"This is your Japanese porcelain capital?"

Wu Tianyuan specially asked Hiroaki Yamanaka to take him to Arita today to see the style of the Japanese porcelain capital. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

"As soon as you walk into the town of Arita in Saga Prefecture, Japan, you will be greeted by a world of porcelain." Yamanaka said with some pride: "From the railway and highway along the road, you can see the chimneys of the porcelain kilns scattered everywhere. Walking into the neighborhood, there are large and small porcelain shops on both sides of the street, and there is no end in sight. ”

"If you ask the average Japanese about the iconic porcelain production area of Japan, which can be called the "porcelain capital", there is a good chance that they will not hesitate to mention "Arita ware". We are accustomed to referring to porcelain according to its origin as "so-and-so ware". Although there are many well-known porcelain production areas in Japan today, in terms of product coverage, "Mino-yaki" in Gifu Prefecture occupies more than half of Japan's practical porcelain; If we talk about the "highness" of porcelain art, Kyoto's "Kiyomizu-yaki" is not far behind. However, Arita still sits on the "golden chair" of the Japanese porcelain industry without shame, and has its own heritage. ”

Wu Tianyuan followed Hiroaki Yamanaka to get off the bus and hike around this quiet town to experience the level of Japanese porcelain.

"The Japanese porcelain industry has a history of less than 400 years, and on one side of the town of Arita lies the huge Izumiyama Porcelain Stone Farm, which was the basis for the rise of Arita ware. In 1616, Lee San-hei, a famous ceramic craftsman from the Korean Peninsula, discovered Japan's first white porcelain mine here, and began to fire porcelain in the Arita area, becoming the ancestor of the Japanese porcelain industry. ”

Wu Tianyuan saw a statue of this Japanese "porcelain ancestor" on the side of the Quanshan porcelain stone field, and Li Shenping, who had slender eyebrows and a bitter face, sat alone in a shrine composed of glass and wooden pillars and closed his eyes and meditated. Historical data show that this "porcelain ancestor" was brought here when Toyotomi Hideyoshi was "conquering" Korea.

"At that time, the mineral quality of Quanshan white porcelain stone was very good, and it was even possible to fire porcelain directly without additives. After hundreds of years of excavation, the porcelain stone field in front of you has been cut down an entire mountain, but the reserves are still rich enough to maintain the long-term development of Arita ware. In addition, new high-quality porcelain mines have been discovered in neighboring Kumamoto Prefecture as the main source of materials, so the amount of mining in the Quanshan porcelain stone mine is now very small, and it is only used as a memorial for future generations to visit. ”

This is the site of the Tengu Valley Kiln, which has been designated as a National Historic Site, and was one of the first large kilns in the period when Arita ware began to enter mass production. This "rolling dragon" type kiln group built along the slope, stretching from the foot of the mountain to the vicinity of the top of the mountain, is a continuous succession, and it is very clever to seek to maximize the benefits of fuel firepower. ”

Yamanaka Hiroaki pointed to the mountains in the distance: "The rise of Arita ware in those years was also very related to the abundant pine forest resources in the area. Nowadays, however, there are very few traditional wood-fired kilns here, and more than ninety percent of them are new gas kilns, which have the advantage of being easy to accurately control the temperature in the kiln. In the entire product process, about half of the components are made up of labor and half of the machine, and computer design control and other means are also introduced. Even if it relies on machines, it is necessary to pay attention to people's "qi" and "thinking", so that porcelain reflects people's "body temperature".

Along the way, Wu Tianyuan can deeply feel the professionalism of the Japanese, although they are all small workshops, they are all family businesses that have been inherited for decades, or even hundreds of years.

"In this small town with a population of just over 20,000, there are more than 150 large and small porcelain kiln enterprises, and the porcelain industry is the pillar industry here. However, the local area is still trying to tap its extension effects, such as catering and sightseeing. Tianyuan-kun, this is the most famous Bao Ming shop, please go in and enjoy the food while admiring the porcelain. ”

The group entered the small shop and began to taste the local specialties, Yamanaka Hiroaki poured Wu Tianyuan full of wine, and said with a smile: "Adjacent to Arita Town is the famous Imari City, Arita and Imari are actually like "one child and the same body". After the rise of Arita ware, Imari was also the main production area. As a port to the sea, Imari became the port of departure for Arita ware when European merchants were trapped in the Chinese porcelain road for a while and aimed at Arita ware. So much so that at that time, Imari's name became more and more famous among European porcelain merchants. "Koimari-yaki" became the main synonym for early Arita ware. ”

"Okawauchiyama in Imari City is also home to the fine porcelain kiln used by the Saga Nabeshima Domain, which was mainly used for firing the imperial court and shoguns at that time! If you walk into that small town with beautiful mountains and rivers, there is no impression of the usual ceramic production area, but it is like a scenic spot "raised in the deep boudoir". It is said that at that time, the official kiln was located in such a secluded place in the mountains to prevent the leakage of its superior skills. ”

"The kilns there are generally not large, and nowadays it is unlikely that all of them will be used by hand, except for art porcelain, because the cost is too high. Despite this, the craftsmen still maintain the idea of "quality over quantity" and strive to preserve the integrity of traditional craftsmanship. Today, Hata Mandoen porcelain has a counter in a major department store in Ginza, Tokyo, and is often exhibited overseas and awarded awards. ”

"In addition to Arita and Imari, Japan is also known as one of the six ancient kilns, and Shigaraki Town, Koga City, Shiga Prefecture, has become a famous production area for Shigaraki ware, one of Japan's six ancient kilns, due to its unique geographical conditions and unique pottery making technology."

Wu Tianyuan has read the information, and the characteristics of Shigaraki can be summarized by "crimson", "natural glaze", "scorch marks", "hail eyes", etc., which is also the standard for judging its quality.

Because the local clay has a high iron content and is doped with small sand particles such as silica, after firing at a high temperature of about 1300 degrees, these minerals undergo a chemical reaction, and the iron is crimson, and silica is melted like Xiaoice hail particles dotted on the surface of the ceramic, which is vividly called hail eye.

Shigaraki tea sets were favored by Japanese tea ceremony masters such as Murata Zhuguang and Sen no Rikyu, and since then they have been famous in Japan, and were once called "tea pottery Shigaraki". Shigaraki was at its peak during the Edo period, and almost everyone in Shigaraki was engaged in the ceramics business.

According to Wu Tianyuan's understanding, there are some similarities between Xinle kiln and Jun kiln, both of which rely on kiln changes to produce a unique beauty, mysterious and gorgeous.

Echizen ware, one of the six ancient kilns, is characterized by its simple and natural, thick form, which is manifested in the fact that after high-temperature firing, the ash is freely distributed on the surface of the pottery, casual, simple, with the characteristics of the earth, this natural glaze has a very good feel, and it is very similar to the kiln.

Seto-yaki is one of the oldest pottery kilns in Japan, along with Bizen, Shigaraki, and Tokoname. However, in contrast to Bizen and other places where most of the urns and pots used by farmers were fired, Seto is a valuable craft produced in imitation of Chinese celadon and has been made since the Kamakura period.

Tokoname pottery is produced in Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, and is said to have a history dating back 1,000 years. At first, the glaze was not used at all, and the technique was called "natural glaze" firing. The main products are clay pots and so on. Later, Tokonamei became famous for firing pottery pipes. Now it is also known for using vermilion, a reddish-brown clay to make pottery, similar to the style of Yaozhou kilns.

The clay used in Bizen-yaki is made from soil from rice paddies and contains a high level of iron. Therefore, when the pottery is fired at a high temperature of 1200 degrees Celsius for several days in a row, it will take on different colors. In addition, the master uses red pine wood to burn pottery, and the ashes of the red pine stick to the pottery, forming a special pattern.

Among the major kilns in Taiwan, Yingge is famous for its ornamental or industrial fine ceramics, Nantou Shuili is famous for its snake kiln, and Miaoli is famous for its wood kiln life pottery. Among them, the Miaoli wood kiln living pottery is very similar to the kiln firing method of Bizen firing.

A trip to Wu Tianyuan was worth the trip and saw the real Japanese porcelain, although there is a big gap with China's official kilns, but it is also a unique flavor. This gave him confidence in his future plans, and he was not ready to make daily porcelain and industrial porcelain, but directly entered the high-end art porcelain, using the national traditional treasures to re-shock the world. (To be continued.) )