When everyone came to the destination, they saw Mao Zhengcong, who was over the age of old, the old man was in good spirits, took Su Yuan's hand, and said enthusiastically: "Since ancient times, heroes have come out of youth, and Master Su has given us a long face in Longquan!"

Su Yuan said a few words modestly, and Mao Zhengcong didn't talk nonsense, and directly pulled everyone up the mountain to inspect the kiln with his own eyes.

While climbing the mountain, he introduced: "Zeng Qinji's dragon kiln has a history of 170 years and is 33 meters long. Now the kiln is fired twice a year, which is one of the oldest kilns in Longquan. ”

"I still remember when I was a child, the mountains were full of dragon kilns, and the workshops were lined up with each other. You don't need to bring an umbrella when it rains, and the eaves of the shacks on the mountain are connected to the eaves, and you can't get caught in the rain when you walk from below. Among the workshops before liberation, the four families of Zhang, Gong, Li and Chen were the largest and most famous. ”

"During the Ming and Qing dynasties, folk celadon production was gradually replaced by lower-cost white porcelain. Coupled with the changes in the emperor's aesthetics, people gradually abandoned celadon and switched to white porcelain. The Ming Dynasty's maritime ban policy further hindered exports, making Longquan celadon completely marginalized. ”

"After all, at that time, every household used white porcelain, and there was very little demand for antique porcelain. During the Republic of China, Longquan craftsmen only made a small amount of celadon, which was basically exported to the island countries, and some even entered the antique market as fakes. ”

Mao Zhengcong said helplessly: "At that time, the relationship between the four major families was closed, and there was almost no communication in terms of the inheritance of craftsmanship and the types of porcelain produced. After making the porcelain, it is wrapped in cloth and then put it in a basket and taken out, for fear that others will see it. The craftsmanship is also very exquisite, and the men are not passed on to the women. ”

"The official claim is that the Longquan celadon craft has been lost for 300 years, but it is not. Regardless of the material selection formula, or the composition ratio or firing process, the folk have experienced craftsmen to operate, and the local traditional skills have been retained, but the output is not high. ”

Later, the country revived celadon craftsmanship, and the government selected five masters from the four major families to form a team of eight with three apprentices to try to remake Longquan celadon. Xu Chaoxing and I had the privilege of being apprentices under Li Huaide and Zhao Dahai. ”

Everyone chatted and walked, and soon came to the dragon kiln, Mao Zhengcong said with a smile: "Now most of our local dragon kilns have long been abandoned, and modern porcelain-making tools such as steam kilns have become the absolute mainstream. Although the ancient kiln can still be fired, it is mainly thanks to the financial support of the government. ”

"Compared with the yield rate of 85% of the steam kiln, the yield rate of the firewood kiln is less than 20%. Once the kiln is burned, the firewood used is more than 10,000 catties. In other words, the price of porcelain fired in a wood kiln is 20 times higher than that of a steam kiln!"

"Of course, the real master still likes to use the firewood kiln, and the breath of the ancient method is simple, which is the key to the irreplaceable steam kiln. At the same time, the glaze color of each piece of porcelain is very different, and even the kiln will change, which is a miracle rewarded by God. ”

Of course, the customer-customized method is also different, not according to the finished product, but according to the count of the billets put into the dragon kiln, and the loss part is borne by the customer. ”

It happened that someone was firing the kiln, Mao Zhengcong took Su Yuan to watch the whole process with his own eyes, and many potters were working, performing their duties, busy but not chaotic.

When the workers saw Mao Zhengcong coming in, they greeted each other, and then continued to work in their hands. Led Su Yuan to the corner of the courtyard, there were two workers handling the mud.

I saw a potter standing in the big pit, stepping on the mud barefoot, pressing down hard, step by step, moving along the arc from the edge to the center, which was really a bit of a lotus step by step.

"Chrysanthemum core, lotus petals, three foot plates and two shovels!"

Mao Zhengcong said with a smile: "Before pulling the blank, you need to take out the stale mud and step on it, and the first step is to step on the mud, commonly known as stepping on the lotus pier." Pay attention to each layer, add a layer, and pat the three layers with a shovel. ”

"The main purpose is to drain the residual air bubbles in the mud and further homogenize the moisture to prevent bubbles, deformation or cracking during the firing process. ”

"The next step is to knead the mud, you look over there. "Pointing to the few workers next to him, all sitting on a long bench or a flat bluestone slab, commonly known as a dock.

The stool is low in front and high in the back, which is easy to exert force, and a white cloth is placed on the stool surface, and the worker sits on the stool and kneads the mud ball with both hands to squeeze out the air in turn. After kneading into a long strip, press it up vertically and perform a second kneading. And so on until the target is reached.

"In other places, the technique is similar to kneading, and the clay is swirling. The other is shaped like a sheep's head, commonly known as rolling a sheep's head, and most of the workers here in Longquan use this method, which is more efficient. ”

Walking into the house, five or six craftsmen were drawing blanks, Su Yuan's eyes lit up, and he observed it closely. Take a piece of processed mud and place it in the center of the turntable of the blank drawing machine. Turn on the electricity to rotate the turntable, and press the mud dough evenly with both hands to smooth it.

Open the hole and press the bottom, slowly press down with the thumbs of both hands from the top of the mud ball, squeeze up and pull the mud hole outward at the same time, press down on the center of the mud mass after opening the hole with the palm of the left hand, and push it outward.

Use the four fingers of your right hand to gradually lift and press upwards from the center to the left, while holding the outer edge with your left hand and turning up the outer edge of the mud.

Squeeze the mud wall with both hands, and pull up with the left and right hands to form a mud tube. Push both hands evenly and pull the clay tube high.

Reach your left hand into the barrel and pull it up and outward in sync with your right hand. Repeat the expansion and draw it into the basic shape of the vase.

The movement requires flowing fluidity, extending from the bottom to the mouth in one go, and maintaining a well-proportioned and beautiful shape.

Mao Zhengcong saw that Su Yuan was very serious, and explained with a smile: "To draw the blank, you need to measure the size of the original first, and then carefully calculate the size of the blank according to the law of drying shrinkage and firing shrinkage. In the process of drawing and forming, the ratio calculation is based on the original data by about 20%. ”

"Even the works of the academy instructors are still far from the patterns designed by the craftsmen in the past. In the past, craftsmen would subdivide the types of work according to different processes, and each person would only focus on completing the part he was responsible for. ”

Su Yuan suddenly had the urge to do it himself, you must know that Liuyun's hand is Hao Nineteen's blank pulling stunt, but he forcibly resisted the impulse and waited until he went back.

may have seen Su Yuan's intentions, Mao Zhengcong sighed: "When many local industry insiders in Longquan talk about celadon, they will mention problems such as low market share, insufficient innovation, and lack of brand influence, which are the reasons for the depression in the industry today. ”

"In my opinion, because celadon is a monochrome glaze, if there are black spots or pores, nothing can be covered, which puts forward extremely high requirements for the firing process. ”

Because of this, the mass production of celadon with good quality is still a problem. The yield is low, the output is difficult to control, and even if the order comes, it will even face the problem of not being able to deliver the goods. This is the biggest reason for the low liquidity in the market. ”

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