(44) Zhou Ronglin: A Treatise on the Special Significance of the Great Dragon Cylinder of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (3) The firing of the Great Dragon Cylinder interprets the great story of the history of Jingdezhen ceramics
The special significance of the great dragon jar in the history of the development of Chinese ceramics is that it links the representative figures of the pottery inspector and the porcelain industry workers, and interprets one story about ceramics in Jingdezhen, reflecting the political, economic and folk culture of Chinese society at that time.
First of all, the representative figure we mentioned related to the "Great Dragon Tank" is the eunuch Pan Xiang. The 27th year of the Wanli Mining Tax made Pan Xiang concurrently "supervise the Jiangxi Porcelain Factory", and he supervised the manufacture of dragon cylinders, but he repeatedly failed to burn them, so he tortured the craftsmen. The craftsman, who was already hungry and miserable, was destroyed by this, and the pile craftsman boy was angry and jumped out of the kiln. Later, the big dragon jar was burned, but the porcelain workers paid the price with their lives. Pan Xiang was the representative of the cool officials among the overseers, and he was harsh on the kilns and ruthlessly squeezed the kiln workers, so that "the people of Jingde want to eat their flesh". His scourge even spread to the whole province of Jiangxi, and in the 30th year of the Wanli Calendar (1602 AD), Pan Xiangsong asked to add a ship to deliver porcelain, and the 13 provinces of Jiangxi built one for each province. At that time, it cost a million dollars to build a ship. The Ming Dynasty's Tao Officials generally served as Middle Officials, that is, eunuchs, and the oppression and exploitation of the common people by the Lieutenant Officials when they supervised Tao in Jingdezhen was an ordinary phenomenon, and Pan Xiang was a typical representative of the Tao Officials at that time.
Also a supervisor, Tang Ying is another type. In the sixth year of Qing Yongzheng (1728 AD), Tang Ying took the title of foreign minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and was appointed as the inspector of the Jingdezhen Royal Kiln Factory, for more than 20 years, until qianlong stepped down in the twenty-first year (1756 AD), Tang Ying's pottery was a glorious page in the history of the development of Chinese ceramics. The Qing Dynasty accepted the lessons of the Ming Dynasty, regarded the Zhongguan DouTao as a cheating government, and dismissed him, while the imperial court sent officials to the Imperial Factory to supervise Tao. It turns out that this is a progress, and Zang Yingxuan, Liu Yuan, Lang Tingji, Nian Xiyao, etc. among the Qing Dynasty's governors have a good record in the history of ceramic development, of which Tang Ying is the most prominent one.
The relationship between Tang Ying and the dragon cylinder, first of all, the success of the firing of the great dragon cylinder in the Qing Dynasty was achieved during the Tang Ying doutao. Before that, many years of firing could not be achieved, and the successful firing of the dragon cylinder was a porcelain-making achievement of the "Tang Kiln". Related to the Dragon Jar, Tang Ying also wrote the "Biography of the Vulcan God" and the "Dragon Jar Record", which expressed the thoughts and feelings of the Inspector Tao. In the Biography of the Vulcan God, he wrote: "Since the Tang and Song dynasties and the former Ming Dynasty, its service has become increasingly prosperous. During the Wanli Dynasty, the internal overseer Pan Xiang served Yu Dongzao and sent servants to the people, and the Tong clan responded to the retribution, and the great clan members did not dare to go to it, and the gods resolutely carried out the service. When a great instrument is made, if it is not finished, or if it is whipped, or if it is famine, the gods are wounded with compassion, and they are willing to make a bone as a salary, and the instrument of the servant will leap into the fire. The next day, the kiln was opened, and the fruit was finished. He is the one who has no means of perfection. Here Tang Ying sympathized, affirmed and praised the kiln worker Tong Bin, and exposed, denied and opposed the former imperial governor Tao Guan and harsh government. It is invaluable that a feudal governor had such a clear progressive stance. Tang Ying saw that the broken dragon jar that had been rejected during the Wanli Dynasty was lifted to the shrine, built a high platform and displayed it, and said that this was not "good ancient" or "cherished things", but that there was the blood, flesh and bones and essence of the kiln workers on this dragon jar, for which it was necessary to "add treasure weight".
Tang Ying expressed three meanings for Tong Bin's jumping dragon cylinder kiln, the first of which was to sympathize with the difficulty of burning the dragon jar: "Whether the success of things does not concern one person, the beauty and evil of the instrument are not exclusively responsible"; then, sympathizing with the pain of the kiln workers and their families: "Once thrown into flames, there is no pain of cutting off the wife, and the pain of refining with flesh and bones"; and then the praise of tong Bin's spirit: "The pawn can help the state and lend the life of a hundred workers, how magnificent!" However, the death of God can also be the spirit of loyalty, and the heart of a righteous man." After reading Tang Ying's "Biography of the Vulcan God" and "Dragon Cylinder", it is not difficult to understand why Tang Ying was able to eat and sleep with the craftsmen for three years, immerse himself in the porcelain making process and achieve brilliant achievements.
Because of the firing of the dragon jar, Tong Bin jumped into the kiln and became the god of the kiln sacrificed by the porcelain workers in later generations. The porcelain industry customs of worshipping the god of the kiln have positive significance for inheriting excellent cultural traditions, carrying forward the ceramic spirit of Jingdezhen, and promoting the continuous development of China's ceramic industry.
The Dragon Jar Kiln and the Great Dragon Jar are the splendid wonders that shine in the hundred gardens of traditional Chinese ceramics.