Chapter 1043: It is extremely rare to stop offering sacrifices
If you really want to talk about it, the fact that Ru kiln became world-famous is really legendary, and it is also closely related to Sima Guang, a famous figure in the Song Dynasty.
Sima Guang was a minister in the court at that time. He was very upright and very knowledgeable.
One year, traitorous officials in the court framed Sima Guang, so the emperor demoted Sima Guang to Yangluo to write books.
Sima Guang rode a small donkey from Bianjing to Yangluo.
On this day, Sima Guang was on the road and missed his accommodation, so he came to a small town in the Nanshan Mountains of Ruzhou in the middle of the night.
When Sima Guang entered the town, he asked if there was any inn where he could stay.
People in the village said that there was no inn in the town. There was a porcelain burner named Yan He near the river in the south of the village. There were often porcelain sellers staying at his house, so he might have a place to stay.
Sima Guang took the donkey and found Yan He's home.
When Yan He saw that a scholar came to stay for the night, he was very happy and entertained Sima Guang warmly.
While eating, Sima Guang saw that the tableware and tea sets used by Yan He's family were very exquisite. The glaze colors ranged from bean green glaze to azure glaze, and the glaze surface was as warm and moist as jade.
Sima Guang liked it more and more, so he asked Yan He, "Is this your porcelain?"
Yan He said: "Exactly, my town is called Yanjiadian. Only the ancestors of villains have made Ru porcelain. My name is Yan He."
Sima Guang asked again: "How many years has your ancestor, Shopkeeper Yan, been making Ru porcelain?"
Yan He said: "It has been passed down to Xiaoren's generation for at least two hundred years."
That night, Sima Guang stayed at Yan He's house.
The next morning, after dinner, Sima Guang suddenly said to Yan He, "Shopkeeper Yan, I want to go visit your kiln."
Yan He was naturally very happy when he saw that the scholar liked the porcelain he fired so much, so he took Sima Guang to see the workshop and kiln, and finally led him to the hall of his house where exquisite porcelain was displayed.
As soon as Sima Guang entered the hall, he saw several porcelain shelves filled with various kinds of porcelain, including lotus leaf vases, trigram tripods, plates, and bowls.
When Sima Guang saw so many good things, he couldn't help but praise them: "It is made naturally and has the style of everyone. It can be called a treasure among porcelain."
Yan He saw that Sima Guang liked his own porcelain, so before leaving, he gave Sima Guang a set of Ru porcelain stationery, including a pen holder, a pen holder and a washer.
Sima Guang accepted this set of Ru porcelain stationery and felt very happy.
He thought to himself: If I recommend this Ru porcelain to the imperial court, the royal family will definitely like it.
However, he was being ostracized by the imperial court at that time. Although he had thoughts in his mind, he did not say it out loud, so he left Ruzhou and went to Yangluo.
Sima Guang lived in Yangluo for more than ten years. Later, the old emperor died and the new emperor ascended the throne.
The new emperor knew that Sima Guang was a loyal minister, so he issued an imperial edict and appointed Sima Guang as prime minister in the court.
When Sima Guang took control of the court, he remembered Ru porcelain and immediately submitted a memorial to the emperor, asking all the palace to use Ru porcelain.
At the same time, he also sent people to Ruzhou, selected a batch of Ru porcelain, and went to Bianjing for the emperor to inspect.
Who would have known that after more than ten years, Yan He would make Ru porcelain even better.
He went to the mountain to collect agate stones and mixed them into the glaze. The glaze color of the Ru porcelain that was fired was green, green, green, very pure.
The original glaze color was very bright, but very dazzling. The glaze color after firing was the same as before, but it was soft, not dazzling, and looked very smooth.
When the emperor saw your porcelain, it was indeed much better than the utensils originally used in the palace.
So an imperial edict was immediately issued, ordering Ru porcelain to be used as royal porcelain for the palace, and a manufacturing supervisor was also appointed in Ruzhou to oversee the production of Ru porcelain.
At that time, it was stipulated that after the Ru porcelain was fired, it would first be selected by the palace, and the remaining ones selected by the palace could be used by the common people.
Later, it became more and more strict, and the emperor built an imperial kiln specifically in Ruzhou.
After that, all the porcelains that could be used were transferred away by the imperial court. Those that could not be used were smashed on the spot and buried. Your porcelain was never seen on the market.
So why after the loss of Ru porcelain, there are very few Ru porcelain handed down from generation to generation? It’s because of this.
"Folklore is indeed unreliable. When did Yan He's daughter die in a kiln?"
"Also, the color of sky is probably not what Song Huizong dreamed of!"
Chen Wenzhe was very happy to see a secret and understand the truth of history.
Of course, at this time, he became more interested in Yan He's porcelain making technology.
This is a craft that has been passed down from ancestors for more than two hundred years. As long as he can learn a little bit, he can inherit the complete firing technique of Ru porcelain in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Chen Wenzhe carefully looked at the book, and even the process of compiling the book, Chen Wenzhe read it slowly.
Because he was familiar with the process of making porcelain, Yan He described the entire process of porcelain from the preparation of soil to the firing of the pot in his book.
He provides a comprehensive summary of the development of the porcelain industry before the Northern Song Dynasty, and describes the raw materials and firing techniques in great detail.
The book divides the porcelain-making process into soil acquisition, clay smelting, box plating, mold repair, material washing, blank making, printing blank, lathe blank, painting blank, glaze, full kiln, kiln opening, colored ware, furnace firing, etc.
Fourteen steps can be said to be quite complete.
Among them, there are also many related to the porcelain making process of Ru Kiln official kiln ware, such as the composition of Ru Kiln glaze and the firing process.
The most important of them are the nail marks, glaze flow, glaze stacking, slice opening and other craftsmanship marks left on your porcelain.
In it, it is clearly recorded how to use agate.
"Ru kiln is forbidden to be fired in the palace. There is agate powder inside for glaze. It is only for the emperor to select and return before selling it. It is especially rare in recent times."
This book records in detail the glaze making details of Ru kiln's "agate glaze".
Regarding the glaze-making process of agate glazing, there are many records in many documents after the Song Dynasty.
For example, Li Rihua of the Ming Dynasty recorded in "Purple Tao Xuan You Zhu" that "Ru kiln used agate powder as glaze, which was only for imperial use at that time and was extremely rare."
Liang Tongshu of the Qing Dynasty recorded in "Ru Kiln" in "An Examination of Ancient Kilns" that "the glaze is made of chipped agate, which is as dark and slightly yellow as the elder brother, and has an egg white appearance, which is really called bluish green color." etc.
Although these later documents all mentioned the glazing of agate, few people made it clear how to glaze it and what effect it could achieve.
Agate is a translucent chalcedony, a gemstone of a subspecies of cryptocrystalline quartz, and has birefringent (bright) properties.
The glaze of porcelain can also be regarded as glass. Glass and chalcedony are very similar in appearance and physical properties. Both are composed of silica and have a glass luster.
Therefore, it is also very reasonable for agate to be glazed.
In fact, during the rock formation process, different conditions will produce gemstones with different crystallizations for the same silica.
When the crystallization of silica is perfect, it is crystal; when the crystallization is imperfect, it is quartz:
After silica gels and dehydrates, it becomes agate; after the water-containing colloid of silica solidifies, it becomes opal;
When the silica grains are smaller than a few microns, they form chalcedony, chert, and secondary quartzite.
There is a very popular view among some experts nowadays.
They believe that "agate is more precious than quartz. Using it as glaze reflects the noble status of the royal family and shows that royal supplies are cost-effective. Agate will not have much impact on the properties and color of the glaze."
Therefore, the authenticity of Ru porcelain does not depend on whether agate is added to the glaze.