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What is a unique product, it is naturally unique, the meaning of one thing in the world, and it is impossible to appear in pairs. The official kiln blue and white cricket jar in the Xuande period is such an existence.

Generally speaking, when it comes to Emperor Xuande, the evaluation in the history books is not low. As the grandson of Emperor Yongle, Emperor Xuande received a good education and was favored by thousands of people. Many people say that his father was able to sit on the crown prince and successfully ascend the throne as emperor, largely because of him, the imperial grandson.

Judging from the records, Emperor Xuande's reign of nine years and seven months can only be regarded as a short moment in terms of the reign of the entire Ming Dynasty of more than 270 years. However, this moment is the most glorious page of the Ming Dynasty.

During the reign of Emperor Xuande, he not only had outstanding talents in military and political affairs, but also had many elegant qualities, such as paying attention to words, being good at painting things, and so on. That is, he writes well in poetry and essays, and is better at drawing.

Of course, whether it is writing poetry or painting, in the eyes of everyone, it is a very elegant thing. As long as it does not reach the point of Li Yu, the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and Zhao Ji of Song Huizong, ordinary people will only praise it, and there will be no bad comments.

After all, liking elegance means being close to civil officials. The pen of the history books is in the hands of civil officials, and they will naturally write on the good side, and it is impossible to criticize.

However, no one is perfect, and Emperor Xuande has a problem of liking to promote weaving plays, which is something that many people hate deeply. I remember that there is a cartoon about promoting weaving in China, which criticizes and condemns Emperor Xuande's behavior.

The so-called promotion of weaving, in fact, raising crickets, fighting crickets. To put it in layman's terms, it is to play crickets.

There is no way to verify the origin of the activity of playing crickets. Anyway, in the Book of Songs, there are October crickets. into the description of my bed. Then it was passed down from generation to generation, and even the great poets Du Fu and Bai Juyi wrote poems about crickets. However, it was the Southern Song Dynasty traitor who really played crickets and wrote them into a book.

History books evaluate that Jia Rudao is a traitor who misled the country and harmed the people, and legend has it that when the northern soldiers invaded the Song Dynasty, he still lay on the ground with his concubine to watch the crickets. As an expert in playing cricket, his more than 20,000-word weaving warp is still a classic ancestral book for insect keepers. This can also be seen from this. The folk custom of playing crickets has become popular among the aristocracy from the bottom to the top.

But if you think about it carefully, the prime minister playing crickets is an example of disaster to the country and the people, so the king of a country is also fun with crickets, even if he is an emperor who has made a difference, he will definitely not be able to escape the evaluation of not doing his job.

It's hard to say about civil and military officials, anyway, as the mother of Emperor Xuande, the empress dowager hates her son's behavior very much. So after the death of Emperor Xuande. The throne was enthroned by Emperor Xuande's eight-year-old son, and in order to prevent her grandson's playthings from losing his mind and abandoning his studies, the Empress Dowager simply issued an order. Leave all the things in the palace that are good to play and things that are not urgent.

Think about it, when the young emperor ascended the throne, the government was basically managed by the queen mother, which is the so-called curtain listening to the government. A decree to go down. And it's a wise decision, who would dare not obey?

All of a sudden, after Emperor Xuande ascended the throne. This is how the cricket jars that were carefully fired by the Imperial Kiln Factory were smashed. Not only was the palace tragically destroyed, but even the cricket jars that had not yet been paid tribute were all smashed and buried deep underground.

In this case, the official kiln cricket jar in the Xuande period has naturally become a very rare thing. As for the extent of rarity, most people may not have any concept, so let's take an example.

According to the information, it can be known that the Qing Dynasty has more than 1,000 pieces of Xuande official kiln porcelain, most of which have survived from the Xuande Dynasty, and are now stored in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, which is the most authoritative collection today. However, among these collections, there is no Xuande official kiln cricket jar, which can also be seen how rare this kind of thing is.

Anyway, according to some people's research, there are definitely not many Xuande cricket jars that can survive under the will of the Queen Mother, and it is very likely that they are gifts from Emperor Xuande to reward ministers. After all, according to the literature, there is indeed a record of Emperor Xuande giving the beloved gifts of officials.

Others, of course, were broken and buried in the ground. In recent years, a lot of cricket jars have been unearthed, but now the cricket jars held out by Mr. Kong's secretary are obviously not remnants.

Artifacts aside, what is truly intact is absolutely unique and a one-of-a-kind treasure.

"Is this a real thing, or is it a replica?"

After glancing at it, Chang Lao couldn't help but question, and there was a little disbelief in his eyes. After all, later generations also understand the preciousness of the cricket jar in the Xuande official kiln, so they naturally imitate it. And because genuine products are rare, without knowing the specific characteristics of the real thing, it is often easy to be deceived and buy the imitation as the real thing.

"Brother Chang might as well take a look."

At the right time, Mr. Kong smiled and said: "Take a palm, appreciate it, and you will know that it is really imitation." ”

"If you don't say it, I'll watch it too."

While speaking, Chang Lao settled down, immediately put on white gloves, and took out a high-powered magnifying glass and a strong flashlight. Fully equipped, this is the beginning of a closer study of the cricket jar.

"As the saying goes, play with insects for a while, play with cans for a lifetime."

Chang Lao said while appreciating: "In fact, the best jar for raising crickets should be a mud jar made of mud. The jar made of mud has a smooth texture and good air permeability, which is more suitable for raising insects. However, the people of the Ming Dynasty did not understand this, or that the jar that the emperor raised crickets could not be the best, but must be the most expensive. ”

"However, for the emperor, gold, silver, pearls and jade were too cheesy, and only porcelain could show noble status and elegant taste, so the blue and white cricket jar came into being. And because of the emperor's love, the craftsmen of the Imperial Kiln Factory naturally made the jars perfectly. Chang Lao sighed a little: "In my opinion, perhaps the best representative of the highest level of blue and white porcelain craftsmanship in the Xuande period should be the official kiln blue and white cricket jar."

There is some truth in this, and everyone agrees.

After all, the existence of the Imperial Kiln Factory itself is to satisfy the emperor's selfish desires, and everything is done according to the emperor's preferences. Zhu Yuanzhang likes red in the glaze, so the red in the glaze during the Hongwu period is a treasure, and Zhu Di likes white porcelain, which is the birth of Yongle sweet white. By the time of Emperor Xuande, he himself preferred blue and white, so Xuande blue and white was the best thing in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Of course, Xuande prefers blue and white crickets, but he loves to play crickets more, so the exquisiteness of Xuande blue and white cricket jars can also be imagined. This thing in front of me is a good proof, the carcass of the utensils is thick, the glaze layer is thick, and the white is blue, which is the characteristic of Xuande blue and white. In particular, the tin light of blue and white is very thick and gorgeous under the light, which is very eye-catching.

During the Yongle Xuande period, the blue and white porcelain of the Imperial Kiln Factory generally used Su Ma Liqing, which was an imported material and the price was expensive. That's why there are all kinds of materials, and blue and white are the most expensive evaluations. But cheap is not good, and expensive things often mean that the quality is guaranteed. The price of Su Ma is not cheap, but the effect of firing porcelain is indeed better than that of domestic materials.

Su Mali's blue hair is deep and bright, and the characteristics are very obvious, if the atmosphere of the furnace is good, it can burn out a jewel-like color. If you look at it a little and notice the blue and white color of the cricket jar, you can judge that the thing should be made of Su Ma Liqing.

"However, this should be a cricket jar that was burned after Su Ma Liqing was mixed with domestic green materials."

After studying for a while, Chang Lao affirmed: "You see, Su Ma is dark and colorful, while the color of domestic green material is relatively light, and there is a phenomenon of fainting. Therefore, the hair color of the blue and white jar is relatively bright, the color is heavy and elegant, and it has the characteristics of two kinds of cobalt materials. ”

"Mixed cobalt should be relatively rare."

At this time, Yu Feibai said with interest: "Is it deliberately creating this hair color effect, or is it because Su Ma Liqing has begun to show signs of exhaustion, so it should be used sparingly." ”

"Of course it's the former, I want this shade effect."

Chang Lao said with a smile: "You must know that during the Xuande period, the national strength was prosperous, and there was enough military strength and financial strength to purchase Su Ma Liqing abroad. What really made Su Ma Liqing fall into the crisis of depletion was that after the Tumubao Change, due to political factors, a thirty-year blank period of porcelain burning began. ”

"This blank period will not recover until the Chenghua year, but the inventory of Su Ma Liqing has also been used up. In other words, the evolution of porcelain can also reflect the situation of national strength at that time. ”

Chang Lao sighed slightly: "This truth is not only understood by us, but also by the ancients, otherwise we would not always praise Yongxuan porcelain as the highest level of porcelain in the Ming Dynasty." ”

"Chang Lao, we all understand what you say." At the same time, Yu Feibai asked curiously: "The key is that this cricket jar, is it the real product of the Xuande official kiln?" ”

"Well...... this"

Chang Lao hesitated, and immediately smiled: "I won't say it, you can judge for yourself." ”

"What, it's unappetizing."

Yu Feibai seemed to complain, but in fact he was enthusiastic to take over Chang Lao's position, and then studied it carefully: "The glaze is thick and moisturized, the luster is soft and not dazzling, and the white is blue." The glaze is not very smooth, like an orange peel, and there may be an open piece. Under the high-powered magnification, the glaze is filled with large and small bubbles, and even small bubbles rub large bubbles......"

"No matter what kind of porcelain in the Xuande Dynasty is, almost all of them are glazed with this kind of glaze, and cricket jars are certainly no exception."

After looking at the inner tire and outer glaze, Yu Feibai carefully turned the jar over and inspected the bottom foot: "Xuande blue and white large things are generally unglazed white fine sand bottoms, which are very smooth when stroked by hand, and there are flint red spots on the edges. ”

"Yes, all right."

After studying it inside and out, Yu Feibai was suddenly overjoyed, and said with a smile: "Such a beautiful and delicate and flawless thing is definitely ...... Fake! ”

"What?"

For a moment, Mr. Kong was stunned, scratching his head and couldn't figure it out, he said it well, how could Yu Feibai suddenly come to this diametrically opposite conclusion. Could it be that the mouth is fast, so the words are wrong? (To be continued......)