Chapter 1,133 Behind any beauty, there is always unknown effort
The construction of kilns and lamps began in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties period, and flourished in the Song Dynasty and the early Yuan Dynasty.
Jianzhan is known as the "black peony" of porcelain. Under the trend of the times and aesthetics of the Song Dynasty, it was pushed to the supreme position.
During that period, everyone from the princes and nobles to the traders and soldiers praised Jianzhan.
Jianzhan was born proudly with an iron tire, and its unpredictable glaze colors are outstanding. However, the firing of Jianzhan requires a twists and turns.
From mineral selection to final firing, the hardships involved must be understood by craftsmen.
It is often said that there are 13 processes in the process of making a jianzhan. In fact, it is broken down into more than 13 processes.
And after completing these processes, will you definitely get a beautiful lamp?
Not necessarily, because the beauty of a jianzhan depends entirely on how well the kiln is doing.
As for kiln changes, it really depends on luck, or rather, face!
Of course, Chen Wenzhe must rely on technology to make the lamps.
And this technology definitely does not come from him, but from the Pearl of Sui Hou.
After all, modern technology is not as good as ancient times, and since the Song Dynasty, countless people have studied the firing of jianzhe, so Chen Wenzhe can learn a lot of skills.
Therefore, even if he does not care about money, but only cares about technology, Chen Wenzhe cannot let go of this type of firing.
And it is not that easy to actually make a jianzhan.
Fortunately, Chen Wenzhe was prepared when he was making thin-bodied porcelain, eggshell pottery, and Liuxia lamps.
He had placed an order in advance and bought suitable mineral materials from China.
It’s impossible not to prepare early, because as long as it is fine porcelain, it requires specific qualified raw materials.
Because the porcelain clay used to make the pots is made from several different types of clay, the final result is generally high in iron content and dark red in color.
Using this kind of fetal soil, and then using a high temperature of more than 1300 degrees Celsius, the fired fetal bones are thick and hard, the tire color is deep black, and there is a metallic sound when knocked, so it is called "iron tire".
This is the basis. In fact, when it comes to building a kiln and building a pot, the final step is to look at the kiln, because this is the true color that goes into the kiln and comes out with all the colors.
Behind any praised beauty, there are always unknown efforts, and the same is true for Jianzhan.
The traditional handicraft process of building a kiln and a lamp roughly involves thirteen processes.
This is a large process. According to ordinary processes, there should be more than 20 types. If broken down, it can be said to be 42 types.
Since you want to make a jianzhan, you must understand these.
However, before you actually start making a jianzhan, you must first understand the shape of the jianzhan.
The shape of the jianzhan, whether large or small, open, curled, narrowed or tied, all have a natural lightness.
It integrates the historical traditions of the region, as well as the awareness of human ethics and cultural mentality.
Like a bowl with a girdle mouth, the belly is slightly arcuate along the girdle mouth, the lower abdomen is adducted, and the feet are shallowly circled.
About 1-1.5 cm below the edge of the outer mouth, it is bundled inward to form a circle of shallow grooves.
This function is to control the amount of tea soup and prevent the tea soup from overflowing when fighting tea. Therefore, this groove is commonly known as the "water injection line".
This type of bowl has a deeper belly, a fuller shape and a heavier feel.
Jianzhan has a unique shape, thin sides and thick bottom, thick and hard fetal bones, and has good heat preservation and insulation properties.
The traditional hand-made technical process of Jianzhan, including small processes, is broken down into 42 processes.
It is hand-drawn and molded, and it is difficult to fire. It must be fired under a specific temperature and atmosphere.
The crystallized art glaze produced by firing changes in the kiln has a low firing rate due to its unique firing process.
The glazing method for building a lamp tests the true skill of the kiln worker.
According to the records of "Tiangong Kaiwu", people who make the lamp need to use their fingers to pick up the foot of the base of the lamp to dip it in the glaze.
If you dip it too little, it will not be easy to get a good glaze color; if you dip it too much, it will easily stick to the sagger when burning.
Therefore, it must be done exactly.
The shape of the jianzhan is regular, the lines of the shape are graceful and smooth, the pedicure is clean and neat, and the inside of the circle is shallowly dug and flat, which gives people a sense of pleasure like flowing clouds and flowing water.
The glaze layer of Jianzhan is thick, the glaze color is cyanotic, the glaze application generally reaches the glaze line, glaze aggregation is very common, and glaze dripping is often seen.
To sum up, the final firing effect of Jianzhan, not to mention kiln changes, must also achieve the effect of simple appearance, rich and simple shape, smooth and simple shape.
The glaze layer is fine and hard, with a strong glass texture, which is the basic.
Once this effect is achieved, it all depends on God’s will.
Because the shapes of the patterns in Jianzhanzhan are ever-changing, it is difficult to grasp them artificially.
Others have a three-dimensional and layered feel, a metallic feel, and the color changes with the intensity of the light. They are also changing. It all depends on God's will to achieve the strongest effect.
After sorting everything out and designing the first shape of the vessel, Chen Wenzhe actually started making it.
He had already learned traditional crafts before, but by doing so, he could only get some traditional lamps.
As for what the final product will look like, we can only try our luck.
Therefore, if he wanted to have partridge spots, rabbit hair glaze, flare third eye, etc., he could only continue to deepen his studies, and this part of the knowledge he had already found was still the craftsmanship of some modern porcelain masters.
However, everything must be done step by step and step by step.
Want to build a high-rise building before laying the foundation? How is this possible?
Therefore, Chen Wenzhe once again entered the trial firing stage of porcelain firing.
There is no need to pursue perfection at this stage, as long as you can produce a qualified lamp.
It is not that easy to make a qualified Jianwan. As mentioned before, forty-two processes must be completed.
The first step is to collect soil, also called porcelain ore selection.
It can be said that for any kind of high-end porcelain, mineral processing is an essential process.
It can also be said that any distinctive porcelain must require special soil ore. This is a true knowledge that has been practiced for thousands of years.
Traditional jianzhan production is no exception, but its production process needs to be more meticulous. It is just a tire making process, which requires the selection of porcelain ore, crushing, aging, clay smelting, clay kneading and other processes.
This is the preliminary preparation work for making the tire embryo. After that, the embryo needs to be drawn, trimmed and dried.
The last step is biscuit firing. After firing once, you still need to select and wash the base.
After that, it is glazed, dried, and reglazed.
Finally, there are nearly twenty processes in the kiln installation, roasting, cooling, and removal from the kiln.
Although modern machinery and equipment are now available, many processes are still completed by hand.
Among them, blank drawing is one of the traditional hand-made techniques that has been preserved to this day.
Jianzhan is made by hand-drawn molding, that is, using both hands, place the pre-trained mud ball on the rotating turntable, and knead, pinch, dig, and pull the mud ball held by both hands with your fingers.
Collect, put, etc., and draw it into a blank using flexible techniques.
Don't look at it, it's just a small cup with a big opening. Drawing the dough requires some skills.