Yangzhou, known as Guangling, Jiangdu, Weiyang in ancient times, has a long history, brilliant culture, known as the famous capital of Huaizuo, and the best place in Zhuxi. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

In the history of China, Yangzhou has experienced almost a general history of prosperity from the Han to the Qing Dynasty because of its unique geographical location and superior natural environment.

Economic prosperity naturally also brings cultural prosperity, so since ancient times, the cultural atmosphere of Yangzhou has been relatively strong, such as Qin Guan, Du Mu, Su Shi, Ouyang Xiu, Shi Tao, Zheng Banqiao and others were born in Yangzhou, or had stayed in Yangzhou for a long time.

As far as jade carving is concerned, Yangzhou jade carving, as one of the representatives of jade carving technology in the south, is very famous, and even since the Ming and Qing dynasties, Yangzhou has been one of the three major jade carving places in China.

The history of jade in China can be said to have a long history, and since ancient times, jade carving has been divided into north and south workers. Northern workers are centered on Yanjing, also known as Jingzuo; Nanfang Gong is centered in Suzhou, also known as Suzuo, and its scope covers a large area of prosperity such as Jinling, Yangzhou, and Changzhou.

The craftsmanship of jade carving in the north and south is very different, mainly in style.

The southern craftsmanship is delicate, and more attention is paid to the realism and fineness of the details, especially in the jade ornaments; The northern craft is mostly expressed by concise knife techniques, usually leaving a large area on the jade, forming the characteristics of "sparse and impermeable".

Nanfang workers have always "spared no good materials", and they can sacrifice unnecessary parts for a high-quality product; The northern workers "cherish the material" and try to keep the integrity of the jade material as much as possible. For example, if a piece of jade of about 50 grams is used to carve a "squirrel eats grapes", the finished product in the hands of the southern workers is at most 20~30 grams, and the finished products in the hands of the northern workers are estimated to have more than 40 grams.

From an artistic point of view, Nanfang Gong strives for perfection and perfection; However, due to the gradual reduction of various jade materials, most collectors use weighing as one of the standards for measuring jade carving, so that southern craftsmen have gradually paid attention to this problem, and have begun to learn from the characteristics of northern workers in this regard.

Hu Zhiyuan is a grandmaster-level figure in the northern industry in terms of jade carving, but he did not introduce the northern craftsmen to Li Yi, which is of course related to the gradual withering of the northern craftsmen, but the most important thing is to consider the market factors.

In fact, Nanfang Gong has always been the mainstream of the market, the most fundamental of which is historical reasons, in the Qing Dynasty, Nanfang Gong was deeply valued by the emperors of previous dynasties.

In contemporary times, the southern workers are also more influential than the northern workers, and because the south has gathered more masters, the overall price of jade carving is slightly higher than that of the northern masters, thus forming a virtuous circle.

There are also many schools of southern workers, according to the region, including "Shanghai workers", "Suzhou workers", "Yangzhou workers", "Guangdong workers" and "Fujian workers", etc., among them, Yangzhou workers are "vigorous, round, elegant, beautiful, exquisite" as the basic characteristics, is the leader in the southern jade carving technology.

After Li Yi and the others arrived in Yangzhou, they did not go to the two well-connected masters first, but turned around on the street first, and he wanted to see how far the famous Yangzhou jade carving had developed.

Unlike the jade carving studios in Suzhou, which are mostly scattered sporadically, Yangzhou jade carving is relatively concentrated, and over the years has formed a jade distribution center led by Yangzhou jade carving factory, Yangzhou lacquerware factory and Yangzhou Arts and Crafts Museum.

"Yangzhou jade carving to vigorous, round, elegant, delicate, delicate as the basic characteristics, not only jade carving factory these large enterprises, but also some small workshops often have boutique products, which is relatively rough Henan industry can not be compared......"

Zheng Shusen didn't go to Jinling, so he arrived two days earlier than Li Yi, so he led the tour this time.

Hearing what he said cautiously, Li Yi smiled,

"It's also rough in Henan...... You might as well simply say that the level of jade carving in Yangnan is indeed uneven, rough and thick, although there are also high-quality products, but there is no way to compare on the whole, otherwise we don't have to go on this trip. ”

"Hehe, aren't you afraid that you have an opinion...... Okay, let's visit the jade factory first, I noticed a master in the past two days, not very old, but the craftsmanship is very good, I think, if we really want to open our own company, not only must we have a master in charge, ordinary jade carving workers must not be less......"

Li Yi nodded, originally in addition to the two masters introduced to him by Hu Zhiyuan, he was also going to recruit some jade carving workers by himself. It's just that at the beginning, he planned to let the two of them come forward, but now it's certainly better to have what he likes.

A few people first took a turn in the jade exhibition hall of the jade carving factory, took a look at the overall level of the jade carving factory, and then under the leadership of the enthusiastic staff, they visited the jade carving factory specially set up to attract the popularity of the processing area open to the outside world.

"That's the man......"

As soon as he entered the processing area, Zheng Shusen pointed out to Li Yi the jade carver he liked, and Li Yi quietly followed the crowd to the vicinity of the jade carver's workbench, and then stood behind him and looked at it silently.

The jade carver is about 30 years old and is at an awkward age. At this age, being an ordinary jade carver is a bit too big, but if you want to be a craft master, it's a bit too small, and there is no manpower to hold it, let alone the work, a lot of good materials will not be his turn at all.

Of course, there are also people who can get ahead without good materials, but on the whole, jade carving is still a dual industry of material carving, and it is too difficult to get ahead without good materials.

What this person is doing at this time is a sitting statue of Guanyin holding a lotus, the material is ordinary Hetian green and white jade mountain material, which has been cut out of the approximate shape, punched into a jade rough blank with a punch **, and polished out the outline of the main part, and now he is using the rolling ** to open the face of the character.

Punching, grinding, rolling, hooking are some of the technological processes of jade carving, among which punching, grinding, etc. are special tools for jade carving, the shape is similar to the cutting machine, but the size of the cutting head is different, the smallest head can be as small as the tip of the nail, and the largest is only three or four inches.

Li Yi stood behind the man and watched for about ten minutes, and saw that he was skillful, and although his movements were not standard, several parts were handled quite reasonably, so he couldn't help but nod slightly. It's just that at this stage, I can't see what his specific craftsmanship is, if only there was a finished product he made.

"Have you taken a fancy to Master Huang's work? You really have a vision, Master Huang is an old man in the jade carving factory......"

Leading them to visit was a girl in her twenties, at this time, she had sent most of the guests out of the processing area, saw them pay attention to Huang Lei, so she came over with a smile, and after a brief introduction, she took out the jade carving album that Huang Lei had made.

The jade carving factory loves to take this kind of customized work, not to mention the high profits, and the amount is often relatively large.

Li Yi took the album and looked at it carefully twice, and asked:

"Is there a finished product?"

"Yes, please come with me."

The girl smiled and said hello to Huang Lei, and led Li Yi and them into the reception room of the jade carving factory, which was specially used to receive big customers.

In the reception room, after looking at a few works by Huang Lei, Li Yi basically recognized his level, and then returned the carvings in the girl's expectant eyes.

"Thanks, let's take a look at it later."

After that, he ignored the resentment in the other party's eyes, and got up and walked out of the room directly.

"This guy is not bad, you can contact him privately and see what conditions he has."

Li Yi, the future processing center, is going to be located in Yanjing, after all, his materials are very precious, and if he is closer, it is more conducive to supervision. But whether these people are willing to leave home and go north, he is not too sure, even the two introduced to him by Hu Zhiyuan have to be carefully discussed to know.

"Let's go, where else can I see?"

"The rest is the art museum, and the other is the lacquerware factory, which is more partial, and there are many small workshops in the surrounding urban villages, and if the price is right, we can consider buying a batch of goods from here."

Even if it is mainly for the mid-to-high-end market, it is not realistic to rely on all the products processed by himself, and in addition to the glass species and some excellent ice varieties in Li Yi's hands, there are no ordinary ice species and glutinous species, which need to be purchased from the market, or he needs to gamble on a batch back.

"Trouble, this is just a jade carving, and the rest are rubies, crystals, ......"

Excellent jade carvers can design independently, but they also design some jade ornaments and pendants, and many jewelry that uses jade as auxiliary materials are not as good as professional jewelry designers. Moreover, the materials in Li Yi's hands are not only jade, he also has rubies and crystals, and besides, if you are a jewelry company, even if it is mainly jade, it will inevitably involve diamonds, yellow, and platinum, which are not simply solved by finding a few jade carving masters.

It's just that he doesn't have a clue about these now, he is ready, if it is not easy to find, he will simply dig two from Wang Haoqing's company, anyway, if he goes to the high-end, his shipments should not be too large......

After visiting the storefront near the Arts and Crafts Museum, Li Yi and the others rushed to the urban village near the lacquerware factory and began to visit door to door, not only to dig people, but also to see things.

"It's ......"

After visiting a few houses, Li Yi found that the level here was not much higher than that in the village on the other side of the stone Buddha, so he was in no mood to look at it again. was about to retreat, and suddenly saw a truck driving from the village, and in the back body, there was a huge piece of Hetian Yushan material, weighing at least 10 tons, and I couldn't help but be startled.

"Hehe, this should be ordered by the village chief's family, Russian material, it's not worth much."

The man who sent them out snorted, with some disdain in his tone, Li Yi ignored him, directly opened the perspective and took a look, then whispered in Zheng Shusen's ear, turned his head and followed the back of the truck, and walked towards the village chief's house. (To be continued.) )