Master descends to earth

Chapter 143 This Is the Greatest Sadness!

"Texture is also a big problem. Nowadays, porcelain used in daily life pays attention to thinness and lightness, but it is difficult for Longquan celadon to achieve this. Compared with other celadon, celadon is more brittle and softer, easy to break, and has a high loss rate."

“The two biggest problems with celadon are that the body must be as light and thin as paper, and the glaze must be as smooth as jade!”

Mao Zhengcong said deeply: "Celadon does not draw patterns, but only uses bas-relief decorations, paying attention to the simplicity and restraint of the Song Dynasty." Although it is made by craftsmen, it is the product of the aesthetic influence of traditional literati. "

"The shaping of porcelain is a reflection of one's inner world, and deliberate imitation and pursuit are not advisable. Especially celadon, the least afraid of others' imitation, because the imitated things are always less energetic!"

Su Yuan nodded. The simpler it is, the more profound it is.For example, many chefs accept apprentices and only let them cook one dish, fried rice with eggs.

Picking up a dried vase, he said with a smile: "Actually, casting itself is a broad and profound art. You don't even need to burn the kiln, just like playing music without recording, independent from the ceramic creation process."

"It is the foundation and soul of pottery, just like the relationship between sketch and oil painting, calligraphy and Chinese painting, piano and violin and music. The beauty of casting also has the beauty of rhythm, space and time flow."

"Not only should we consider the shrinkage ratio, but we should also pay attention to the shape, and teach students according to their aptitude according to different shapes. Large pieces even have to be drawn in sections, and every detail shows the quality and level of the drawing master."

After speaking, sit down directly, pick up a lump of mud, and demonstrate it in person.I saw that the mud ball seemed to be alive, accompanied by understatement, constantly changing its shape, which is amazing.

"Back then, my master let me pull blanks for five years. When I opened my eyes in the morning and closed them at night, even my dreams were like mud!"

Mao Zhengcong said with a smile: "Old artists pay attention to pulling, and first let the soil stand up with their hands. There are different shapes and styles. Dare to break the rules and create a style of its own."

"Pi means big. To make a big work does not mean that the work must be large in size and must have a heart. There is also a word hidden in the blank, as an individual, you must have individuality, and there are limits to the top and bottom. All over the sky, Fang Weipi!"

I saw that the tire was getting thinner and thinner, one centimeter...[-] centimeters...[-]...[-]...finally [-].

Mao Zhengcong stood up, washed his hands with water and said: "I'm old. When I was young, I could pull it down to at least one millimeter. I could just use a knife to trim it and it could be glazed. But now I can't!"

Under the admiring gazes of the onlookers, he said with a smile: "We craftsmen rely on kung fu to support our families. Now everyone is going to go to college and get nothing for four years. It's a waste of good time. Instead of this, why don't you learn a craft?" ?”

"How many good things did the ancestors leave behind? Among other things, the field of porcelain is broad and profound, so why can't we learn it?"

"Many people say that traditional craftsmanship is outdated and outdated? They know nothing!"

"Only what belongs to the nation belongs to the world! Foreigners know that they come to China from thousands of miles to learn crafts and collect artworks. Are they all fools?"

"If you say that craftsmen live in poverty and are precarious, it is true in the old society, but it is absolutely impossible now. A random laborer here, at least two or three hundred a day."

Mao Zhengcong let out a long sigh, relaxed slowly, waved his hand a little tiredly and said: "Forget it, I can only complain and complain about these words. Craftsmanship is so hard! It's so difficult!"

Su Yuan nodded, it's not that other people are stupid, and it's not that the country doesn't understand, the key is that learning the craft is too hard, too tiring, and too slow!
It takes months or even years to practice any movement. Who do you ask to do it?

Good guy, a highly talented person needs at least two years of training to become a master, and then three years of trimming, five years of glazing, ten years of painting, and 20 years of kiln firing...

What a once in a lifetime event!
Mao Zhengcong waved his hand, took Su Yuan out of the workshop, looked at the busy figures of the craftsmen, and said sadly: "Do you know what is the greatest sorrow of a porcelain maker?"

Su Yuan's heart skipped a beat, showing a helpless expression, Mao Zhengcong said with a wry smile: "It used to be that tea and porcelain were golden signs for the whole world to know China, but now?"

"The tea ceremony has long existed in name only in China, but it was carried forward by the little devils and became the essence of other people's culture."

"Not to mention porcelain, not only little devils, but now even old men are more proficient than us. It has been passed down for thousands of years, so how embarrassing for future generations!"

Su Yuan remained silent, Mao Zhengcong did not regard himself as a junior, but communicated and discussed as a peer.In fact, porcelain is just a microcosm of traditional crafts. The country has been reduced to other people's foundries, and can only rely on low-end labor in exchange for meager profits.

"The war at the end of the Ming Dynasty led to a sharp decrease in the supply of porcelain, so the East India Company turned its attention to the island country. Although the little devil was defeated by Li Rusong's Ming army in the war of invasion of Korea, he brought more than 1000 Korean porcelain artisans back to the island country and became a The initial core strength of the development of porcelain."

Mao Zhengcong found a clean place to sit down and recalled: "It took 20 years to search for kaolin with the efforts of the whole country. At the beginning, it was imitated blue and white, with a clear division of labor and training talents. After 30 years of hard work, it has met the requirements of European businessmen."

"Later, it innovated and invented Chihui Porcelain, which became a national symbol. It completely surpassed China, became popular in Europe, and became a famous brand in Europe's mind."

"On the other hand, what are we doing? Yes, during the Kangxi, Yonggan and Qianlong periods, the level of JDZ official kilns reached an unprecedented level, but the quality of private kilns and foreign trade porcelain did not make any progress."

"Western evaluation of Qing Dynasty porcelain: thick and thin, uneven quality, sloppy painting, poor blue and white color, enamel white and green."

"It completely lost its brand advantage, was overtaken by island countries, and was even asked by European merchants to imitate the little devil's red painted porcelain. In the late Qing Dynasty, the glory of monopolizing the world porcelain market for thousands of years is gone forever."

Mao Zhengcong drank his saliva, and continued to be filled with righteous indignation: "Then there are Europeans, starting with alchemy. Although it sounds unreliable, the whole experimental method is very important."

"The alchemist Bottgar was entrusted by the king to start developing porcelain. In four years, he did 3 experiments. He not only recorded all the experimental processes and results, but also saved all the small differences between each experiment. "

"In this way, through long-term scientific experiments and material analysis, I finally mastered the manufacturing secrets, thoroughly analyzed the firing principles and chemical formulas, and even made various exquisite porcelains by adjusting the ratio of elements in the porcelain clay and adjusting the firing process."

"From that day on, the so-called Chinese porcelain can only be aimed at the middle and lower classes in Europe, while the high-end class turns to the exquisite porcelain made by others."

"In my opinion, the success of the little devil lies in the attitude of excellence. The island country is poor in raw materials, so the production must be excellent, otherwise it will be considered a waste."

"Even in places where the porcelain can't be seen, you have to be perfect and demanding. The master teaches everything, if the apprentice does not surpass himself, it is the greatest shame!"

"Europeans pay attention to retaining the original data and experimental reports, which not only represents the rigor of the experiment, but also allows future generations to directly benefit from repeating the same mistakes."

"And we are more perceptual. In the process of teaching and mentoring, apprentices rely on understanding. Inventions and creations are gradually lost due to secret recipes and secrecy. Later generations have to repeat the failures of predecessors, which makes the overall manufacturing technology progress slowly."

church disciple,

Master starved to death?

Kill people!

(End of this chapter)