The impression of Jingdezhen originally came from the title of "Porcelain Capital", which is similar to the cities of steel capital, coal capital and so on, and is known as a kind of property. Different from the modern industry in other places, Jingdezhen porcelain has a long history and exquisite craftsmanship, once as a representative of Chinese civilization at that time, hundreds of years ahead of the world, so porcelain and China have a common name "China".
From the beginning of the five generations, Jingdezhen began to produce porcelain, to the Song Dynasty began to prosper, there was a landscape of "village kiln fire, household pottery", the establishment of the Ming and Qing Dynasties Imperial Factory, concentrated raw materials, manpower, technology, capital and other aspects of high-quality resources, prompting the rapid development of Jingdezhen porcelain industry, becoming the center of porcelain making in the country. The establishment of the royal factory and the development of overseas markets have concentrated the small workshops scattered in various villages, achieved large industries, the division of labor is more and more refined, and the number of practitioners is increasing, forming a situation of "kiln households and shopkeepers are seven out of ten, indigenous two out of ten" situation, Jingdezhen has become a ceramic metropolis known as "five miscellaneous places" and "eighteen provincial docks".
In the history of 5,000 years, Chinese culture has always been based on agricultural civilization as the mainstream, which arose in the Jingdezhen porcelain industry a thousand years ago, and is unique as a traditional handicraft civilization. With a meticulous division of labor, socialized large-scale production is closer to modern industry, and thus the germ of capitalist relations of production has emerged. After a longing, I finally had the opportunity to come to Jingdezhen to understand the long history and thick ceramic culture here, and the Jingdezhen Ancient Kiln Folk Customs Expo Area is the best window.
Entering the gate of the scenic spot, the first thing you see is the statue of Tong Bin, a Ming Dynasty porcelain burning technician who is revered as the "Wind and Fire Immortal". Tong Bin is not a mythical figure, but he does have his own person in history. According to research, Tong Bin was a Ming Dynasty native, with a new character, living from 1567 to 1599 AD, a native of Fuliangli Village. Tong Bin studied at an early age, had a straight disposition, and because his parents died early, he taught to learn the art and worked in the porcelain kiln.
In the Ming Dynasty, the position of overseer was often held by eunuchs. In the twenty-seventh year of the Wanli Calendar (1599 AD), the eunuch Pan Xiang was ordered to arrive at Jingdezhen to supervise the construction of the Great Dragon Jar. However, the big dragon cylinder is huge, the process is complicated, and it has not been successfully fired many times. Pan Xiang was anxious and used various means to persecute and mutilate the porcelain workers. Indignant, Tong Bin stood up in protest and jumped into the fiery kiln to pay his bones. The next day the kiln opened, and the dragon jar was burned. In order to commemorate this upright hero, the porcelain workers called Tong Bin a "Wind and Fire Immortal" and built a "Wind and Fire Immortal Temple" next to the kiln factory. Wind and fire in fired porcelain are the most critical factors, so the traditional folk in the Jingdezhen area call it "wind and fire god", "kiln god", and "Tonggong kiln" is also called a sacred kiln.
There are 72 processes for making porcelain in Jingdezhen, and Song Yingxing of the Ming Dynasty wrote in the "Tiangong Kaiwu": "A total of one billet of power, seventy-two hands, fang ke into a tool." Among them, the micro program is not yet exhausted. "A traditional handmade porcelain workshop has been set up in the ancient kiln folk customs expo area to show the craftsmanship to tourists while producing and processing. The processed mud material is gradually formed through the process of pulling the blank, the billet, the glaze, the painting of blue flowers, etc., and the pieces of mud are processed into exquisite works of art in the hands of the craftsmen and masters, and the skilled and superb skills open our eyes.
The kiln plays a pivotal role in porcelain making, and the processed billet must go through the most critical process of firing before it can be fired into finished porcelain. In the ancient kiln folklore expo area, you can see different forms of porcelain kilns of different ages. The first thing to see is the town kiln formed in the Qing Dynasty, which is the final form of the ancient porcelain kiln is also the highest level, which is the form of exploration and study after hundreds of years of practice, which embodies the sweat, experience and wisdom of the Jingdezhen kiln workers for hundreds of years, and also represents the world's highest level of porcelain kiln construction technology at that time. This existing wood-fired porcelain kiln with the oldest, largest capacity and the largest variety of firing varieties has become a national key protected cultural relic.
There is a lion kiln opposite the town kiln, and above the lion kiln there is a representative kiln of the Ming Dynasty, named for its shape like a gourd, this gourd kiln is not simple, it is said that the famous Yuan Qinghua Ghost Valley Downhill Pot, Ming Chenghua Doucai Chicken Bowl Cup are from this kiln. In addition to the town kiln, gourd kiln, lion kiln, as well as the Yuan Dynasty mantou kiln, the Song Dynasty dragon kiln can be seen here, these ancient kilns will be re-fired several times, is the continuation of the kiln fire, but also the inheritance of the spirit.
In order to protect historical and cultural relics, Jingdezhen in the process of urban transformation, the scattered in the urban area of several ancient kilns, ancient workshops and ancient buildings for relocation, concentrated to create the Jingdezhen Ceramic History Expo Area, composed of ancient kilns and ceramic history museum two parts, has become one of the most concentrated and most quintessential tourist areas to visit Jingdezhen ceramic culture, by domestic and foreign experts and ceramic enthusiasts called "living ceramic museum".
"White as jade, bright as a mirror, thin as paper, sound as a chime", is a unique style of Jingdezhen porcelain, after thousands of years of precipitation and experience, the ceramic industry in Jingdezhen has formed a complete and precise handicraft system, its achievements are high, the influence is great, the skill is exquisite, the variety is complete, it is difficult to reach in any era and any place. The thousand-year-old porcelain is worthy of its name and has written the most brilliant page in the history of Chinese ceramics.