It is not that easy to find a kiln entrance that has disappeared for thousands of years.
Although secret color porcelain is said to have originated from Yue kilns in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, there are thousands of Yue kilns in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Which Yue kiln fired secret color porcelain for the royal family of the Tang Dynasty?
If we find this kiln entrance, can we find more secret-color porcelain there or around there?
In order to solve this problem, archaeological experts launched a search for more than 20 years, and finally discovered fragments of secret-color porcelain at the Shanglinhu site in Cixi, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
The Shanglin Lake site is a Yue kiln site with a long history. Judging from the excavated ceramics, Shanglin Lake began firing porcelain during the Eastern Han Dynasty and reached its peak during the Tang and Song Dynasties.
This is consistent with what Chen Wenzhe saw. At least he can prove that the history of this kiln entrance is really long.
At least he knew that white porcelain was fired at this kiln before.
At that time, this kiln not only received a large number of orders for overseas porcelain, but also won the favor of the Tang Dynasty royal family and became an official kiln.
It can be seen that the Yue kiln in Shanglin Lake has the conditions and technology to fire secret color porcelain.
Otherwise, how could experts find a large number of secret-color porcelain fragments here?
In a sense, the work of archaeologists and criminal police are slightly similar.
They all solve difficult problems by finding some clues.
For example, experts in the archaeological field have been looking for the kiln site where secret color porcelain was produced.
Although they discovered secret-color porcelain at the Shanglin Lake site, they still need to find something to be 100% sure.
What exactly is it? It’s definitely not a fragment of Yue kiln’s secret color porcelain!
The so-called secret color porcelain does not mean that the color of the porcelain is a secret, but refers to porcelain fired using a secret formula.
Therefore, from the beginning, this kind of porcelain was fired secretly, and it is almost certain that it will be lost later.
The sagger in front of Chen Wenzhe probably came from the Shanglinhu site, but what about the secret-color porcelain produced from it?
The most important thing is the process, Chen Wenzhe never saw it!
He has determined that the Shanglin Lake site is the origin of secret color porcelain, because this conclusion has been confirmed by others.
From the perspective of logical reasoning, it cannot be inferred that Shanglin Lake is the production site of secret-color porcelain based on the presence of fragments of secret-color porcelain.
This is like when you find a car that crashed in the valley many years ago. At this time, you can't say that this car was produced in the valley, right?
Unless you can still find the assembly line for car production in the valley.
Therefore, if we want to confirm that the Shanglin Lake site is the production place of secret color porcelain, we must also find the production line of secret color porcelain to be convincing.
The kiln sites of the Tang and Song Dynasties have been around for thousands of years, and it is almost impossible to find a complete production line.
However, if the special tools for producing secret color porcelain can be found, it can also prove that there was once a secret color porcelain production line here.
In 2016, when archaeological experts excavated the Housi'ao kiln site in Shanglin Lake, they unearthed several broken saggers, and found that the saggers were also engraved with the words "Luohu Master's Secret Color Bowl".
Shanglin Lake was also called Luohu Master in ancient times, and the writing method of the three characters "Secret Color Bowl" is the same as the writing method on the monument in the underground palace of Famen Temple.
The sagger is an essential kiln tool for firing fine porcelain.
To put it simply, it is a sealed ceramic box.
When firing porcelain, after the pottery embryo is glazed, it is first placed in a sagger and sealed, and then the sagger is placed in the kiln and fired at high temperature.
In this way, the ceramic embryo is heated evenly in the closed space, and at the same time, the kiln gas is prevented from contaminating the ceramic embryo.
For example, in the famous eggshell black pottery, a sagger is used.
Therefore, it is necessary to use a sagger when firing secret color porcelain.
In addition, the bottom of the secret-colored porcelain from Famen Temple has traces of the sagger's base, which is similar to the sagger's base unearthed from Shanglin Lake.
Therefore, all this is enough to prove that Shanglin Lake is the place where secret color porcelain is produced.
In this regard, it was also selected as one of the top ten new archaeological discoveries in the country.
It was also because of this that Chen Wenzhe was able to know the Shanglin Lake site and was able to connect with Master Luohu. Otherwise, even if he found clues, it would be in vain.
In Shanglin Lake, we not only found the legendary secret color porcelain, but also found the production place of secret color porcelain. The next step should be to restore the secret color porcelain.
However, after many years of trying, it is still impossible to restore the ancient secret color porcelain.
Now, Chen Wenzhe unexpectedly discovered a celadon sagger from the Shanglin Lake site.
In the porcelain firing process, the sagger is originally an important tool for firing high-quality porcelain.
This celadon sagger is completely different from ordinary crudely made ceramic saggers.
It was obviously more advanced, and if that were the case, he should have fired some more important porcelain.
So, in the late Tang Dynasty, could he see the process of firing secret-color porcelain for this sagger?
At this time, Chen Wenzhe paid special attention to the processes involved in kiln firing.
He didn't pay much attention to other trivial things, but just passed them by.
When it comes to kiln firing, with his skills at this time, he can tell what is being fired even if he takes a brief look at it.
Therefore, whenever the sagger appears, he will pay attention to it, because whenever it appears, it is an important moment.
Therefore, it really records a lot of porcelain making techniques.
The first one was white porcelain, then the celadon, and the last one should be secret color porcelain, right?
After seeing the final porcelain production process, Chen Wenzhe actually already knew it well.
Only then did he realize why he had never seen the production process of secret color porcelain before.
It turns out that one sagger can only produce one secret color porcelain!
The secret-color porcelain is as exquisite as ice and as clear as jade. In order to produce such an effect, in addition to specific water sources, soil quality and materials, a sagger is also indispensable.
Before firing secret-color porcelain, craftsmen must first use a sagger to seal the secret-color porcelain body with glaze, and then use a special process to bake it into shape.
"Is there such a thing?"
After exiting the review, Chen Wenzhe couldn't help but think carefully about the information he had read.
It was also at this time that he remembered that at the Yue kiln's secret-color celadon firing site discovered at Shanglin Lake, archaeologists had discovered sagger fragments measured in tons.
After seeing this kind of information, who would have thought that these saggers might be related to the firing of secret-color porcelain?
Just from this hill, you can see how difficult it is to produce high-quality secret-color porcelain.
Chen Wenzhe carefully observed the last production. This time, it must be secret color porcelain, because he saw the trouble of firing secret color porcelain.
Secret Color Porcelain was not only the best-selected finished product at that time, but every process of its production was carefully selected.
Throughout the ages, there have been many people who have fired celadon, and there have been many good ones, but compared with secret-color porcelain, they are all a bit different.
And all the differences come from the firing method hidden behind the finished product.