In the Golden Age of Chinese Craftsmanship

The essence of human civilization is craftsmanship. Although there is water, wind, wheel and leverage, it is for the efficiency of craftsmanship. The rise of Western industrial civilization is less than 500 years old. Compared to the long-standing craftsmanship, our memory is still craftsmanship. Because the principle of shape, the sharpness of beauty, and the difference in texture are gradually established and perfected in the era of craftsmanship. The supreme ruler of civilization, the emperor, has the right to enjoy the highest level of craftsmanship. His house, clothes, food and behavior are the most magnificent and exquisite craftsmanship. Therefore, the entire palace is a great city of craftsmanship. In the Qing and Ming dynasties, from Qing Shun to the 11th year, a jade kiln was set up in Jingde Town to burn the jade used by the royal family. Usually, the court will send its trusted person to supervise the quality of the jade, control the budget, and ensure that the jade does not leak into the door. In the 6th year of Yongzheng, 1728, Tang Ying was captured by Prince Yi and sent to the jade kiln in Jingde Town to work on the pottery. Tang Ying, who had just arrived at the jade kiln, knew nothing about pottery work. So he made up his mind to give up his status and work with craftsmen to live together. After three years, he was finally able to control the clay, the glaze, the black powder, and the kiln fire, and gained the approval of the craftsmen. According to the Fuliang County Records, there are 23 workshops in the jade kiln. Each workshop has its own expertise, such as painting, writing, carving, In the period of Yongzheng, Tang Ying's primary task was to work with the Emperor of Yongzheng. He began to imitate the names of the past generations. Yulihong is a type of jade with a lower right foot, which is colored with oxidized copper. The pattern is drawn on the jade, and then it is burned at a temperature of over 1200 degrees with transparent jade. The oxidized copper is restored to dark red under high-temperature flame. Because the oxidized copper is very unstable it is difficult to burn and is not easy to succeed. Since ancient times, Yulihong has been regarded as a treasure of ancient times. It was once lost in the Ming Dynasty, until the Qianlong period of Yongzheng, when it flourished again. Yongzheng specifically asked Tang Ying to imitate the names of the Song Dynasty, including Ruyao and Junyao. During the process of imitation, Tang Ying directly sent his staff to the ancient Yaozi to do field imitation, collecting broken pieces of books, and visiting the old. The court also issued the collection's name of the Song Dynasty as a sample to carry out the development and research The jade color of Ruyao is nearly as bright as the sky. The jade water is silky and thick as a pile of paper. Because there are iron elements in the jade material, at a temperature of 1100 to 1200 degrees, the green color of the jade will be presented. During the process of imitating the ancient Ming Dynasty, Tang Ying did not only make jade, but also developed many new jade colors. Among them, Rujunyao is an innovative variety in the process of imitating Junyao. This is a jade porcelain that is burned at a temperature of about 800 degrees. It is simply decorated with porcelain by changing the jade water. The main adjustment of the jade material is the content of various fine metal elements such as copper, gold, silver, copper, iron, and so on, so that the jade surface is flowing with the blue-based flower jade color. Some are not red jade. The jade surface is like a pile of mountain water, cloudy and hard. In the Yongzheng period, the jade color was handed over to the Qing Dynasty to be used as a decoration. In the Qianlong period, there were more spots of blue and white, so the color was more bright and gorgeous. In fact, it was quite difficult The good single-color jade porcelain was named after its pure and clear jade color. The tea-leaf ink jade color is also the single-color jade porcelain The single-color jade orange is not only influenced by the metal elements of the jade design, but also has a close relationship Due to the slight amount of metal elements such as iron and copper in the jade material, the dark green base color will have a yellow-gray color like the tea-leaf ink. This is a strange-shaped bottle, with a high middle level. There are five small bottles of the same size and shape The transparent structure of the six bottles is actually connected to each other The shape of the structure is quite unique, and the molding technique is excellent. In the second year of Qianlong, Tang Ying was promoted to be the governor-general. Pingzhi lived in Huai'an. He only went to Jingde Town He was assisted by Lao Ge and Liu Shishan After being promoted, Tang Ying had to face the emperor's demands and instructions directly and become a bridge between the emperor and the craftsmen of the jade kiln However, Emperor Qianlong had his own view of pottery He was no longer satisfied with the repetition of the old style Therefore, Tang Ying had many difficulties in the interaction with the emperor In the face of the new emperor who likes to be ingenious, rich, and gorgeous, Tang Ying and his craftsmen no longer stick to the rules but are more active in breaking through and innovating They were bold to use a variety of jade colors including high temperature, low temperature, color jade, upper and lower jade colors Tang Ying's skills were able to combine many techniques such as carving, transforming, and leather-making In this period, whether it was the shape of the pottery, the color of the jade, or the style of the master, they all created the new style of the Qianwu people Tang Ying made a transfer bowl and filled the bowl with light green jade After the transfer bowl was completed, the jade was poured out Tang Ying wrote down the craftsmanship he had been passionate about for the second half of his life in his book, The Art of Pottery He systematically wrote down the process of making the jade and made a professional statement In the eighth year of Qianlong, Tang Ying was taught by the imperial painters Sun You, Zhou Kun, and Ding Guanpeng to make twenty drawings These twenty drawings recorded in detail the production situation of the jade mill at that time Tang Ying worked in the jade mill from 1728 in Yongzheng 6th year to 1756 in Qianlong 21st year for 28 years His unwavering dedication and persistence made the descendants call the jade mill that Tang Ying made as the Tang Mill This also confirmed what the French humanist Louis VIII said Memory is the position that people find for themselves Tang Ying's position is the last golden statue in the history of Guanyao The Dobao Pavilion is a treasure chest with various treasures separated into sections so it is called the Dobao Pavilion It also contains hundreds of artifacts so it is also called the Hundred Stone Pavilion In ancient times, in order to let the emperor enjoy a lot of antiques at any time he did not have to open the warehouse to check the inventory so the emperor would choose some of his favorite treasures and specially customize them for them Dobao Pavilion was born out of luck The preciousness of the Dobao Pavilion is that it can see the craftsmen when they were building the emperor's treasures This sculpture talks about the Dobao Pavilion There are different kinds of fans on the outside The decoration on the fan imitates the calligraphy of the Song Dynasty and the painting of the Yuan Dynasty The most exquisite thing is that each fan can open and close The high and low scales of the Dobao Pavilion collect different shapes of real fans Originally there would be a self-painted fan which became a window with a strange and hollow shape The clever mechanism arrangement makes people feel a sense of surprise when they look at the fan The upper and lower seats can be separated and separated by a stand The stand which opens the base is another collection space The carpenter has to calculate the size of each space in detail so that no mistake can be made to open and close The craftsman has to take care of the overall layout and the exquisite appearance of the fan The craftsman uses carving, stitching, adhesion, and other techniques to enhance the elegance and glamour of the fan The round shape of the fan has a delicate lotus pattern on the surface The round shape becomes a hollow square after turning around The four sides of the square are like a small world When the square is opened it can become a small screen The treasures collected in the Dubao Pavilion reflect the emperor's taste especially Emperor Qianlong He especially liked the details In order to please the emperor the craftsmen put a lot of effort into the design of the fan Emperor Qianlong would often order the painters to draw some small drawings These drawings are very small Some are as big as a coin but they are very detailed Some are as big as a coin but they are very detailed These treasures from different eras are gathered together in the emperor's treasure box After the craftsmen's ingenious design the Dubao Pavilion is like a small museum for the concubines who live in the palace to fully enjoy the fun of finding and discovering The orchid factory is a place that specializes in for the Ming Dynasty palaces Among them the Tihong, by Yongle and Xuande in the two eras is particularly exquisite and is recognized as one of the The Tihong is a highly artistic work that requires the craftsmanship of the craftsmen and the skill of carving to create a beautiful work The process of making is complex and difficult so the skill is not easy to inherit During the Yongle period the Tihong qiqi of the orchid factory was full of red date and round and carved the year of Yongle on the edge of the qi The small and detailed characters had to face the light to be seen This secret was discovered by Emperor Qianlong so he made a poem engraved in this big river of flowers Seven people with ten swords Carve Yingruo River Zenghua Jing Hou Shi Xixian Wang Huipo The flowers are hard and fragrant and warm Yecheng Ruilu Duo Xizhen Juan Yongle Who is drinking with Guo'er The carved flowers are so beautiful and beautiful It's a pity but it makes people cherish the feeling of drinking When the qi tree is ripe it contains abundant jade Artificial coloring Use a knife to cut open the trunk to cut out the V-shaped acupoint and then insert the shell to collect the jade The jade taken from the qi tree is called raw jade and cannot be used immediately It must be refined before it can be applied to the surface of the object Ancient people refined the jade by filtering the raw jade and then sun-drying it in the sun and stirring it for 15 to 30 days until it becomes translucent and brownish and can be used for painting Now refine the jade First filter the collected raw jade Remove the qi residue and pour it into the jade bucket Stir slowly with a whisk to a certain extent Heat it with a brush to evaporate the water After a few hours The qi is evenly concentrated and becomes a natural transparent qi After the natural qi is applied It has the properties of anti-oxidation, anti-aging, and anti-mold The qi can be used for a long time Add the raw qi to the pig's red pigment After finely grinding with a cow's horn It becomes a pig's qi that can be used to repair the red After the pig's qi is refined It must be poured into the green paper to filter This way it will be even when applied to the surface of the qi In the Ming Dynasty, Gao Lian, the ancient Wanjiansangjia, mentioned in his work Yanxian Qingshangjian that the smaller the box, the more you can see the exquisite memory of Qiyi Shifu This is a small round box with a diameter of only 8.9 cm This is a small round box This is a case A very complex process and labor-consuming Before applying the pig's qi The pig's qi has to be applied to the surface of the fetus with raw qi, wafen, and relaxing oil The natural raw qi will penetrate the fetus and combine closely with the material to create the best protection effect. Unlike modern chemical paints, which only leave a beautiful surface without the effect of solidifying. After the paint has dried, use coarse sandpaper to smooth the surface. After smoothing, at least three layers of primer must be applied. After a day and a night of hard drying, before the next layer can be applied. After applying three layers of primer, smooth the surface again, before applying the pigments. After a day and a night of hard drying, before the next layer can be applied. It takes several months, or even more than a year, to achieve the thickness that is sufficient for carving. It is recorded in ancient books that the pigments used in the orchard consist mainly of 36 pigments. That is, the use of pigments must not be less than 36 layers. In fact, there are more than one or two hundred layers. From the observation of the ancient pigments in the Forbidden City, the general thickness of 7 layers is about 2 to 3 kilometers. Such a complicated process shows that the master of the orchard does not know the requirements for the quality of the work. Therefore, the price of pigments is naturally expensive. It is recorded that in the Ming Dynasty, the price of a box of pigments was 3,000 copper coins, which was equivalent to a year's salary for an orchard worker. 3,000 copper coins can buy more than 40 bags of rice, which is enough to feed an eight-person family for a year. Naturally, it is not an ordinary orchard, but a living object The diameter of this orchard is very small, only about 10 centimeters. The cover is carved with two statues and a embroidered ball. Under the pursuit of the statues, the embroidered ball's ribbon flutters and the background is carved with lilac clouds. This makes the whole painting very dynamic. In the two periods of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Degang and Bao Liang They were born in the Zhejiang Jiaxing Xitang area. Due to their excellent skills, they were hired by the court to the orchard in the year of Yongle to be the father-in-law of the silver chain and inherit their skills. Zhang Degang's skills in carving in the south influenced the style of the orchard in the period of Yongle Xuande. The characteristics of this kind of skill style are clear and smooth, delicate and exquisite. The so-called clear and smooth means that the carving and the lines are clear and smooth, and the knife is smooth and smooth. The so-called smooth means that the surface of the flower is smooth and smooth, natural and thick, and does not show the corners. The so-called delicate and exquisite means that the background has all kinds of patterns and is exquisitely carved. The orchard is the highest quality exquisite signboard. These are the classic silkware of the Forbidden City. They show the exquisite in the period of Yongle Xuande. Each layer of the bamboo has a beautiful color. As the years go by, the red color is still on the surface with fine patterns and rich colors. The depth of the craftsmen's memory is obvious on the surface. The famous Chu Jing Tu and Ru Bi Tu are the two longest scrolls Chu Jing Tu is about 26 meters long and Ru Bi Tu is about 30 meters long.