Things in the world are often beyond people's expectations. Everyone thinks that the Ge Kiln came from the Northern Song Dynasty and was one of the five famous kilns in the Northern Song Dynasty. But is this really the case?
Unfortunately, there are no historical documents recording Ge Kiln or Ge Glazed Porcelain during the Song Dynasty.
It was only in the Yuan Dynasty that "Ge Ge Dong Kiln" and "Ge Ge Kiln" began to appear in Kong Qi's "Jingzhai Zhi Zheng Ji Yi Ji".
However, the description of the characteristics of Ge Kiln is not specific either.
By the time of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, Cao Zhao described Ge kiln wares in "Ge Gu Yao Lun" as "green in color, with different shades, and also with iron feet and purple mouth", and "newly fired in the late Yuan Dynasty, the soil veins are rough and dry, and the color is not good.
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The relationship between Ge Kiln and Di Kiln is not explained here, but there are some records.
Until the "General Chronicles of Jiangsu and Zhejiang" published in the 40th year of Jiajing's reign,
Only with a more specific description.
It states,
It is produced in Liutian Town at the foot of Liuhua Mountain, which is the central kiln of Longquan.
For the first time in "General Chronicles of Jiangsu and Zhejiang", brothers Zhang Shengyi and Zhang Sheng were in charge of a kiln.
The Ge Kiln produces open-piece porcelain, and the Di Kiln produces Longquan celadon without opening pieces.
This part of the information Chen Wenzhe obtained earlier was also part of the story, and he knew very well that this part was the historical fact.
It is also from this part of the facts that it can be fully proved that Ge Kiln was first produced in Longquan Kiln.
After that, the artistic features became more and more unique and became independent.
Or the Ge Kiln kiln is not independent, but the Ge Kiln wares it produces are independent because of their unique characteristics, forming Ge Kiln porcelain.
However, Di Kiln, whose porcelain quality is almost the same as Ge Kiln, is not so famous. Why?
Isn’t it because it doesn’t have many features?
Even if the celadon from Di kiln is of better quality, it is sometimes regarded as Longquan kiln, right?
At least when it first started production, Di Kiln would definitely not be able to escape the influence of Longquan Kiln celadon.
Also after the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty,
The story of Ge Yao and Di Yao gradually took shape and became complete.
From "Jing Zhai Zhi Zheng Ji Yi Ji" to "Jiang Zhe Tong Zhi",
Go through a century.
Therefore, this story was gradually made up and is inconsistent with the real historical facts.
Over the years, archaeologists have conducted large-scale dragnet surveys of the Longquan kiln system.
By 1979, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Archaeological Institutes, the Archaeological Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Palace Museum, the Ocean Museum, the Chinese History Museum, the Jinling Museum and other units jointly conducted large-scale excavations.
However, during this process, no temples, monuments, tombs or any historical relics of the Zhang brothers were discovered, nor was a kiln site that produced Ge glazed porcelain alone.
The only ancient book from the Ming Dynasty that proves the existence of the Zhang brothers and is completely consistent with the production of celadon in the Longquan area is Lu Rong's "Miscellaneous Notes on Shuyuan".
He visited ancient times in Longquan and talked a lot about Longquan celadon, but he didn't mention Ge Kiln at all.
The situation should be like this. Ge glazed porcelain with full-glazed surface is a product of some Longquan celadon kilns and is very distinctive.
The production workshop was not an independent porcelain kiln system. Later generations mistakenly divided them into two kiln systems: Ge kiln and Di kiln.
When Chen Wenzhe wrote his thesis, he also developed an argument around this subject.
And compared to others,
He has too much inside information, but much of it cannot be used as evidence.
only,
It is much easier to know the answer and then prove that his argument is correct based on the correct answer.
At the very least, with Chen Wenzhe's extensive knowledge and the help of Sui Houzhi, it is not difficult to find some ancient books and prove his point of view.
At the very least, it is completely enough for a graduation thesis from an art school.
However, as he researched and studied, the more he learned about it, the stranger Chen Wenzhe found that the works of the Ge Kiln family were even stranger.
Especially the term Ge Kiln, which has been handed down from generation to generation, seems to be different from what ordinary people understand.
This starts with the Ge porcelain produced after the Ming and Qing Dynasties, because the Ge kilns produced in the Ming and Qing dynasties were more complicated.
This is because during that period in Jingzhen, there were Ge kilns that specialized in imitating Ge glazed porcelain.
The imitation Ge kiln produced in these two historical periods should be distinguished from the Ge glazed porcelain of the Song and Yuan Dynasties.
Of course, the reason why it can be separated and form an inherent impression on the world must be because Ge Kiln wares have their own distinctive characteristics.
Due to the different soil used in the porcelain body at this kiln entrance, the porcelain body is mostly purple-black, iron-black, and also yellow-brown.
The glaze is a devitrified opalescent glaze, with a layer of crisp light on the glaze surface. The glaze color is fried beige, mostly gray and green, and the glaze surface has a combination of large and small grains.
After dyeing, the large grained pieces are dark brown and the small grained pieces are yellowish brown, also known as 'golden iron wire', 'ink patterned plum blossom patch', 'leaf vein pattern', 'civilian and military patch', etc.
This is one of the main features of the Ge Kiln handed down from ancient times. The shapes of the vessels include various bottles, stoves, statues, washers, bowls, basins, dishes, etc.
They often have antique shapes, the soles are not very regular, and glaze shrinkage and brown eyes are common.
The "History of Chinese Ceramics" narrates this, and there are thick and thin distinctions in terms of ceramics.
In terms of time, there should be a difference between early and late. In terms of production, there are also works that may not be from the same porcelain kiln. The situation is quite complicated.
Most of the classic "Ge Kiln" utensils that are now circulating in the world come from the old collections of the Qing Dynasty.
Because this batch of artifacts does not match the characteristics of the "Ge Kiln" recorded in ancient documents, and there is no archaeological evidence to support it, it has created the biggest suspense in the history of ceramics.
In fact, up to now, many archaeological excavations have proved that the loss of Ge Kiln should be normal, because it did not exist independently in the first place.
Later, as the skills spread and other kilns learned from each other's strengths, the simple Ge kiln would naturally disappear.
In fact, things like Ru kiln, Di kiln, even Longquan kiln, Jian kiln, etc. will disappear over time.
Or to put it more accurately, it has not disappeared, but has become more prosperous.
A kiln is a famous kiln after it becomes famous. But if all kilns can produce the same high-quality products, which one is the real famous kiln?
Therefore, the emergence of many famous kilns is just because the technology at that time had just appeared and had not yet developed, and others could not make it, so they became famous.
When everyone has learned it, they will start to disappear from the public. This is the reason why many famous kilns have disappeared.
Of course, there are also some cases where craftsmanship has been discontinued due to changes in dynasties.
Let’s go back to the Ge Kiln. In order to distinguish it from the Ming Dynasty, the Ge Kiln recorded in the Qing literature is the Longquan Zhangsheng Yi Kiln. The handed down product named "Ge Kiln" in the Qing Palace was called "The handed down Ge Kiln" by later generations of connoisseurs.
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Therefore, the "Ge Kiln handed down from generation to generation" mentioned in the collection circles is not the Ge Kiln porcelain that has been handed down to the world, but the handed down porcelain originally collected in the Qing Palace and has the characteristics of Ge Kiln.
What causes this phenomenon is the mystery of the origin of Ge Kiln.
Of course, it is undeniable that Ge kiln wares from the Ming and Qing dynasties are all considered high-quality products. Otherwise, they would not be singled out for discussion.