There is a saying in China, "You can't be rich for three generations", and perhaps this also applies to today's gradually declining Jianshui purple pottery industry. Is it that the predecessor has reached the peak of Jianshui purple pottery, or is the descendant too indulged in the achievements and glory of the predecessor, so that he has gone to his own ability to recreate and replay?

Today, Jianshui purple pottery is gradually moving from its former glory to decline. Although the production efficiency has been greatly improved compared to before, and the number of products has increased a lot, the craftsmanship is not as exquisite as before.

In the past, Jianshui purple pottery, whether painting or calligraphy, was free and natural, but now it inevitably seems a little rigid and rigid, and there are too many imitation ingredients. In addition, many varieties were created in the past, and now there are few new varieties coming out, and more is the continued production and production of the original varieties.

In the past, there were many famous masters, and everyone had their own characteristics, but now only a few people are known to the world, and most of the potters are just staying at the level of craftsmen. However, there are still some local people with lofty ideals who have begun to delve into ancient pottery techniques again and strive to innovate. It should be said that the spring of Jianshui purple pottery is still brewing.

Compared with porcelain such as jade, which has a fine texture and a smooth feel, Jianshui pottery is more simple and down-to-earth.

Jianshui pottery has a long history, there are many kinds of Jianshui pottery, various eras, all kinds of ceramic products have different process characteristics "Song Dynasty celadon, Yuan Dynasty blue and white, Ming Dynasty stoneware, Qing Dynasty fine pottery". Jianshui pottery is roughly divided into the following categories from the production process: Jianshui stoneware, Jianshui blue and white, Jianshui white pottery, Jianshui purple pottery.

Jianshui stoneware clay sand texture is obvious, the whole body is light, generally used to make flowers, wine vessels, kimchi jars, etc., the material is made of soil with a mesh of about 60-80, because of the high density, coarse soil, so it needs to be glazed, otherwise there will be the phenomenon of water seepage, because the molding is relatively easy, the cost is low, the finished product rate is high when firing, and the overall practicability is strong without much artistic value.

Jianshui blue and white began in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, and the pottery pattern decoration pattern has distinctive local ethnic cultural characteristics of Jianshui.

First, the utensils are generally sand bottoms, and some of them sometimes have the phenomenon of glaze leakage, and the tire is gray-yellow, and the iron content in the tire is about 3%; Second, in addition to the large jar with a shallow bottom and a wide circle foot or a flat bottom, the general utensils have a circle foot and a lying foot, the carcass is thicker, and the shape is simple and solemn; The third is the highest lime content in the glaze, the shrinkage ratio is very large after firing, and the cracking is very common, because the iron content is about 3%, the content of sodium and potassium is very low, all the glaze is not very clear, not green, or a little yellowish; Fourth, in the drilling soil ore, the proportion of manganese and iron is higher, so the fired blue and white is iron-gray.

Jianshui white pottery is made of two kinds of mud in Jianshui, white mud and green clay. At first, white clay was rarely used to make utensils, generally used as clay ingredients, pigments, its fetal quality is pure, white and delicate, coupled with the continuation of the unique carving and polishing process of Jianshui pottery, fired at a high temperature of 1200 degrees, the finished product has ivory yellow, soot yellow, and green and yellow. The picture effect filled in by the white pottery is pure and elegant, the tone is simple, and the literati atmosphere is strong, and it has a high artistic quality.

Jianshui purple pottery generally refers to Jianshui fine pottery (mud is made of five kinds of clay unique to Jianshui, loess, purple clay, white clay and green clay according to different proportions, and the finished clay is generally about 200-300 mesh), which is the most common pottery in Jianshui at present, and is also the representative of Jianshui pottery, which is listed as one of the four famous pottery in China.

Jianshui clay is safe and fidelity, high iron content, delicate mud texture, bottom forming rate, high hardness after completion, high strength, rich metal texture on the surface, and the sound of gold and stone is percussive.

Jianshui pottery firewood can be divided into the following categories from the current mud: Jianshui purple pottery firewood, Jianshui white pottery firewood, Jianshui soil pottery (stoneware) firewood, Jianshui other firewood.

Jianshui purple pottery firewood can be divided into decorative firewood (calligraphy and painting decoration, root art, relief and other blank body with decorative firewood) and plain firewood without decoration.

The sintering point of Jianshui purple pottery firewood burning temperature is about 1160 degrees Celsius, the iron content of Jianshui purple pottery firewood burning mud is as high as about 15%, the mud tire is purple red, and the clay with high iron content is fired at high temperature, and the glaze color and texture changes are richer in different firing atmospheres.

The sintering point of Jianshui white pottery firewood burning temperature is about 1250 degrees Celsius, the iron content of Jianshui white pottery firewood burning mud is about 3%, the mud tire is white, the glaze color is blue-white in the process of high-temperature firing, and the reducing atmosphere is gray-brown and beige.

The sintering point of Jianshui stoneware firewood firing temperature is about 1280 degrees Celsius, mainly relying on large dragon kilns for firing, mainly glaze firing and daily pottery.

Jianshui other firewood burning refers to the addition of clay from other regions on the basis of Jianshui five-color mud (such as adding: porcelain clay, kaolin, etc.), to improve the temperature resistance and plasticity of Jianshui clay, and the general sintering temperature is above 1300, which has been porcelainized. The glaze color is generally golden yellow, and the body is porcelain white.

Jianshui pottery can be divided into the following categories from the firing process: dragon kiln firewood, modern firewood, steam kiln fire, electric kiln fire.

The dragon kiln firewood kiln is generally built by the mountain, the overall kiln mouth volume, volume is relatively large, the preparation time before a kiln is about 3 months, the dragon kiln warehouse can be loaded with thousands of pieces of large and small pieces of green body at a full kiln, generally to fire clay pottery, flowers, wine pots, tea jars and other utensils.

Modern firewood kilns can be designed and constructed according to the size of their own origins, and the common ones are horseshoe kilns, trapezoidal kilns, smokeless kilns, steamed bread kilns and other kiln shapes, and the volume of the kiln body is generally about two cubic meters.

A full kiln stocking time is about 40 days, the kiln warehouse can generally accommodate hundreds of pieces of different sizes, mainly to burn tea cans, pots, cups, vases and other tea utensils.

The steam kiln is currently the most common and practical kiln mouth, with strong firing stability and relatively low kiln construction cost. The steam kiln is mainly based on the square kiln, with different volumes and sizes (there are half a cube, a cube, two cubes, etc., and the size of the kiln can be adjusted according to its own needs), and the application range of the steam kiln is relatively wide.

Electric kiln firingCommon electric kilns are generally small in size (between 0.4 cubic and 1 cubic meter), easy to handle, stable firing and low cost. Due to the small size of the electric kiln, it is generally used to fire small objects such as cups, pots, and small flowers. The electric kiln is basically fully enclosed without valves, and more reduction actions can not be done during the firing process, and the atmosphere of all firing is relatively simple.

Different kiln mouths, different kiln structures, different firing fuels used, different firing atmospheres, and the fired pottery products also have their own merits.

In Wanyao Village, which is 1.5 kilometers north of Jianshui County, there are more than 10 mysterious buildings that wind on the hillside and are like dragons entering the sea. This is the Jianshui pottery dragon kiln that has been used since the Song Dynasty.

Dragon kiln is a form of kiln for firing ceramics, generally built on the slope of 15 ° ~ 30 °, from bottom to top because it resembles Wolong and gets its name. The earliest existing dragon kiln in China with a relatively complete structure is the kiln site of the Shang Dynasty, which was found in Shangyu, Zhejiang.

The dragon kiln is cleverly built by using the hillside, and is divided into three parts: the kiln head, the kiln bed and the kiln tail from bottom to top, and the unique structural design is to use the height difference between the front and back of the kiln body to form a natural pumping force in the kiln chamber for pottery firing. The kiln with this structure can be extended according to the needs and the terrain to increase the firing product, balance the kiln temperature, and reduce the firing cost.

The three procedures of the dragon kiln are firing, sub-loading kiln, firing kiln and kiln discharge.

When loading the kiln, the ash at the bottom of the kiln is flattened, and the bottom of each road is built with refractory bricks to form a horizontal surface, starting from the bottom basin, and stacking layer by layer.

There are three stages of kiln firing: baking, heating, and firing. Fierce fire firing is the most critical part of pottery making, high technical difficulty, physical consumption, from mud preparation to kiln firing, success or failure is completely in this move.

Subtle factors such as the speed and method of adding firewood, the type of firewood, the climatic conditions, and the inflow of air will constantly affect the color change of the works in the kiln.

The dragon kiln mainly uses firewood and pine branches as the main fuel. The pottery fired in the ancient dragon kiln, whether it is the color transition or the perfect fusion of color and shape, is just right, because it is fueled by pine wood.

During combustion, pine grease slowly evaporates as the temperature rises. The pottery in the kiln emits water vapor, which is fused with pine grease and moistens the clay that is being fired. As a result, the surface of pottery fired with firewood in the dragon kiln is unusually warm, and the color tone and surface changes are also more abundant.

Dragon kiln firing purple pottery using the set of firing method, generally not bare firing, that is, ready to burn purple pottery clay blank, set in the glazed pottery, so that the prepared firing pottery billet in a closed state, not direct contact with the flame, on the one hand, to avoid charcoal slag and glaze tears falling into the clay billet to produce defects, on the other hand, can reduce the temperature of 10 °C ~ 20 °C, improve the yield rate.

However, even so, the firing rate of firewood is only 20% so far, and the control of temperature only depends on the eyes of the potter. Without decades of experience and training, you can't do this job.

After a few days and nights of fire, "the body is like iron, bright as water, bright as a mirror, and the sound is like a chime" Jianshui purple pottery was born. The finished purple pottery products fired by the dragon kiln can show the effect of water, moist and transparent jade after polishing, with warm color and rich layers, not only without any sense of whitewashing, but also seems to retain a trace of the elegant charm of the literati and ink writers of the Song Dynasty.

Compared with porcelain such as jade, which has a fine texture and a smooth feel, Jianshui pottery is more simple and down-to-earth. The Jianshui purple pottery from the south of Caiyun presents a simple, pure and innocent nature. Touching the Jianshui purple pottery, you may be able to better understand the beauty of life and the wonder of life.

Today, there are still 11 dragon kilns that continue to be used in Jianshui County with Wanyao Village as the center, and these endless kilns have become living fossils that witness the history and culture of Chinese pottery.

Jianshui purple pottery is a folk traditional handicraft in Jianshui County, Yunnan Province, one of the four famous pottery in China, which began in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. With the suburbs of Jianshui five-color clay (red, yellow, blue, brown and white) to make molding, after calligraphy and painting, carving, filling and scraping, smelting, polishing and other processes, the color of the pottery is deep purple, the pattern is snow-white, knocking sound like a rock.

Li Hailiang was born in Jianshui, he has heard of purple pottery since he was a child, and his interest is painting, so he chose to major in fine arts in college. After graduating from university, he entered the purple pottery workshop in Wanyao Village to practice and learn from several respected local artists. Combined with their majors, they gathered the heads of all families, accepted all rivers, and established Baichuan pottery workshop.

Using pottery as paper, it is necessary to retain the temperament of the pen and ink and the divine behavior of the object, but also to take into account the different arcs of the pottery blank and the soft waxy characteristics in the wet state.

Lan Eucalyptus asked Li Hailiang which work he was most satisfied with, and he replied: "So far, I don't have the most satisfactory work." ”

Jianshui purple pottery is a pottery that uses purple clay adobe as the carrier, making full use of calligraphy, painting, carving, mud filling, firing, and polishing. Calligraphy and painting in Jianshui purple pottery, is the soul of it, it has the ceramic industry in our country "gold and stone painting" said.

Calligraphy and painting decoration is a good way to express the inner soul, sometimes passionate, sometimes silent, sometimes ambitious, sometimes otherworldly. Leaving these truest expressions of the heart on the purple pottery can be preserved forever.

Diligent study, hard practice, down-to-earth deep Jianshui purple pottery, can add luster to it is an excellent Jianshui purple pottery calligrapher and painter. Each calligrapher and painter has their own unique understanding of Jianshui purple pottery, and it takes time to adapt to this way of creation whether they can be competent for the creation of Jianshui purple pottery.

The atmosphere of engaging in the creation of purple pottery calligraphy and painting is okay, and the advantage is that most people realize the importance of purple pottery painting and calligraphy creation for purple pottery, and young people have gradually joined in it, and there are new ideas, there are new creations. The disadvantage is that some masters cannot achieve the quality they should in pursuit of quantity.

Li Hailiang's working hours in a day are divided into thinking about purple pottery and making purple pottery, and only when thinking and doing are combined will there be good works. To make a piece according to the specifications of the device, in order to achieve the desired effect, it is necessary to take into account the yield rate, which is about 45 days, and the more complex ones will take longer to complete. So far, my longest work is the "childlike picture" of the cow's head bottle, because the decoration process needs to be repeated and engraved.

Jianshui purple pottery needs to continue to innovate on the basis of inheritance, and only through change will there be more long-term development. I often organize workshop staff to study and discuss, and improve the creative level of my workshop by visiting Jingdezhen and Yixing Dingshan Town. At present, I have innovated a few types of utensils and tried other painting methods to decorate.

Nowadays, governments at all levels have given great attention and support to the development of Jianshui purple pottery, and it is slowly developing, which takes a period of time. The current problems faced by the development of Jianshui purple pottery are: first, the relevant financial policy support is insufficient; secondly, there is a lack of technical personnel reserves; Third, the intensity of publicity and dissemination is insufficient. Take a look at the latest chapters of "Dream Claw Book House in the Great Era" and read it for free for the first time.