean." But when he saw that his husband and wife followed, only one daughter was on her knees. And he talked about the problem of having no heirs several times, "If you worry about the hardship of your heirs." Because of the many condolences, the gentleman is relieved. It can be seen that the family concept occupies a lot of weight in Shao Tycoon's heart, but unfortunately, as mentioned above, Shao Tycoon immediately ordered him to become an heir, and in the end he was still extinct due to the rebellion. And Jiang Yingke's "Harmonious History of Xuetao" "will be the annual exam, and the son of Shi (Dabin) also took the college exam, but the essay has not yet been completed, and Chen Gong of the academy smiled and said: "When a certain person entered the exam, his father has always been strong. In real time, Dabin asked his son to go through the back door to participate in the scientific expedition, and it can also be imagined that Dabin would rather give up the arrogance of an artist in order to pave the way for his children and grandchildren, and use the creation of sand pots as a bargaining chip to entrust people to take the relationship. In short, Shao Daheng and Shi Dabin have similarities in terms of personality and experience, both are sand masters, and their pot-making styles are the same from the perspective of Zisha history, which may be regarded as an interesting coincidence, as an in-depth understanding of Shao Daheng and his affairs.

Shao tycoon and Gu Jingzhou

Gu Jingzhou, the modern and contemporary purple sand master, is the most admired among the pottery people of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the most admired person is Shao Daheng. Interestingly, Gu Jingzhou's grandmother's surname is Shao, and she was born in the Shao family in Yixing. At the beginning of Gu Laoyihai's boating, he was led by his grandmother Shaw. Nowadays, the descendants of the Shangyuan Gu family say that Gu Jingzhou's grandmother is the granddaughter of Shao Youlan, and the relationship between Shao Youlan and Shao Daheng is cousins, which means that Gu Jingzhou and Shao Daheng are grandchildren.

But Gu Jingzhou's admiration for Shao Daheng is not only due to this in-law relationship, but also because of the long-term understanding of Yihai. Gu Jingzhou once recommended: "The tycoon is an outstanding representative of the art of clay pots. In the more than 150 years since Qingjia and Dao, there has been no one who has surpassed him. After the actual production of the tycoon's pot, "the level of pot art has taken a leap forward. And concluded: "After decades of speculation, I feel that he (Shao Daheng)'s various instruments can be called the culmination of sand art, brushing a generation of delicate and complex style. From the refinement of his clay, the mystery of aesthetics in the shape, the perfection of the creative form, and the superb skills, he has won the praise of the moment, and the reputation is high, and there is a great feeling of "not seeing the ancients before, and not seeing the comers after". This is the vision of a famous artist, and sand art lovers should not be ignored!

*《邵大亨制紫砂鱼化龙壶》

Lot 440

In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Shao tycoon made purple sand fish dragon pots

This pot is made of sea water waves and moire throughout, with fluent lines, concise and bright. On one side of the body of the pot, the embossed carp spits out three beads in the waves, and on the other side, a dragon plays with pearls in the waves, and the charm is vivid. The lid of the pot also has a movable wave of waves, and the dragon's tongue expands and expands and spits out, which is wonderful. With the handle of the dragon lin, it is integrated and has excellent skills. The fish dragon pot style was created by Shao Tycoon, and its influence has a long history, from Huang Yulin in the late Qing Dynasty to the Seven Elders of the Republic of China, until the present day, the pot shape and details almost follow the tycoon fish dragon as a template.

*"Shao Daheng made purple sand fish into dragon pot" inside the lid

Shao Daheng (1796-1850): Active in the Jiaqing Daoguang period, Yixing Shangyuan Village, Yixing Shangyuan Village, is a generation of pot makers after Chen Mingyuan, his pot making is known for its charm, how simple and solemn, and the bearing is extraordinary. Gao Xi of the Qing Dynasty said in "The Tea Pot Says to Give Shao Dahengjun": "Its teapot, neck and abdomen, flesh and bones are even, elegant and vulgar appreciation, the ridicule of those who are old, and those who know it are said to be the last." The mouth note will be out of the natural if the generation, truncated the long note is especially ancient cliff. The mouth cover is straight and tight, although it is tilted sideways, there is no worry about falling the cap, and the inside of the mouth is thick and narrow to prevent it from coming out. The air eye is small on the outside and huge on the inside, such as a trumpet, and there is no disadvantage of suffocation. And store good tea, and the smell will not change over the years. This is something that no one has ever caught before." Master Gu Jingzhou also believes that "the various transmitters of the tycoon pot can be called the culmination of sand art, and the style of brushing a generation of delicate and complicated style". The tycoon pot has been treasured in the Qing Dynasty, and has always been cherished by collectors, and has the reputation of "a pot of gold, almost unobtainable".

Seal: Tycoon (stamped).

See: Purple Clay Treasures - The Beauty of Yixing Kilns in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, pp. 46-47, Fig. 11, Taiwan Tang Craft Publishing House, November 1, 2008.

p. 172, fig. 59, published by the Urban Council of Hong Kong, 1988.

p. 88, fig. 65, published by Joint Publishing (Hong Kong) Limited, January 1992.

18.2cm.wide.; 9.5 cm.high.;373.5 g.

373.5cc.

*Refer to "Yixing Zisha Treasures" with pot type and partial printing

*Refer to "Yixing Pottery - Tea Set Cultural Relics Museum Luo Guixiang Collection" with pot type and partial printing

*Refer to "The Beauty of Yixing Pottery in the Ming and Qing Dynasties"

Mr. Wong Kin Leung Biography:

Born in 1963 at the National Palace Museum in Chiayi, Taiwan Collection Collection Jury Member, Jiangsu Yixing Institute of Ceramic Culture Academic Advisor's main works: "Jingxi Zhu Ni - Ming and Qing Yixing Zhu Ni Pot Research", "Purple Clay Collection - The Beauty of Yixing Pottery in the Ming and Qing Dynasties", "Ming and Qing Dynasty Zisha Art - Yixing Zisha Pot and Its Decoration Research" and other more than ten volumes of main papers: "Research on the Antique Public Case of Shanghai Zisha in the Early Twentieth Century", "An Examination of the Status of Mengchen Pot in the Qing Dynasty Gongfu Tea Area", "The Rheology of Taiwan Teapot from the Tea Customs" There are more than 20 articles, such as the most important hundred years of purple sand craft in the late Ming Dynasty, a preliminary study on the inscription of purple clay pots from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, tea information in shipwrecks in the South China Sea, styles and characteristics of purple clay pots exported to Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Yixing trade pots from the perspective of tea culture, a preliminary study of Hui Mengchen and Mengchen pots, a brief discussion on the calibration of vermilion pots, and a preliminary study on the plum pattern of the early export purple clay pots.

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