Riding the wind of rebirth

"Elbow, why do you like that pair of Gods of Wealth so much?" Mai Xiaomiao of course chose to believe that Zhou Zhi had his reasons for doing so.

"In fact, the five-color variety originated from the blue-and-white three-color variety of the Ming Dynasty," Zhou Zhi said, "but at that time, except for the blue-and-white variety, the other colors were relatively light."

"It was not until the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty that multicolored porcelain became truly multicolored porcelain. Why? Because the multicolored porcelain of the Ming Dynasty lacked dark blue and black tones, so it was lacking in matching and application."

"The most distinctive feature of Kangxi Five Colors is the use of overglaze blue and black, forming a combination of red, green, yellow, black, ochre, blue and other colors. With dark blue and black as the base tone, the color contrast of Kangxi Five Colors is more harmonious and calm."

"During the Kangxi period, the blue glaze was fired to a depth that was greater than that of blue and white, while the black glaze had a luster like black lacquer. The colors used in the five-color glaze were much more numerous than those used in the Ming Dynasty, and they were also more gorgeous and beautiful."

"The reason why we were able to surpass the achievements of the Ming Dynasty was that the firing process was very important."

"Overglaze colors are fired at low temperatures in a color furnace, so the control of the temperature is very important. If the temperature is too high, the color on the glaze will flow or disappear, and if the furnace temperature is too low, the luster of the color material will be insufficient." Zhou Zhi said: "Kangxi five-color porcelain is generally bright and shiny. This shows that the technology of firing colored porcelain during the Kangxi period was very mature."

"This kind of glaze has thickness and viscosity. The lines used to outline the contours are made of burnt ink, and the brush strokes are strong and powerful. Later, ink and color materials are used, and the brush strokes are round and soft. The color is more evenly applied than that of the Ming Dynasty, and the color is very rich. The glaze is applied on it, and it will be slightly raised after firing. Therefore, Kangxi Five Colors is also distinguished from the smooth enamel color and soft pastel, which is called "hard color", and the soft style of Yongzheng is called "soft color." "

"Hard color and blue and white porcelain are both based on Kangxi. Kangxi's five-color paintings are exquisite and vivid, which changed the rough painting style of Jiajing and Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, which only focused on color and not on shape. The best figures in the official kiln are farming and weaving pictures. The rest of the dragons, phoenixes, and lotus must be respectful according to the rules and standards, which is very particular."

"Elbow is talking nonsense again." Guan Shuning laughed and said, "Tao Ya's evaluation of Kangxi's five-color official kiln ware, especially in terms of painting skills, is that it is 'not as good as Kehuo's strange and bizarre ones. Kehuo's paintings are mostly monsters and old trees, and his brushwork is bold and unrestrained'."

"I think Tao Ya's evaluation of Kangxi folk kiln multicolored porcelain is objective. The patterns of Kangxi folk kiln multicolored porcelain are not as constrained as those of official kilns. The themes are rich and diverse. In addition to flowers, plum blossoms, magpies, and ladies in ancient costumes, there are also opera characters. When depicting various images, the lines are concise and powerful, and after applying various colors, it gives people a sense of brightness. Therefore, Kangxi multicolored porcelain is called 'hard color' or 'ancient color', and there is another very important reason for this."

"Yes, the last time Elbow came to New York, he got a large batch of Kangxi multicolored porcelain from Old John. They should all be from folk kilns." An Siyuan turned around in his wheelchair and said, "I remember it was a large batch, at least dozens of pieces, right?"

"The batch of porcelain I got from Old John, like the pair of God of Wealth statues in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is from a folk kiln, but the craftsmanship of folk kilns is also divided into first, second and third grades." Zhou Zhi shook his head and refused to admit it. "The batch of porcelain I received is large enough and has obvious features. However, whether it is the painting or the kiln work, it is difficult to compare with the pair of God of Wealth."

"Well, actually, I also think that batch of porcelain is not good-looking." Mai Xiaomiao's impression of the batch of Kangxi folk kiln multicolored porcelains was actually average. She certainly preferred the soft and warm pastel porcelains like gouache paintings, or the elegant and delicate enamel porcelains, or at least the bright and pure monochrome glaze porcelains like gems. She really couldn't fall in love with multicolored porcelains, so she took Zhou Zhi's false modesty as the truth.

Guan Shuning burst out laughing behind him and looked at Zhou Zhi with a sidelong glance, meaning, come on, please continue your performance.

"Why don't I take you to see them? It's much more interesting to watch them than to just talk about them like now. I think once you see them, you will definitely change your opinion of colorful porcelain."

"You are not allowed to run." An Siyuan stopped Zhou Zhi who was about to escape: "You should deal with what is in front of you first. I will let Guan Shuning take you to take a closer look at the pair of colorful gods of wealth later." Guan Shuning is the director of the Oriental Art Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. What he meant was that he could take them to take a closer look, which immediately blew away Zhou Zhi's excuse for wanting to escape.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art attached great importance to this event and invited celebrities from all walks of life to the pre-exhibition celebration party. Many of them had been seen at the last exhibition, but there were a few new faces.

Among them is actually a movie star, a big star who is well-known to Chinese people and is still on the rise.

In 1994, this actor obviously received more attention for starring in the action film "Speed", but for Chinese people, especially girls, they are more familiar with him from the romance film "A Walk in the Clouds".

In Zhou Zhi's mind, "A Walk in the Clouds" is far inferior to "Speed". It is just a standard "sugar film" for gourmets. The film tells the story of a demobilized soldier who left home to work and met a female student on the train. In order to help the female student, he agreed to pretend to be a couple with her and went to work in his family's vineyard. In the end, the two of them turned their fake play into reality and got married.

In Zhou Zhi's opinion, this movie is not interesting, but the girls in the class, from Tong Xiaolin to Li Yijiajia, are obsessed with it. They even let Zhou Zhi and Zhao Xing use their "positions" to extend the screening of the movie for another week at Hongqi Village Film and Television City.

The reason is simple: the leading actor is so handsome from beginning to end.

Even the judges of the film festival were affected, and "A Walk in the Clouds" was actually nominated for the Best Film at the 2nd Shanghai International Film Festival in China!
Unable to resist Mai Xiaomiao's constant tugging at his sleeves, Zhou Zhi had no choice but to push An Siyuan forward and greet the handsome face that could handle both Eastern and Western styles: "Hi, Keanu, how are you?"

The person in front of him was Keanu Reeves. He only knew Guan Shuning among the people who came over, so he replied with a polite smile, "Hello", and then waited for Guan Shuning to introduce him with a little confusion.

After Guan Shuning finished his introduction, Keanu Reeves greeted An Siyuan respectfully, and then extended his hand to Zhou Zhi: "So you are the mysterious oriental merchant in the porcelain story."

"Hello Keanu, this is my girlfriend Lily." Zhou Zhi stretched out his hand and shook his, thinking in his heart that he was still an investor in your upcoming sci-fi blockbuster, but now he had to introduce his excited little fan to the big star.

"Hello Keanu!" Mai Xiaomiao was a little excited: "I have watched your A Walk in the Clouds several times."

Keanu showed a faint bitter smile on his face. It seemed that he didn't really like the movie he starred in, but he still remained polite and courteous: "Hello."

Keanu is a very interesting person. He was born in Lebanon, but grew up to have dual citizenship of Canada and the United Kingdom. He has a quarter of Oriental blood. Although he has developed very well in the film industry, he regards the film industry as his "side job" and the Sirius rock band he organized as his main job. Most of the money he earned from making movies was invested in his singing career, for which he does not have much talent.

It can be considered as a complete literary youth. (End of this chapter)