Chapter 1587: The Strong and Powerful Blue and White Jar (I wish all the brothers the best of luck)
During the dynasty change from the Southern Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, scripts of scripts, Yuan operas and New Year paintings (prints) were widely introduced into the public, directly giving rise to the prosperity of Yuan dramas.
A group of playwrights such as Guan Hanqing, Wang Shifu, Bai Pu, and Ma Zhiyuan created dramas based on folk historical themes. They brought the stories of heroes from the Han, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties to the stage, and were highly sought after by the common people.
At this time, the creation of Jingzhen Blue and White just gave the characters and stories a better daily carrier.
Previously, the Cizhou kiln also had a small number of jars, bottles and pillows with character and story themes, which laid the foundation for the Jingzhen kiln to produce Yuan blue and white character and story works.
In fact, the craftsmen of Cizhou Kiln came to Jingzhen to escape the war and brought such creativity to the kiln.
Therefore, the rise of drama in the late Yuan Dynasty, coupled with the frequent wars in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, objectively inspired the hero worship complex of JDZ painters, and resorted to the blue and white paintings.
After repeated comparisons and experiments, the craftsmen discovered that the ellipsoidal jar body, because its circumferential surface is flatter and wider than other porcelains, is more suitable for expressing complex characters and panoramic stories.
The heroic mood of the hero matches the temperament of the strong and powerful blue and white vase.
The famous "Eight Yuan Blue and White Jars" (blue and white character story jars) are all rare and unique.
Except for the incense jar from The Romance of the West Chamber collected in Asia and the Jinxiang Pavilion jar collected by Wang Dingqian of Baodao, the other six items are all based on folk hero stories.
Let’s take a look at the large jar of “Guiguzi Descends from the Mountain” collected by British collector Eskenage.
It was sold for 15.688 million pounds at Christie's auction in London on July 12, 2005.
Equivalent to approximately RMB 230 million, it set a record for the highest auction of Chinese art in the world at that time.
The story painted on this jar is a section of "Sun Pang's battle of wits", but the main subject of the performance is Sun Pang's master Guiguzi.
The sergeants opened the way with spears, tigers and leopards pulled the carts, and the young generals pulled horses and held flags, writing the word "Ghost Valley".
The protagonist, Gui Gu, is sitting in the middle of the car. There is no shouting, no blood, no strategy, and not even an opponent.
In order to exaggerate the tranquility, the painter meticulously painted the pines, bamboos and grass on the roadside with fine brushes. Those grasses bloomed on their own.
Gui Gu was meditating, the generals followed, the soldiers remained silent, and the tigers and leopards bowed their heads.
Pines are silent, bamboos are silent, flowers and grass are silent.
If such exaggeration of silence must indicate something loud somewhere, it would be the words "Ghost Valley" on the military flag.
A general's plan is to defeat the enemy's army without fighting - the so-called highest state of wisdom and justice.
The Yuan blue and white vase depicting Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage is collected by the Pegasus Foundation.
The "Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage" jar collected by the Pegasus Foundation depicts a well-known Chinese folk story - "Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage".
At the end of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bei visited Zhuge Liang three times to help him.
In the painting, Zhuge Liang wears a soft scarf on his head and a robe, sitting cross-legged under the pine trees. The book boy is standing aside with a book in his hands, and the boy in a bun in the front left is leaning forward to report.
On the other side of the picture, there is a leafy weeping willow.
Under the tree, Liu Bei, wearing a cross-legged futou and long robe, bowed to pay homage.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are whispering on the side. The painting vividly reflects Zhuge Liang's elegant and unrestrained style, Liu Bei's thirst for talent, and the anxious and restless expressions of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, demonstrating the superb painting skills of the Yuan Dynasty.
Among the heroic stories of the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, "Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage" is the most deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Moving this story to the blue and white jar conveys simple values, loyalty, righteousness, and wisdom.
Not all heroes are tragic and beautiful, but they also have feminine beauty.
The large jar of "Zhaojun Leaving the Fortress" in the Neon Idemitsu Art Museum allows people to see another side of the hero.
The lid of this jar is in the shape of a lotus leaf, with lotus leaf veins and buttons.
The edge of the mouth of the jar is decorated with sea wave patterns, the shoulders are surrounded by lotus branches, and the shins are decorated with deformed lotus petals.
The story tells the story of the heroine Wang Zhaojun's journey out of the fortress.
This jar shows the beauty of melancholy to the extreme.
The protagonist and two maids are wearing high buns and beautiful clothes.
There are also two groups of six men, one of whom is holding a "Haitongqing" (a northern bird) in his hand. Some researchers say that man is Zhaojun's husband.
The rocks are rugged and have a strong texture.
The painting of pine and bamboo is particularly good, and it seems to have been entirely produced by the first-rate literati, calligraphers and painters of the late Yuan Dynasty.
The climax of the picture is the pipa in Zhaojun's hand - it is fixed at the core of the picture.
As the most important prop in the plot, it seems to express the emotions of the protagonist Wang Zhaojun: "Once I leave, I know that I will never come back. I am so pitiful that I have to wear all the Han palace clothes" and "Thousands of years of pipa playing nonsense".
Su Ma Liqing, who is known for her quietness, depicts the inner emotions of the characters very well.
Through the quiet blue of the east, we seem to hear a woman resolutely facing her homeland, "I'm going to leave you..."
In addition, the large jar of "Hundred Flowers Pavilion Picture" is now in the Neon Manye Art Museum, the large jar of "Yu Chi Gong Riding the Savior Alone" is now in the Boston Museum, and the "Zhou Yafu Xiliu" is now in the Neon Anzhai Art Museum.
"Yingtu" large jars are all heroic figures.
In addition to the eight large jars, there are also many Yuan blue and white vessels that depict heroic stories and are very famous.
A plum vase with "Picture of Xiao He Chasing Han Xin under the Moon" is a rare treasure of blue and white porcelain in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, and is the treasure of Jinling City Museum.
The protagonists of the story, Xiao He and Han Xin, were the right-hand men of the great ancestor Liu Bang, both literary and military.
The writer Xiao He visited the world's elites on behalf of his master to use them.
Han Xin appeared at this time. He first went to Xiang Liang and then to Xiang Yu.
Han Xin was a military genius and liked to come up with ideas.
Ideas are not put into practice, and no matter how good they are, they cannot be verified.
He then switched to Liu Bang, but still sat on the bench.
No one used his ideas, and he couldn't lead any troops, so he abandoned Liu again.
A generation of military strategists is about to be buried.
After a comprehensive investigation, Xiao He decided to bring Han Xin back and formally recommend him to Liu Bang.
Later, this story was put on the stage of Zaju in the late Yuan Dynasty and also painted on the blue and white plum vase.
This vase was unearthed in 1950 from the tomb of Muying, King Zhaojing of Qianning, the founding hero of the early Ming Dynasty, in Niushou Mountain, Jiangning County, Jiangsu Province. The archaeological community believes that it was burned in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, and is known as "the best plum vase in the world".
Mu Ying was Zhu Yuanzhang's founding minister, so there must be deep meaning in the painting depicting the story of Xiao He and Han Xin being buried with him.
Another example is the "General Mengtian" jade pot spring vase, which was unearthed in Changde, Nanhu, in 1956 and is now in the Nanhu Provincial Museum.
Meng Tian led an army of 300,000 to attack the Xiongnu in the north, moved the people to the border, built the Great Wall, opened straight roads, and maintained the security of the vast northern frontier for the Qin Dynasty.
Later, Qin Shihuang died of illness while on a trip to Kuaiji, causing a palace coup.
Meng Tian, who followed the young master Fusu, was sentenced to death.
Meng Tian's death is depressing.
This vase depicts a general examining Huns spies, an ordinary battlefield detail.
In the picture, the only dramatic thing is the four-character banner: "General Mengtian."