golden ear

Chapter 289 Visiting Arita Ware

"Is this your Japan's porcelain field?"

Today, Wu Tianyuan specially asked Hiroaki Yamanaka to bring him to Arita to see the elegance of Japan's porcelain capital with his own eyes.

"As long as you walk into Arita Town, Saga Prefecture, Japan, you will be greeted by a world of porcelain." Shanzhong said proudly: "From the railway road, you can see the chimneys of porcelain kilns scattered everywhere. Step into the block , Porcelain shops, large and small, are densely packed along both sides of the street, with no end in sight.”

"If you ask ordinary Japanese people about our country's iconic porcelain producing area called "Porcelain Capital", nine out of ten will mention "Arita Ware" without hesitation. We are used to calling porcelain "Arita Ware" according to its place of origin So-and-so-yaki". Although there are not a few well-known porcelain producing areas in various parts of Japan, in terms of product coverage, "Mino-yaki" located in Gifu County occupies more than half of Japan's practical porcelain; "Kimizu-yaki" in Kyoto is not far behind. However, Arita still sits on the "golden chair" of the Japanese porcelain industry without shame, and has its own heritage."

Wu Tianyuan got off the car with Yamanaka Hiroaki, and visited this quiet town on foot to experience the level of Japanese porcelain.

"The Japanese porcelain industry has a history of less than 400 years. On the side of Arita Town, there is the support for the rise of Arita-yaki - the large-scale Quanshan Porcelain Stone Field. In 1616, Li Canping, a famous ceramic craftsman from the Korean Peninsula, discovered here. This is the earliest white porcelain mine in Japan, from which porcelain was fired in the Arita area, becoming the ancestor of the Japanese porcelain industry.”

Wu Tianyuan saw a statue of this Japanese "ancestor of porcelain" on the side of the Quanshan Porcelain Stone Field. Li Canping, a slender man with a bitter face, sat alone in a shrine made of glass and wooden pillars, closed his eyes and meditated.Historical data show that this "ancestor of porcelain" was brought here when Toyotomi Hideyoshi "conquered" Korea.

"The mineral quality of the white porcelain stone in Quanshan was very good, and porcelain could be fired directly without any additives. The porcelain stone field in front of us has been excavated for hundreds of years, and an entire mountain has been cut off, but the reserves are still rich enough. It can maintain the long-term development of Arita ware. What's more, a new high-quality porcelain stone mine has been discovered in the adjacent Kumamoto Prefecture as the main source of material. Therefore, the mining volume of Izumiyama porcelain stone mine is already very small, and it is only used as a commemorative offering. people visit."

"This is the site of the "Tengu Valley Kiln", which is now designated as a "National Historic Site". "The group of kilns in the style stretches from the foot of the mountain to near the top of the mountain, and they are connected in a row, very cleverly seeking to maximize the benefits of fuel firepower."

Hiroaki Yamanaka pointed to the mountains in the distance and said: "The rise of Arita ware was also closely related to the abundant local pine forest resources. But now there are few traditional wood-burning kilns here, and more than [-]% are new ones. The advantage of gas kiln is that it is easy to accurately control the temperature in the kiln. In the entire product process, labor and machine components account for about half, and computer design and control methods are also introduced. Even if you rely on machines, you must pay attention to people. "Qi" and "thinking" make porcelain reflect the "body temperature" of people.

Along the way, Wu Tianyuan can deeply feel the professionalism of the Japanese. Although they are all small workshops, they are all family businesses that have been passed down for decades, or even hundreds of years.

"In this small town with a population of just over 150, there are more than [-] large and small porcelain kiln enterprises, and the porcelain industry is the pillar industry here. However, the local area is still trying to tap its extension effects, such as catering and sightseeing. Tianyuanjun, this is the most The famous Baoming store, please go in and enjoy the delicious food while admiring the porcelain."

A group of people entered a small shop and began to taste local specialties. Hiroaki Yamanaka filled Wu Tianyuan with wine and said with a smile: "Adjoining Arita Town is the famous Imari City. After the rise of Arita ware, Imari was also the main production area. Imari, as a sea port, became famous when European merchants were caught up in the temporary interruption of China's porcelain road and aimed at Arita ware. The port of departure of Wan. So that the name of Imari became more and more famous among European porcelain merchants at that time. "Ancient Imari Ware" became the main pronoun of early Arita Ware."

"In Okawachiyama in Imari City, there is also a high-quality porcelain kiln that was mainly used for firing for the imperial court or generals at that time. The imperial porcelain kiln of Saga Nabeshima Domain! If you step into that beautiful town, you will not have the impression of the usual ceramic production area. , but like a scenic spot "raised in a deep boudoir". It is said that the official kiln was set up in such a secluded place in the mountains to prevent its superior skills from leaking."

"The porcelain kilns there are generally small in scale. Nowadays, except for artistic porcelain, it is impossible to use traditional manual methods because the cost is too high. Nevertheless, the craftsmen still maintain the idea of ​​"quality over quantity" and strive to preserve Complete traditional craftsmanship. The porcelain of Imabata Mantoen has special counters in major department stores in Ginza, Tokyo, and is often exhibited and awarded overseas.”

"In addition to Arita and Imari, Japan is also known as the six ancient kilns. Shigaraki Town, Koka City, Shiga Prefecture, has become one of the six ancient kilns in Japan because of its unique geographical conditions and unique pottery craftsmanship. A famous place of production of raku ware.”

Wu Tianyuan has read the information, and the characteristics of Shigaraki can be summarized by "crimson", "natural glaze", "scorch marks", "hail eyes", etc., which are also the criteria for judging its quality.

Because the local clay has a high iron content and is doped with small sand particles such as silica. After being fired at a high temperature of about 1300 degrees, these minerals undergo a chemical reaction, and the iron is crimson. After melting, the silica is dotted like small hailstones. On the surface of ceramics, it is vividly called hail eyes.

The Shigaraki tea set was favored by Japanese tea ceremony masters such as Murata Zhuko and Sen Rikyu. Since then, it has become famous in Japan and was once called "tea pottery Shigaraki".Shigaraki ware ushered in its heyday in the Edo period, and almost everyone in Shigaraki Town was engaged in ceramics.

According to Wu Tianyuan's understanding, there are some similarities between Xinle Kiln and Jun Kiln, both relying on kiln transformation to produce a unique aesthetic feeling, mysterious and gorgeous.

Echizen-yaki, one of the six ancient kilns, is characterized by its simplicity and naturalness, and its thick shape. After high-temperature firing, the ashes flow freely on the surface of the pottery. It is random, simple, and has the characteristics of the earth. This natural glaze has a very Good feel, very similar to Jian Kiln.

Seto ware coexists with Bizen, Shigaraki, and Tokoname, and is one of the oldest surviving pottery kilns in Japan.However, compared to Bizen, where most of the utensils and pots used by farmers are baked, Seto is a precious craft that imitates Chinese celadon, and has been making it since the Kamakura period.

Tokoname-yaki pottery is produced in Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, and its history is said to date back 1000 years.At first, no glaze was used at all when firing, and the technique was called "natural glaze" firing method.The main products are clay pots and so on.Later, Tokoname-yaki became famous for firing pottery pipes.It is also now known for making pottery from Zhuni, a reddish-brown clay, similar to the style of Yaozhou kilns.

The pottery clay used in Bizen ware is obtained from the soil in rice fields and contains a high iron content.Therefore, when pottery is fired continuously at a high temperature of 1200 degrees Celsius for several days, it will show different colors.In addition, the master uses red pine wood to burn pottery, and the ashes of red pine stick to the pottery to form special patterns.

Among the major kilns in Taiwan, Yingge is famous for decorative or industrial fine ceramics, Nantou Shuili is famous for snake kilns, and Miaoli is famous for living pottery kilns.Among them, the living pottery of the Miaoli kiln is very similar to the firing method of Bizen ware.

It was a worthwhile trip for Wu Tianyuan to see real Japanese porcelain. Although it is quite different from Chinese official kilns, it still has a unique flavor.This gave him confidence in his future plans. He didn't plan to make daily-use porcelain and industrial porcelain, but directly entered high-end art porcelain, using national traditional treasures to shock the world again.

(End of this chapter)