Riding the wind of rebirth

The current award criteria, especially for master craftsmen, are quite stringent.

Having excellent work is just the most basic requirement; if you only meet this requirement, you may not even qualify for selection.

The subject matter, the craftsmanship, and the materials must all be innovative and groundbreaking. The works should have a significant impact on the overall atmosphere and be collected by professional art institutions or exhibited as important works in major exhibitions.

Even if you manage to do it occasionally, it's not enough. All the conditions must be met, and you must have a sustained influence for a certain number of years. Your disciples must also have a considerable position in the industry and have the necessary qualifications before it's possible to gradually progress from an artist to an art researcher and finally cross that insurmountable barrier to become a master.

This is different from the situation in later generations where masters were everywhere.

It's similar to getting the top score in the imperial examination. But how much better can the top scorer's writing be than the second and third place scorers? So personal ability alone isn't enough; you also need the added bonus of opportunity and luck.

For Zhu Qinghong, the level of craftsmanship had long been reached. Suzhou craftsmen are known for their exquisite carving and meticulous craftsmanship. Zhu Qinghong is a representative figure of Suzhou craftsmanship, and his strength lies in antique imitation. He is even more meticulous and strives for perfection. In Zhouzhi's words, he has the skill of dancing on the tip of a needle.

Even so, Zhu Qinghong remained stuck at the researcher level for a long time without being able to advance, mainly because her creations had long been limited to jade carving and antique themes, lacking innovation and breakthroughs.

It wasn't until last year, when he used the cherry red color from the newly discovered Liangshan agate mine to replicate the Qianlong hibiscus stone lid incense burner, that he finally earned the title of "National Master Craftsman".

Several senior carving artists from Suzhou Jade Carving Company also launched several series of works due to the discovery of this mineral, which received widespread acclaim. With the support of Chinese communities in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Taiwan, they have begun to gain their own influence.

The Nan Hong agate deposits have gained attention in the autonomous prefecture. In addition to allowing villagers to collect surface water-washed stones, several veins have been put under management, which also confirms that this type of stone is beginning to gain importance in the market, and the price of the material is soaring.

Expensive materials can severely limit a creator's abilities. For example, with Hetian jade mutton fat white seed material, who would be willing to make significant alterations to it at its current price? Most people would leave it as is if possible, utilizing the original shape of the stone. If there are cracks or inclusions, they would often make a cut along the cracks or inclusions to modify them into clothing patterns or water ripples and clouds. Then, they would open a small window and use shallow relief carving techniques to carve the exposed fish-like flesh from the small window into the face of a Luohan (Buddhist monk) or a "dragon with its head protruding." That would be considered the most significant work done.

There's no way around it; every extra cut takes away a few grams of weight. For jadeite and Hetian jade, in a few years, that one cut could cost tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan. Even if the carver has a great idea, the owner can't afford it.

The discovery of Yanyuan agate perfectly filled this gap. Because it was a newly discovered material, the price was extremely low. A piece of ore weighing more than ten kilograms was only worth a few thousand yuan, which could be given to master craftsmen to "play with as they please".

In addition, there is the color of Yanyuan agate. Although the color of good material is relatively light and elegant, it does not reach the intensity of chicken blood stone or Warring States red. However, the color is extremely rich and distributed in blocks with natural transitions, making it particularly suitable for creative work.

For example, in this flower basket, Master Zhu used his knife skills to create the leaves and petals of the plant in openwork carving. This technique removed more than half of the upper part of the stone, creating the effect of leaves and petals separated, achieving a level of realism that is hard to distinguish from the real thing.

This technique actually draws on the style of another craft category—porcelain shaping—and the carving techniques of another region—Taiwanese jade carving techniques. Combined with his own craftsmanship and aesthetic understanding, the three elements are integrated to form a significant breakthrough.

This highlights the importance of materials. Without the emergence of new, high-quality, and affordable materials with enormous potential, achieving breakthroughs in technology is extremely difficult. Of course, such powerful performance also expands the material's potential for appreciation, providing ample material for future speculation.

“Even if I were to give it to you, it would only be after the awards are finalized.” Zhou Zhi made a final concession: “Ciyun Mountain can be considered an important place for collection and display, and it can also be considered a place to collect the works of the masters. You can donate this flower basket to Guanyin Temple at that time.”

"By the way, Hong Kong Island doesn't seem to have a family planning policy, right?" Zhou Zhi reminded Xu Anxin, "Don't underestimate the reputation of that Guanyin Bodhisattva who was personally designated as a fertility goddess by Elder Li... Ouch!"

After being elbowed by Xu Anxin, Zhou Zhi protested, "That's true! I've never heard of the Goddess of Mercy who only grants children to only one child!"

Besides Southern Red Agate and Yanyuan Agate, the exhibition hall also features two other important pieces: handcrafted Chai kiln porcelain and maki-e lacquerware.

The Chai kiln porcelain comes from Jiukou and Lianhe Township. Under Zhou Zhi's guidance, Lao Zhong has restored four types of body shapes for "Jiukou firing" - incense ash body, cinnabar body, iron body and black body.

These four types of body materials are actually the most likely imitations of the body materials of Longquan celadon and Ru ware from the Song and Yuan dynasties. Traditionally, they can be divided into three types: white body, cinnabar body, and iron body.

The four types of porcelain bodies are actually due to the different formulas of the porcelain clay used. They are basically made by blending kaolin, purple clay, lime, rice husk charcoal, glaze fruit stone and other porcelain clays in different proportions.

White clay and incense ash clay are mainly made of kaolin clay and have a high aluminum content, while iron clay is mainly made of purple clay and has a high iron content.

Cinnabar clay is a transitional product. The iron content in the clay body is generally low, but it is still easy to react at the junction of the clay body and glaze, forming the characteristic "fire-red" color that is forced out from the inside of the clay body.

These characteristics also correspond one by one with the Longquan kiln, Ge kiln, Di kiln, and Ru kiln of Song Dynasty porcelain.

The glaze boldly incorporates agate stones abundant in the Jiukou Lianhe area. By adding agate to the glaze, some traditional formulas have been improved, giving the porcelain a simple, quiet, humble, natural, and ancient aesthetic.

This aesthetic style has always been admired by the Chinese, which abandons extravagance and returns to simplicity. It became popular in the Song Dynasty. For example, Su Shi and Huang Tingjian were faithful practitioners of this aesthetic. The so-called "Ancient Prose Movement" was itself a stylistic expression of this aesthetic in literature, and it has influenced the Chinese for thousands of years.

However, the Chinese did not give this style a deliberate name. Instead, after this trend spread to the island nation, the monks and intellectuals there who controlled academic resources summarized it into a term called "wabi-sabi".

Zhou Zhi never considered Jiu Kou Shao to be an "imported product" imitating Japanese style. He always believed that Lao Zhong was faithfully upholding traditional Chinese aesthetics, only that this aesthetic had disappeared from the mainland for a period of time. Now that people are well-off and have more material wealth, they naturally have a demand for cultural activities, allowing the charm of Jiu Kou Shao to be re-examined. It's not that the trend that swept away Japan has returned. (End of Chapter)