What is the story of Chen Mingliang in history?

Mr. Chen Mingliang is the most famous Dehua white porcelain master in the world, a master of Chinese arts and crafts, and a national representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage representative project (Dehua porcelain firing skills).

In the hall of Fujian Dehua Porcelain Art Hall, there are a dazzling array of porcelain, which are part of the collection and relatively satisfactory works of Chen Mingliang, the representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage project Dehua porcelain firing skills. This collection is called the three-legged piano furnace, also known as the Ding furnace; This piece is the Shuanglong Shou Ear Animal Foot Furnace, they are all Ming Dynasty "child red" white porcelain. These three pieces of porcelain seem to be inconspicuous, but they correspond to a kind of glaze color of the "China White" series, the one in the front left belongs to "tung oil white", the one in the back belongs to "ivory white", and the one on the far right is "green onion root white", and the word "red" in "child red" will make many people take it for granted that this is a red that is very different from pure white, but this is not the case. The so-called "child red" is the same as the skin color of children's skin, ruddy and pure, this is in the "Chinese white", this porcelain is the most precious kind of porcelain. On August 26, 2023, the "China White-Dehua White Porcelain Exhibition" opened at the National Museum of China, which set up a special area for the "Child Red" exhibits, and clearly introduced the warm color white porcelain similar to "Child Red", as well as special categories such as "Jade Red" and "Ruby Red". Based on years of white porcelain firing practice and collection experience, Chen Mingliang has conducted in-depth research from the perspectives of porcelain clay composition, glaze water color matching, porcelain and plastic techniques, kiln fuel and technology, etc., repeatedly verified, and broken through the difficulties of Dehua porcelain firing one by one. As one of the three ancient porcelain capitals in China, Dehua has relatively rich porcelain clay deposits, however, not all porcelain clay can be fired into "China white" fine products, in order to match the most suitable porcelain clay, Chen Mingliang went to Dehua and the surrounding areas of the mine I don't know how many times. This is a mine of high white porcelain porcelain clay in Jinzhukeng, in the past, Guanyin porcelain clay is this kind, the whiteness reaches more than 95%, if it is formulated with feldspar and quartz, processed and burned, it will be very white, transparent, warm, and our porcelain clay of Guanyin Qishan in Dehua County is almost the same, some are even better, twisted out of the cotton, powder-like, snow-white and snow-white, it is said that the surface layer dug out in the past, chickens, dogs will eat when they see it, it can be said that it is the best high white clay. To the uninitiated, these stones on the side of the road do not seem to be much different from the ore of the nearby high white clay except for the difference in shape, but Chen Mingliang can immediately determine their proper use by picking up a piece and looking at it twice. Like this kind of red, it is a low-temperature stone, so this burns out, it will turn white, transparent, it looks a little pink pink, it will be transparent after burning, don't look at this black impurities, in fact, it will turn white when burned, it is very useful as a transparent glaze, and it can be used with soil and glaze. Although Chen Mingliang has made a living from the large machinery in operation and the scattered mines, he is still worried when he looks at the large machinery in operation and the scattered mines. So far, it has basically been dug up, so I have to dig deeper. Today, in mining areas such as Jinzhukeng, even if those caves are dug very deep, Chen Mingliang has difficulty choosing the finest porcelain clay to create "China White" boutiques, so he has to find another way. Now good porcelain clay has to be purchased from other provinces, looking for the best high white clay, and some are even sandwiched in the middle of the red clay, digging and peeling like peeling sweet potato, and slowly screening. The ceramic industry belongs to a "fire art", since ancient times, there is a "three points to do, seven points to burn" and "life in the molding, death in the firing" said, then, what kind of fuel to use, what kind of kiln method to take, in order to burn into "child red", "green onion root white" and other white porcelain products, over the years, Chen Mingliang has been concentrating on figuring out and sparing no effort to explore this "art of fire". This is Gaoyang Village, the birthplace of Chen Mingliang, and the nearby mountains are full of mangs. Mangqi is a fern, Dehua porcelain, the earliest ancient is to use this kind of mangqi to burn, Xiaolong kiln, clay kiln is to burn porcelain with mangqing, the temperature will not be very high when burning, the highest can be burned to 1200 degrees Celsius, there is no sagger to protect, often ash will fall, produce some kiln changes, that will definitely affect the quality of ceramics. Most of the fuel for ancient Xiaolong kilns or earthen kilns was made from local materials, and the mangqi and these pine trees were used as the main fuel for the kiln. Mangqi to burn, the temperature is not up to a higher temperature, to the later kiln slowly developed, with firewood to burn, pine to burn porcelain is the best, can reach 1400 degrees Celsius, burned and vigorous, smoke and a lot, pine oil that kind of smoke, is with the glaze water changes, in ancient times, especially "child red", may be pine oil to produce changes, we now add firewood, first electric burning to more than 1,000 degrees Celsius, and then, throw the pine firewood into the burning, burn to the temperature to more than 1,000 degrees Celsius, It is possible to have that effect. Regarding the real cause of "child red", there have always been different opinions, although Chen Mingliang's point of view is a family, but it is a bold conjecture based on practice, Zheng Jiongxin, director of the Dehua Ceramics Museum, has raised it to the level of science and technology. Zheng Jiongxin said: "White porcelain in a special kiln or special firing atmosphere under the action of some minerals, especially some rare earth components, it will occur in a special kiln firing atmosphere will occur a natural kiln change, then this kiln change will form a kind of white with a little red, just like the color of baby skin, so we call it "child red", so this child red, is hard to find, is a very precious variety. The so-called kiln change, mainly refers to the porcelain in the firing stage, due to the unpredictable change of the temperature in the kiln, resulting in the glaze color of the porcelain surface with the uncertainty of natural changes, "into the kiln one color, out of the kiln ten thousand colors", is the image description of this wonderful process, through countless glaze water ratio, hundreds of firing tests, meditative and continuous understanding, Chen Mingliang gradually approached the truth of the cause of glaze color such as "child red", "green onion root white". The color of this porcelain cup is called "green onion root white", and Chen Mingliang believes that its origin is especially focused on the heat of the kiln. "Green onion root white" is also called "green onion heart white", white to blue, first of all, its material must be good, kaolin, glaze water should be good, its iron content is relatively low, porcelain clay whiteness to reach more than 95%, with firewood, may be burned to more than 1400 degrees Celsius, when the temperature reaches the highest, when the furnace is about to collapse, it will burn out "green onion root white", it is reduced firing; If it is oxidized and fired, it is "ivory white" and "lard white", so "green onion root white" is also a rare porcelain. "Ivory white", "goose egg white", "green onion root white", especially "child red", kiln change can not be artificially controlled, the ancient "child red" with gold glaze water to have a way to redden, the ancient glaze water is soil glaze, and the porcelain fetus is very well combined, when it comes to an element of firewood, it will not be so good if you use this chemical glaze water to match, the effect will not be so good, a little like that, a little similar, like this "child red", but not so natural, it is natural to burn out this pink pink in ancient times. In recent years, with the progress of kiln fuel or energy, Chen Mingliang has unremittingly carefully screened the porcelain clay, patiently adjusted the glaze water formula, and used the local preserved ancient kilns such as Taipinggong kiln and Yueji kiln to verify the ancient method passed down by the ancestors, combined the ancient method with electric energy firing, and continued to explore the secret of the "China White" series of glazes. The difference between firewood and electricity is quite large, and now there are dragon kilns that burn once a month, and we also get a test burn, but the yield is very low; If it is burned in an electric furnace now, "ivory white" is better and purer, and the yield will be a little higher. Now to imitate "child red" and "green onion root white", it is necessary to carefully prepare according to the ancient burning method, as well as porcelain clay and glaze water, and use firewood to burn, and work hard to find a way to burn so well. Since 1988, a large number of excellent works of the "China White" series such as his "Ambition in the Book" have frequently won gold and silver in domestic professional exhibitions, and in 2017, the "Ivory White" boutique "Daylight" with a unique glaze water formula has added new brilliance to Chen Mingliang's creative journey. Zheng Jiongxin said: "In 2017, when the BRICS leaders met in Xiamen, in the selection of the national ceremony, our county organized a lot of masters to create, more than 200 works, after layers of screening, and finally determined that 15 pieces were selected, Mr. Chen Mingliang created a "daylight", the shape of the work, there are many breakthroughs in the glaze, and the whole utensils are also relatively atmospheric, and they were selected for the ceremony of the BRICS leaders' meeting. In 2019, Chen Mingliang had a new plan to challenge the firing of large-scale Dehua white porcelain, first he successfully created the small white porcelain "Lao Tzu Out of the Customs", and then based on this, he aimed at the large volume of "Lao Tzu Out of the Customs" with a height of more than 50 cm. On the afternoon of March 24, 2023, a more than 70 centimeter-high "China White" "Lao Tzu Out of the Customs" porcelain in the Chen Mingliang Art Museum is being carefully transported out of the kiln, and the people on the scene are eagerly looking forward to its final kiln. Another important breakthrough in large-scale "Chinese white" porcelain will be realized, which is undoubtedly the best reward for his years of hard work, so can Chen Mingliang's good wishes finally be realized this time? It is a pity that cracks appeared in many parts of the "Yi Niu", and the firing of the large-scale "Lao Tzu Out of the Customs" of "Lao Tzu" again ended in failure. I have been doing "Lao Tzu Out of the Customs" since 2019, with a height of less than 50 cm and a relatively high success rate; Between 50 cm and 100 cm, the success rate is relatively low, this one is about 1 meter long and 70 cm high, and it has burned nearly 10 statues of such a large one, and none of them have succeeded. Because Dehua white porcelain, porcelain clay is delicate, good porcelain clay is like starch, the fired white porcelain should be warm and transparent, its temperature should be controlled at the right point, if the temperature is not enough, the porcelain will not be so beautiful, warm; If it is over-temperature, it will collapse and deform, and it is quite difficult to control the formula and temperature of the porcelain clay. These are the defective products of the large-scale "Lao Tzu Out of the Customs" fired by Chen Mingliang since 2019, witnessing the gains and losses of Chen Mingliang's challenge to the difficulties of large-scale "China White" porcelain firing, and carrying Chen Mingliang's perseverance and firm belief. Dehua porcelain firing technology this national intangible cultural heritage project, not only to do a good job, but also to burn well, single good, not good burning, is equivalent to saying that the previous efforts are abandoned, we must further study the formula, firing, each level must be grasped very well, such a big "Lao Tzu out of the customs", I hope to burn a good one. We say that a thousand kilns and a treasure, do everything to be very focused, no distractions, this is the spirit of craftsmen.

As Chen Mingliang said, as long as the spirit of craftsmanship is upheld and unswerving, the large-scale "China White" "Lao Tzu Out of the Customs" will eventually be successfully fired. Now, Chen Mingliang, who has passed the age of sixtieth year, continues to learn from the ancients, bring forth the new, decipher the "China White" code, and unremittingly collect white porcelain from various dynasties, and pass on the torch without reservation, chasing a dream in his heart for many years. Since 1998, I have collected a large number of them, and I have a dream to be able to run a decent ceramic museum, and in 2019, our Dehua County People's Government provided a piece of land for ourselves to build a museum here, which is to truly realize the dream of my life.