This Ming Wanli blue and white chest and foot furnace, from Jingdezhen kiln, is a typical representative of the technology of that era. It is 22 cm in diameter and 9 cm in height. Blue-and-white parrot with peony pattern is full of flowers, with exquisite picture conception and smooth lines.
In daily life, parrot is a kind of auspicious bird that everyone likes. It has gorgeous feathers, beautiful posture and cleverness. After domestication, it can imitate human language. In ancient times, it was kept as a pet by dignitaries and literati. It is the symbol and expression of status, wealth and cultural accomplishment. The parrot in the picture has bright eyes and closed lips, and is ready to fly to the place it yearns for. Here, parrots play the role of finishing touch. The parrot flying with its wings spread and the peony with strong spring breeze are combined together, moving and static, and the combination of the two has a strong three-dimensional effect. The whole picture is vivid and natural, fresh and refined, showing warm and unrestrained humanistic feelings.
There are three peony flowers painted on the stove, which are in full bloom in the wind, and two budding flowers are shyly hidden aside. Peony flower is known as "the king of flowers" and "the beauty of the country" and is famous for its colorful flowers. People in China have a tradition of liking peonies. In China, peony has been cultivated for more than 1500 years. As the saying goes, "Three Dynasties Peony in Grain Rain." Elegant peonies blossom everywhere in the Central Plains. Pi Rixiu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in Peony: "When the residual red flowers are exhausted, the fragrance begins to bloom, which is called the king of flowers. Strive for the beauty of a westward journey, and the first fragrance among independent people. " . The most interesting thing is that a little bee fills the gap between the stamens and leaves of peony, adding a bit of movement to the picture.
Whether it's a parrot or a peony, all the compositions are drawn in a single line. These lines are as tall and straight as steel wire, powerful and amazing. The tube in the furnace is coated with blue and white glaze, and the glaze is fat and positive. The upper and lower sections, leaving a gap at the interface, are the common technological characteristics of bottles, stoves and other porcelains made in the Ming Dynasty. The joint of this furnace is fine and smooth, and the joint is completely glazed. Only by touching it gently, the slightly uneven interface will make you feel where the interface is. Careful observation shows that there are some scattered small black spots on the bottom of the furnace, commonly known as sticky kiln, which were left by plant ash when he was burning porcelain. Nowadays, sticking kiln has become one of the secrets to identify the authenticity of porcelain. It can be seen that the porcelain clay used for sole exposure is a typical milky white kaolin. The three breasts of the stove are extremely full, leaving deep friction marks. It should be a sacrificial vessel of a temple or a big family, passed down from generation to generation.
Another feature of this incense burner is that the hair color of blue and white glaze is relatively pure. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, from the early years of Jiajing, green materials were transported back and forth from the western regions, and Jiangxi Shi Ziqing was used as the pigment of blue and white. If the proportion of recycled materials is slightly higher, the blue and white color will be bright and quiet; If Shi Ziqing uses too much, the color will be grayish blue. Because rejuvenation materials are expensive, Shi Ziqing is often used to describe decorative patterns from the end of Wanli to the year of Apocalypse. The blue and white flowers on this stove are bright and fresh, which should be artifacts from the middle and early Wanli period.
The new imitation porcelain is so bright that it is "fake" at first glance. In order to imitate the "truth", manufacturers often adopt the method of polishing, that is, constantly polishing potatoes or hides until the matte effect is achieved. Unfortunately, this practice often leaves many traces of friction on the surface of porcelain. This incense burner is different, because it has high temperature and good uniformity when fired, and the glaze color is pleasing to the eye so far; After hundreds of years of tempering by nature, it is even more dazzling, and nature is different from the new imitation. Boshan incense burner in the Southern and Northern Dynasties is small and exquisite, with novel shape, which makes people fondle it. I have been collecting porcelain for nearly 20 years. When I first met you, I could see its preciousness.
Boshan incense burner, also known as Boshan furnace, is a common incense device in the Western Han Dynasty, which can be used to smoke clothes and quilts to deodorize and avoid filth. In the picture, the height and diameter of Boshan incense burner in the Northern and Southern Dynasties are 13cm and1cm. It has two layers and can be opened and closed naturally. The upper part of the work is fine and beautiful, linear carving, like a burning torch, passionate and unrestrained; It is also like a fairy mountain, with overlapping peaks and peaks. The whole mountain range is strewn at random from bottom to top, and the central spire is exactly 13, which is an auspicious number in our traditional culture. Boshan incense burner has four small holes. When incense burns in the belly of the furnace, smoke will flow out from the hollowed-out "mountain", giving people a feeling of being in a fairyland. Its lower part is a flat-bottomed cup-shaped support, and its glaze is beige glaze. No makeup soil is applied, except that the local glaze is slightly thick, the glaze is evenly applied, and there are many small pieces on the glaze. The lid and the stove are consistent and integrated.
Boshan incense burner was popular in bronzes and ceramics in Han and Jin Dynasties. The furnace body is bronze bean-shaped, covered, high and pointed, hollow, mountain-shaped, and mountains overlap, among which birds and animals are carved, symbolizing the legendary sea fairy mountain-Boshan, hence the name. It is said in the Han Dynasty that there are three fairy mountains on the sea: Penglai, Boshan and Yingzhou. According to Miscellanies of A Tale of Two Cities, Chang 'an skillful craftsman is good at making Boshan furnace, and can carve rare birds and animals to decorate the surface of incense burner. The complexity of Boshan furnace technology far exceeds that of the five-legged or three-legged incense burner that appeared later. Lu Dalin, an archaeologist in the Northern Song Dynasty, recorded in the Archaeological Map: "The incense burner is like a mountain in the sea, and the soup is inventoried, and the fragrance is like the four rings of the sea."
Boshan furnace appeared in the Western Han Dynasty, which was related to the raw materials for burning incense and people's lifestyle. Before the Western Han Dynasty, people used Maoxiang, that is, put incense or wormwood in a bean incense burner and light it directly. Although the fragrance is rich, the smell of fireworks is very strong. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, borneol and storax from the South China Sea were introduced to China, and spices were made into fragrant balls or sweet cakes, and charcoal fire was lit. These resin spices are slowly ignited under the high temperature of charcoal fire, with rich fragrance and little fireworks smell, so Boshan furnaces with different shapes and wonderful workmanship appear. The poem "Fu on Boshan Furnace" in the Six Dynasties said: "Go to the king of Qin, ride a crane with purple smoke", and the poem "Yang Rebellion" by Li Bai in the Tang Dynasty said: "In Boshan Furnace, agarwood burns, and two cigarettes fill Lingzixia", all of which describe the charming artistic conception of cigarette lingering when Boshan furnace is fragrant.
In the Han dynasty, Boshan furnace was popular in the life of the court and nobles. 1968 The Cuojin Boshan Furnace unearthed from the tomb of Liu Sheng, King Jing of Zhongshan, Hebei Province is a witness, and its shape and craftsmanship have reached the peak. In addition to Boshan incense burner, celadon or white five-legged and three-legged porcelain incense burners appeared in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. This grey pottery lotus incense burner is13cm high and14cm in diameter. It looks atmospheric and has a unique shape. It is very rare to hold it in your hand. In order to write the book Searching for Famous Kilns in China, I visited ancient kiln sites all over the country, but I couldn't judge the origin of this incense burner. According to a friend, I bought it from the junction of Fujian and Jiangxi. Judging from the modeling style of the base, it should be from the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, but at that time, porcelain production was popular in the Central Plains, and the pottery era of "Qin Brick and Han Wa" was a thing of the past, and pottery was no longer produced in most places. In front of us is a real ceramic incense burner, which makes people have to reconsider.
Lotus petals rise up one by one, naturally closing slightly, which is very solemn. The lotus petal furnace body has as many as five layers, which are strewn at random and have three layers of abutments connected together. The proportion is appropriate, calm and elegant. It can be seen from the peeling of the glaze of gray pottery that the fetal bone is orange clay and the firing temperature is about 850℃. From the point of view of lotus incense burner, it is closely related to the Buddhist culture and sacrificial activities in China. Since Buddhism flowed into China in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Lotus has formed an indissoluble bond with Buddhism, becoming the symbol and sacred flower of the Buddhist country.
The sitting statue of Sakyamuni, usually seen in temples, is wearing a shoulder-length gown and holding a statement seal, sitting on the lotus platform. Guanyin Bodhisattva is famous for its great kindness and compassion. Guanyin is a free translation of Sanskrit. It is said that in the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin was taboo, and the word "the world" was referred to for short. Dressed in white, she sits on the Bai Lianhua, holding a pure bottle in one hand and clinging to a Bai Lianhua in the other, as if to show a pure bodhisattva's heart with avalokitesvara, and make every effort to guide believers out of the dust, help the world to lift the disaster and reach the pure land where the lotus is in full bloom. "Hokkekyo" introduces the merits of Guanyin Bodhisattva in detail, as well as all kinds of rescue deeds. She can save suffering through various incarnations, so there are all kinds of Guanyin with different names and images, such as Baiguanyin, Songzi Guanyin, Shuiyue Guanyin and Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes Guanyin.
When people read Buddhist scriptures, they often see that the Buddhist scriptures refer to the Buddhist country as the lotus boundary, the temple as the lotus room, the monk's cassock as the lotus dress, the monk's handprint as the lotus fight, and even the "rosary" used by the monk is made of lotus seeds.
According to fossils studied by paleobotanists, lotus was distributed in many waters in the northern hemisphere10.35 billion years ago. China scholars also attach great importance to lotus, which has richer and more complex cultural connotations than plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum. Lotus is of special significance in four aspects: reproductive worship, practical utility of Confucianism, nature and practice of Buddhism, and personality cultivation of Neo-Confucianism. There is a sentence in Nineteen Ancient Poems: "Shejiang gathers hibiscus, and Lanze is full of grass. Who is eager to leave? Thinking far away. " "Folk Songs of Yuefu in Southern Dynasties" says: "In autumn, lotus flowers are picked in Nantang, and the lotus flowers are overhead. Bow your head to get lotus seeds, which are as green as water. " These poems have lofty artistic conception and reflect real life, which is memorable. People can see the beauty of lotus flowers and appreciate the beautiful scenery of "red, middle and green fans reflecting clear waves"
The pottery lotus incense burner shows its rich cultural connotation. In the era of porcelain unification in the Northern Song Dynasty, this kind of pottery lotus incense burner was unique. Incense burner is an ancient tripod-shaped utensil. In the past, most incense burners in temples were made of copper and iron. Some smaller incense burners are made of jade, stone, pottery, porcelain, wood, copper and so on. , suitable for practical use and viewing. A censer with a lid can hold spices. After ignition, the smoke rises from the hole of the lid, diffuses, and sometimes gathers and disperses, giving people infinite reverie.
This large lacquer incense burner in Ming Dynasty is 157cm high and 60cm in diameter. It consists of three parts: the bottom foot is covered with mud, the belly furnace body and the head Malone furnace cover. The overall shape is like a bronze tripod in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the furnace body is like a three-legged round tripod, and the furnace foot is like a four-legged Fang Ding, which integrates the softness of the round tripod with the rigidity of Fang Ding. The dragon horse on the stove cover is a leading horse with wings spread and flying. The connection between the stove belly and the stove foot is a turtle, and the stove foot is an elephant trunk. Throughout the whole treasure furnace, the shape is simple, standard and atmospheric, simple but not simple, Gu Zhuo but not crude, ethereal but not empty. The relief turtle face is made of clay gold, the details are exquisite and simple, and the beast is vivid and vivid. The dragon horse, roaring with its head held high and ready to go, is full of strength and movement. Linling fills the whole furnace body, especially the outside of the furnace body is painted with black paint, and the cinnabar base is painted with gold. The paint surface is as bright as new, the painting technique is exquisite, the color is calm and shiny, and the patina is thick.
The dragon riding on the back of the horse stepped on the water ripples on the stove cover, forming a strange pattern drawn with dotted lines, and there was a turtle on the waist of the stove. This is the meaning of "a picture comes out of the river, a book comes out, and a saint comes out" in Zhouyi Cohesion. Kong Zixu, the story of Hou Zhihe in Shangshu said that "the husband has the world, and the dragon and the horse have the negative picture from the river", and Shangshu Hongfan said: "It is a gift from Yu, and Hongfan has nine realms"-according to legend, Fuxi made eight diagrams based on the pictures of the dragon and the horse's back, and Yu achieved "nine common ways" according to the "text" on the turtle's back. The floor-to-ceiling lacquer incense burner is an important ritual vessel placed in temples, ancestral halls and palaces in the Ming Dynasty. When major sacrificial activities are held, it stands solemnly in a prominent position, and the dragon and horse hold their heads high on the furnace cover and slowly spit out plumes of smoke from their mouths. Smoky, mysterious and solemn ... Over the past few years, the situation has changed, and great changes have taken place in Wan Muchun. There may be one or two temples in the Ming dynasty, but there are large ritual vessels such as lacquerware and incense burners in the old temples. In Song Dynasty, the incense burner of Jiexiu kiln in Shanxi was unique in shape, with uniform glaze color, yellow in white, bright in color, dense in small pieces of glaze, exquisite in craftsmanship and elegant in style, which was rare in the development of ancient incense burners in China. Someone used to use this stove as a lamp, but Shaanxi Yaozhou Kiln Museum exhibited it as a incense burner. Some people think that this incense burner can be seen in the Tang and Five Dynasties, but I think there is still room for dating. After all, the peak of Jiexiu kiln was in the Song Dynasty.
This incense burner is 10.5cm high and1cm in surface diameter. The mouth of the incense burner is thick and naturally droops, forming a small slope. The thick lips are 3cm wide and look very natural and harmonious. The furnace core is round, about 6 cm deep, and the tire is exposed inside, clearly leaving traces drawn by craftsmen at that time. The base is flared, not glazed, revealing gray fetal bones, and there are three Zhi Ding for shooting on the soles of the feet. The whole utensil is divided into three layers, from small to large, very regular. Although the incense burner utensils are not big, they conform to the principle of "small things make great things" in the Song Dynasty. It looks noble and simple, and it is also pleasing to the eye to play with in your hand.
The shape of this incense burner is indeed very similar to the pottery beans in the Neolithic Age or the pre-Qin period, and also similar to the bronze beans in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, so we have reason to say that it has a certain relationship with pottery beans and bronze vessels.
Taodou was popular from Neolithic Age to Han Dynasty, and its shapes were mostly shallow dish, high circle foot, shallow charity shape, trumpet shape, hollow shape and so on, which was the characteristic of Majiabang culture. Majiabang culture is about 6000 years ago, which is a typical culture in the matriarchal period around Taihu Lake Basin. From pottery beans to bronze beans, the shape of beans has always maintained the basic shape and has always been an important member of the ritual combination. In the composition of the word "ceremony", "bean" is also the protagonist, which fully shows that beans are very important in the hearts of the people. According to research, the peach bucket is mainly used to hold "vegetables". In ancient times, pottery bowls were tableware for personal use, similar to modern rice bowl utensils. Taodou is shallow and small in shape, which is different from the bowl for "rice". Only a small amount of "non-staple food" can be loaded, which is probably the predecessor of porcelain plate. There is a difference between staple food and non-staple food, which is a way of life derived from rice farming society and one of the traditional characteristics of oriental food culture. Tall and steady pottery beans, in use, can not only highlight the visual effect of "dishes" in bean containers, but also conform to the lifestyle of ancient people sitting on the floor, making it convenient to clip "dishes". The wisdom of the ancients can be seen.
When I was writing the book Looking for Famous Kilns in China, I went to Jiexiu Kiln, which is located in Hongshan Town, Jinzhong, and was discovered by accident when I was engaged in farmland water conservancy in 1957. Experts believe that the firing level, firing scale and historical influence of Jiexiu kiln white porcelain are slightly inferior to Ding kiln, but its whiteness is high, which is 78.3℃ by scientific test. The fetal quality is delicate, bright and hard, and the knocking sound is crisp. The firing temperature should be around 1300℃, which is similar to modern white porcelain. It has the demeanor of "small jasper".
Bowls, plates, lamps and other utensils are usually packed and burned by Zhi Ding mats. Generally speaking, there are three small Zhi Ding pads on the round foot of the vessel. When burning, the nails are facing down and stacked in turn. After burning out of the kiln, bowls, plates, lamps and other utensils will leave three tiny burn marks on the inside. This burning method is unique to Jiexiu kiln, which is why I regard this incense burner as Jiexiu kiln incense burner. Ming Yongle blue and white sea incense burner, 55.5 cm high, 37.3 cm in diameter and 38 cm in foot distance.
This stove has a wide mouth, a short neck and a bulging belly. Take three legs, put your shoulders and your ears in the air. White glaze is applied inside. The outer wall is painted with sea cliffs.
This device is similar to the bronze furnace of "Yongle Year in Ming Dynasty" collected by Qinghai Provincial Museum. Its shape is huge, the blue and white colors are rich, the halo is obvious, and the condensed black spots are densely covered in the ornamentation. The pattern means that mountains and rivers will last forever. Being able to burn such magnificent and beautifully decorated porcelain reflects the superb porcelain-making skills of Jingdezhen kiln workers at that time.
The sea patterns on porcelain in Yongle and Xuande periods in Ming Dynasty were generally undulating and choppy, which was much more decorative than that in Yuan Dynasty.