"The three ancient porcelain capitals" - Dehua, Liling, Jingdezhen, also known as the "three major porcelain capitals", according to research, the saying of the "three major porcelain capitals" originated after 1956 and after 2000 It began to spread across the country, and after 2004 it was changed to the three major ancient porcelain capitals by the media.
The origin of the saying "Three Major Porcelain Capitals":
First of all, we need to look at the history of ceramics in Liling
In the seventh year of Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty (1729), Liling began to burn Making coarse porcelain
In 1905, Qing government officials Xiong Xiling from Phoenix, Hunan, and Liling scholar Junduo from the Qing Dynasty planned to petition the Qing government to establish a porcelain company and porcelain school in Liling with a Wanyan letter to improve Liling. Porcelain industry. In 1906 (the 32nd year of Guangxu), the Qing government approved the submission and spent eighteen thousand taels of silver to establish Hunan Porcelain School and Hunan Porcelain Company. Liling porcelain began to transform from earthen porcelain to fine porcelain.
In the late years of Guangxu, after Xiong Xiling, the vice-premier of Beiyang, retired from politics, he invested in industries in his hometown, hired Japanese technicians and masters of Jingdezhen painted porcelain, and created underglaze multicolored porcelain based on the original Changsha kiln underglaze colors
From 1909 to 1915, Underglaze Wucai participated in domestic and foreign competitions four times, and its "Lentil Double Bird" won gold medals at the Wuhan Quanye Association, the Nanyang Quanye Association, the Italian Dulan Exposition and the Panama Pacific International Exposition. "Vase" is praised by foreign public opinion as "the peak of Oriental ceramic art".
The Hunan Porcelain Company was destroyed by war in 1918. Although it recovered slightly later, due to the national chaos or the poverty of the people, it was difficult for people to accept the high quality and high price of fine underglaze colored porcelain, and it was already a bleak business.
Around 1930, the production of underglaze multicolored porcelain basically stopped.
In 1956, with the care of Mao Zedong, the State Council approved the establishment of Liling Porcelain Corporation and allocated 8 million yuan to build the Liling Kiln.
. In 1958, Liling Porcelain Company Art Porcelain Factory (renamed Qunli Porcelain Factory in 1964) was established, becoming the largest manufacturer of underglaze multicolored porcelain in the country.
It can be seen that Liling ceramics had two glorious periods
One is from 1909 to 1915, but the price of underglaze multicolored is very high, and it was once lost, so the output is destined to be low. It would be big, so Liling was not an important porcelain-producing place in China at that time.
The second glorious period was after 1956. At that time, Mao Zedong focused on supporting Liling Kiln and restored the lost underglaze colors. Both output and characteristics were greatly improved, so Liling Ceramics The time when he became famous should be after 1956.
Look again at the history of Dehua ceramics:
Dehua porcelain flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Its unique craftsmanship has been passed down to this day. It has always been an important foreign trade product of our country. It is world-renowned along with silk and tea, and has contributed to the spread of porcelain making technology and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.
Today, Dehua County preserves kiln sites such as Wanping and Qudou Palace from the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The earliest firing of patterned pottery can be traced back to the Neolithic Age. In the Tang Dynasty, celadon glazed wares began to be fired. In the Song Dynasty, the white porcelain and celadon produced were very refined. Porcelain products began to be exported in large quantities. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Dehua porcelain was spread When it arrived in Europe, its ivory white glaze (also known as cream white) had a certain influence on the art of European porcelain.
In the Ming Dynasty, Dehua porcelain artist He Chaozong used local high-quality kaolin clay and used eight techniques including kneading, shaping, carving, engraving, scraping, joining and pasting to create exquisite Dehua porcelain sculptures with milky white glaze. , as fat as jade, with elegant tones, enjoying the reputation of "ivory white", "Chinese white" and "the pearl of the international porcelain world", becoming the representative of Chinese white porcelain. Among the porcelain that Zheng He brought with him on his voyages to the West, there was "Dehua porcelain" from Fujian.
Therefore, the white porcelain produced in the Ming Dynasty is the most distinctive and influential Dehua ceramics that is famous in the world. It can be said that Dehua's Ming Dynasty porcelain making technology has reached the highest level in history; its plastic art has also reached unprecedented heights, becoming a naturally beautiful and unique work of art in the ceramic world. It was exported to Europe during the Qing Dynasty. After the late Qing Dynasty, Dehua porcelain industry went from bad to worse, but artists such as Su Xuejin and Xu Youyi still persisted in this industry, and their works won gold medals at international expositions in Panama, the United Kingdom, and Japan. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Dehua porcelain industry received a new lease of life, with new talents emerging in large numbers. They inherited the excellent techniques and styles of their predecessors and continued to innovate and develop, rejuvenating Dehua porcelain firing techniques.
However, before the reform and opening up, Dehua has always been an agricultural county. The development of ceramics was limited, so its popularity is not high. Only He Chaozong is relatively famous, but one person’s fame does not represent A place is famous, so Dehua cannot be called the porcelain capital in ancient times.
Jingdezhen Ceramics History:
Jingdezhen is now Jingdezhen City, Jiangxi Province. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was the first of the four major towns in the world. It was famous for its porcelain production. In the late Eastern Jin Dynasty, its master Zhao Gai improved it. Local pottery craftsmanship began to produce porcelain and has a history of more than 1,600 years. It is the only town among the four famous towns that did not rely on water transportation. Dr. Joseph Needham, a professor at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, called Jingdezhen "the earliest industrial city in the world." In the 61st year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, the French missionary Entrecolay (Yin Hongxu) once recorded that Jingdezhen had a population of 1 million (most of these people were They are handicraftsmen (because there was no agriculture in Jingdezhen in ancient times), with 3,000 kilns. "Fuliang County Chronicle" also records: "The area of ??the factory is more than ten miles, and there are nearly 100,000 fireworks."
" It records the grand occasion of Jingdezhen that year. In the Jiaqing year, the national fiscal revenue was 40.13 million taels, and Jingdezhen's GDP was 6.1 million taels, of which 6 million taels were owned by private kilns, which is enough to prove Jingdezhen's economic status in China at that time. Jingdezhen has a long history and splendid culture. Located in the south of the Yangtze River, it is known as the "Xiong Town in the South of the Yangtze River". It is one of the first 24 historical and cultural cities in the country and a national Category A city open to the outside world. In June 1953, the State Council approved Jingdezhen City as a municipality directly under the Central Government of Jiangxi Province. Jingdezhen is a famous porcelain capital at home and abroad, with a long history of porcelain making and profound cultural heritage. In the first year of Jingde of the Song Dynasty (1004), the court ordered imperial porcelain to be fired here, and the invoices were signed "Jingde Year System", hence the name Jingdezhen. From the Yuan Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, emperors of all dynasties sent personnel to Jingdezhen to supervise the production of palace porcelain, set up porcelain bureaus and royal kilns, and created countless fine ceramics, especially the four famous porcelains of blue and white, pastel, exquisite and color glaze. "Mao Zedong's porcelain", Shanghai's "APEC" porcelain, porcelain used in the State Guesthouse and various artistic ceramics are highly praised by the world. Mr. Wang once praised Jingdezhen's splendid ceramic history and culture with the poem "China is known as the country of porcelain, and the peak of the porcelain industry is here." Ceramics closely connect Jingdezhen with the world.