Antique porcelain is an imitation of the exquisite porcelain of previous generations.
The antique porcelain in Beijing mainly imitates the colorful porcelain items from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty before the Qianlong reign. Most of these items are Jiangxi Jingdezhen porcelain from official kilns.
The imitation of famous porcelains from past dynasties began in the Ming Dynasty, and became particularly popular in the Qing Dynasty, with manufacturing offices set up.
The white porcelain body was fired in Jingdezhen and transported to the capital. Craftsmen were hired to imitate traditional painting methods to add new paintings, then bake and dye them to make imitation old porcelain for the imperial court's internal rewards and external exchange needs.
After the Revolution of 1911, the family fortunes of the palace, some royal families, and bureaucrats declined, and some fine porcelain flowed into the private sector.
Regardless of their shape or decoration, these porcelains are rare and exquisite among the people, but the quantity is not large, so they have become a hot commodity in the domestic and foreign markets. As a result, the folk antique porcelain industry in Beijing developed.
However, before 1949, this industry was dominated by individual craftsmen, and the variety and quantity of products were limited.
And coincidentally, the two most famous people are both named Zhan.
Zhan Yuanguang was born in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province.
In 1903, he came to Beijing from Jingdezhen and made imitation Ming and Qing official kiln porcelain for antique dealers. The color heads were so similar to the originals that it was difficult to tell the authenticity.
His wages are extremely high, and ordinary antique shops cannot afford them.
He once made a pair of Qianlong imperial kiln enamel porcelain bowls for Rong Xingxiang of Dongsi Archway.
The color quality is as delicate as grease, the colors are fresh and tender, and the painting workmanship is exquisite.
The labor price is 400 yuan, and the construction period is nearly a year.
However, his skills have not been passed down to others and his works are very few.
Zhan Xingxiang is from Wuyuan County, Anhui Province.
He came to Beijing in the early years of the Republic of China and lived in Shihu Hutong, Dongzhu City, where he specialized in repairing porcelain and firing and hanging colored porcelain.
The labor is cheap and the works are plentiful.
In the 1930s, he fired a five-inch pastel dish from the Yongzheng official kiln. Originally, the inside of the dish was plain white and the outside was decorated with colorful flowers.
Zhan Xingxiang painted five butterflies and small flowers on the plate and filled them with pastel colors, creating a special and unique back-hanging color masterpiece with both fighting colors and pastel colors. Antique porcelain color matching and color filling are the key to the craftsmanship, and the resulting colors must be the same as the original after baking.
The colors are consistent.
Porcelain is baked in a small kiln. Without an electric furnace, it is difficult to control the temperature.
Zhan Xingxiang relies on experience to control the temperature of the kiln, and the colors produced are just right.
His unique color matching skills were passed on to his apprentice Liu Yongqing, who developed this skill and became a famous master of post-painting technology.
In the early 1940s, Liu Yongqing independently fired and hung colored porcelain, painted and baked hundreds of pieces of colored porcelain imitating the official kilns of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
His imitation of the Ming and Wanli multicolored "Mandarin Duck Plate in the Lotus Pond" has become a national first-class cultural relic and is collected in the museum.
The Kangxi blue and white "Yellow Plum Vase" was collected by a Shanghai collector in 1944.
Four pairs of Yongzheng pastel "Peony Bowls" were sold by Baoguzhai to the Japanese Yamanaka Chamber of Commerce in 1945 for NT$400 per pair.
Liu Yongqing imitated Yongzheng blue and white porcelain and Kangxi underglaze red porcelain as the best, but his products were very few.
In the 1950s, an antique dealer from the port city invited him to perform in Paris, France, but he declined.
After that, Liu Yongqing was resettled by the state and was able to work at the Jingcheng Handicraft Factory on Nanbinhe Road outside Guang'anmen.
This factory was the only professional manufacturer of antique porcelain in Beijing after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
It's just that although Liu Yongqing is highly skilled, he is stubborn and aloof.
For this reason, his relationship with the factory leaders was quite unharmonious.
There are also hidden secrets in teaching skills.
For example, he passed on general skills such as painting, color filling, and calligraphy to his apprentices.
But the ingredients, color matching, firing blue and white porcelain, and red underglaze firing techniques have never been passed down to others.
In the late 1970s, a ceramics factory owned by a township enterprise in the suburbs of Beijing hired the company at a high price to copy porcelain from official kilns of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Liu Yongqing even resigned from public office because of a grudge against his leader, which was extremely unwise and cut off his own future.
But what he never expected was that he would only find out that he had been deceived.
The structure of this township enterprise is really not high, and he was hired just to seek short-term profits. Most of the products he produced were ordinary products, with few high-quality products.
At this time, he could only temporarily work hard for the township and village enterprises, hoping to help the township and village factories develop and grow, and regain the conditions to use his talents in the future.
But things didn't go as planned. Not only did the township factories have no ambitions, they were also extremely unfriendly.
By 1982, due to the downturn in the antique porcelain market and the employees of the township factory having mastered basic production techniques, Liu Yongqing was mercilessly fired by the factory.
At this time, Liu Yongqing, of course, regretted it too late.
It can be said that when he returned to Beijing again, he was old and had no one to rely on.
And at this time, even if he wanted to pass on his unique skills, it was already too late.
No matter whether he recommended himself or received recommendations from friends, no one would cooperate with him.
You know, the market for antique porcelain is really bad these days. No one wants the real thing, let alone the imitation.
Therefore, in the capital city of this era, it was not just the "Putao Chang" family that was worried about the inheritance of their skills.
The number of people who lose their talents is no less than the number of wild animals that become extinct in the world every year.
Just like Liu Yongqing, he finally had to lower his head, which he had held high all his life, to make a final effort.
I could only go to the leader of the Jingcheng Handicrafts Factory where he worked before, hoping to give him a chance to open a kiln and pass on his skills.
Liu Yongqing doesn’t want any professional title or salary, he just wants to keep his name.
It really makes everyone in the factory know the color matching method of the hanging color process. It would be fine if it was passed down by Liu Yongqing.
But it is a pity that even if you keep your attitude so low, you will still inevitably encounter indifference and humiliation.
Liu Yongqing made several trips by himself, but he couldn't even see anyone who could take care of things.
I can only sit on the bench and be laughed at by my old colleagues in the factory.
I went there so often that in the end I wasn't even allowed to enter the factory gate.
Even the communication room received an order not to let him into the factory to harass the leaders at work.
In the end, Liu Yongqing had no choice but to seek help from Ye Hemin, a ceramics expert with whom he had contact in his previous work.
He hopes that with his status and influence in the industry, he can convince the factory leaders to allow him to return to the factory and pass on his skills.
It should be said that this last attempt by Liu Yongqing was on the right track.
Since Ye Hemin was an academic expert in the industry, the Jingcheng Handicraft Factory had no choice but to give him face and shut him out.
So a deputy director in charge of production finally came forward to receive them and allowed Liu Yongqing to state his demands in person.
But this is just out of politeness.
Because when I listened, the deputy director clearly expressed his disdain and impatience.
As if he was wandering outside, he tapped his knuckles on the table and tapped his feet on the ground under the table.
And when Liu Yongqing finished saying everything he wanted to say, he didn't respond for a long time and just continued tapping with his knuckles.
Accompanied by the sound of the hands on the wall clock that is neither fast nor slow - tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick...
One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes. Five minutes. Eight minutes...
Such drying made Liu Yongqing feel uncomfortable.
Even Ye Hemin couldn't stand it and had to take the initiative to lobby for Liu Yongqing.
"Director of the Chai Factory, we have known each other for more than ten years. I came here to serve as a consultant not long after the factory was built. We should be considered friends, right? Then I can speak directly about the conflicts between Master Liu and the factory.
I don't know the details. But this time Master Liu came to me because he really regretted some of his past ways of doing things. He just wanted to leave his unique skills to our factory, which can also be considered as leaving some real stuff to our factory.
I think Master Liu’s skills are well-known, and he doesn’t ask for any kind of treatment. The factory won’t refuse his kindness, right?”
Only then did the deputy director respond.
He sighed and said, "Mr. Ye, it's not that I don't know Master Liu's ability. If he opens a kiln to make porcelain and brings in a few apprentices, he can indeed retain Master Liu's skills. But the factory is short of funds now! Antique porcelain
The demand itself is not much. We really can’t afford to invest in technology.”
"Today, few people like old things. Most of those who buy new porcelain are just looking for a bargain. As for those who can afford to spend money to buy antique porcelain, why don't they buy real old porcelain? So the key is
The question is, how can we get back the money we invested? No matter how good Master Liu’s skills are, it’s all in vain if no one can afford the porcelain he makes.”
"Is technology like this really useful? This is the question we need to understand correctly now. In the past, when Master Liu was in our factory, we asked for his technology, but now the situation is different. Nothing else.
It is said that people's township and village enterprises explain everything with their actions. So if these technologies are really valuable, how can they not want them..."
These words were said politely, but in fact they made him feel more uncomfortable than slapping Liu Yongqing.
What are heart-wrenching words? This is it!
When Liu Yongqing listened, his cheeks seemed to hurt.
And the most embarrassing thing was that he didn't know whether it was better to keep the forced smile on his face or to close it.
"I know that the sales situation of our antique porcelain is not very good, and I can understand the difficulties of our factory. But this cannot deny the technical value of antique porcelain, nor can we deny the technical level of Master Liu. After all, we are a state-owned handicraft factory. In addition to economic benefits,
In addition, do we also have the responsibility to create social benefits and protect arts and crafts skills? It should be for long-term considerations..."
Seeing Liu Yongqing forcing a smile on his face was even uglier than crying, and he was a little distorted.
Ye Hemin couldn't bear it, so he advocated for him again and tried his best to persuade him.
What he said was indeed the truth and what he said from his heart.
It's a pity that he is a scholar who studies ancient porcelain and is an expert on academic issues.
But when it comes to shirking responsibility and making excuses, how can he be the opponent of the deputy factory?
"Mr. Ye, please don't make it difficult for me. What you said is all right, but the actual situation does not allow it. If the workers in the factory know that I have used everyone's bonus money to open a kiln to make porcelain, why don't I
The office was destroyed? I can’t even survive tomorrow, so how can I survive in the long run?”
"It's just that the workers don't make trouble. What do the other master craftsmen in the factory think of me? They are still in the factory. If you want to ask me why I don't help them open a kiln and retain the skills of firing porcelain, but instead invest so much in it for outsiders. What can I say?
ah?"
"I am the most loyal person in my life. This time, it is really different. I am quite embarrassed..."
In this way, after trying again and again and encountering rejection again and again, Liu Yongqing still failed to get his wish.
When more than half an hour passed, Liu Yongqing himself almost gave up.
He didn't want to listen anymore, and he didn't dare to listen anymore.
With his knees and ankles shaking, he stood up on his own. The wall he was holding on felt as cold as iron.
In despair, he said nothing and slowly walked towards the door.
There is only one thought running through my mind.
"Trash...trash...my craftsmanship has become rubbish, no one wants it anymore...be smart and let's go..."
After leaving the door, Liu Yongqing suddenly felt dizzy again. He was holding on to the wall with trembling hands and could not walk.
The pair of feet were as heavy as lead and seemed to no longer belong to him.
Paralysis also spread throughout his body along with his nerves, and even his thinking became sluggish.
So much so that even when Ye Hemin, who was chasing him, helped him and asked him, he found it difficult to answer.
"Uh, uh, um."
Liu Yongqing's throat resounded with the words, "This is the only thing."
He felt as if he had been struck by thunder.
Before him were difficulties that he had never imagined in his life and that he could not overcome.
The ancients said that when the world's evil situation fades away, everything will change.
He now truly understands the sadness of being abandoned by fate and losing all hope in life like the first half of the sentence.
Fortunately, the second half of the sentence is not a bad word at all.
You know, the biggest coincidence in life is that there is no way out, but there is a bright future in another village.
In fact, just when Liu Yongqing's spirit and body could hardly withstand the blow and were about to collapse, a miracle happened.
There were footsteps in the corridor, and the factory director and secretary came over with several people.
And with a lot of photos in his hand, he became very affectionate when he saw Liu Yongqing, and there was no trace of indifference or disgust at all.
"Master Liu, you haven't left yet. That's great, great! We were really afraid that you would leave. Hey, please help me quickly. Can you bake the yellow-and-blue-and-white porcelain in this photo?"
"
"Hey, what's wrong with you? Are you not feeling well? This is a big job sent to us by our factory, and you are asked to color it! This blue is the most terrible!"
"Hey, Lao Liu, don't scare us. Do you still want to open a kiln and make porcelain? If so, you really need to take care of your health!"
These few sentences worked, and Liu Yongqing immediately became energetic and asked in disbelief.
"What? I can still open a kiln and make porcelain??"
"Yes," the factory director said firmly, "as long as you can produce three hundred sets of porcelain like this for our factory."
Tears burst out of Liu Yongqing's eyes at this moment, and he almost issued a military order with a cry in his voice.
"It can be burned! It can be burned! There is nothing in the world that I, Liu Yongqing, can't match!"
The factory director felt very happy and said happily.
"Master Liu, then you will be of use. Come on, let me introduce you to these two comrades from the district..."
Unexpectedly, one of the two introduced people couldn't help it and shouted in surprise at Ye Hemin.
"Hey, Comrade Ye... Comrade Ye, what a coincidence, I bumped into you here again. You don't work here, right? Do you remember me? We have met in Zhai Palace. My name is Ning Weimin...
"
Ye Hemin was stunned for a moment, and after a moment, he recognized it.