My system is not decent

Chapter 1044 It's absolutely rare to stop offering to the imperial court

To be honest, the fact that Ru Kiln became famous all over the world is really legendary, and it has a lot to do with Sima Guang, a celebrity in the Song Dynasty.

Sima Guang was a minister in the court at that time. He was very upright and knowledgeable.

One year, Sima Guang was framed by traitors in the court, and the emperor demoted Sima Guang to Yangluo to write a book.

Sima Guang rode a little donkey from Bianjing to Yangluo.

On this day, Sima Guang missed his accommodation and came to a small town in Jienan Mountain, Ruzhou, in the middle of the night.

When Sima Guang entered the town, he asked if there was any inn in the town.

People in the village said that there is no inn in the town. There is a porcelain maker named Yan He near the river in the south of the village. There are often porcelain sellers living in his home, so there may be a place to stay.

Sima Guang led the donkey and found Yan He's house.

When Yan He saw that a scholar came to stay overnight, he was very happy and entertained Sima Guang warmly.

When eating, Sima Guang saw that the tableware and tea sets used by Yan He's family were all exquisite, with bean green glaze and sky green glaze, and the glaze surface was warm and moist like jade.

Sima Guang liked it more and more, so he asked Yan He, "Is this Ru porcelain?"

Yan He said: "That's right, my small town is called Yan's shop, and only the villain's ancestors burn Ru porcelain. My name is Yan He."

Sima Guang asked again: "How long has the shopkeeper Yan made Ru porcelain?"

Yan He said: "It has been passed down to the villain's generation for at least two hundred years."

That night, Sima Guang stayed at Yan He's house.

The next morning, after eating, Sima Guang suddenly said to Yan He, "Master Yan, I want to visit your kiln."

Seeing that this scholar liked the porcelain he made so much, Yan He was naturally very happy, so he led Sima Guang to see the workshop and kiln, and finally led him to the hall of his home where exquisite porcelain was placed.

As soon as Sima Guang entered the hall, he saw several porcelain racks filled with various kinds of porcelain, including lotus leaf vases, gossip tripods, plates, and bowls.

When Sima Guang saw so many good things, he couldn't help praising them and said: "Naturally formed, with everyone's style, it can be called a treasure among porcelains."

Seeing that Sima Guang liked his own porcelain, Yan He presented Sima Guang with a set of Ru porcelain stationery, including a pen holder, a pen stand, and a washing machine, before leaving.

Sima Guang was very happy to accept this set of Ru porcelain stationery.

He thought to himself: If this Ru porcelain is recommended to the court, the royal family will definitely like it.

But at that time he was being ostracized by the imperial court. Although he had thoughts in his heart, he didn't express them out of his mouth, so he left Ruzhou and went to Yangluo.

Sima Guang lived in Yangluo for more than ten years. Later, the old emperor died and the new emperor ascended the throne.

The new emperor knew that Sima Guang was a loyal minister, so he issued an imperial decree, appointing Sima Guang to be the prime minister in the court.

When Sima Guang grasped the power in the court, he thought of Ru porcelain, and immediately sent a memorial to the emperor, asking the court to use Ru porcelain instead.

At the same time, he also sent people to Ruzhou, selected a batch of Ru porcelain, and went to Bianjing for the emperor to inspect.

Who knew that after more than ten years, Yan He could make Ru porcelain even better.

He went to the mountains to collect agate stones, mixed them into the glaze, and the glaze of the fired Ru porcelain was green and green, very pure.

The original bright glaze color is very bright, but it is very dazzling. The bright glaze color after firing is the same as before, but it is very soft, not dazzling, and looks smooth.

When the emperor saw Ru porcelain, it was indeed much better than the original utensils used in the court.

So an imperial decree was issued immediately, ordering Ru porcelain to be the royal porcelain of the court, and a supervisor was also sent to Ruzhou to supervise the manufacture of Ru porcelain.

At that time, it was stipulated that after the Ru porcelain was fired, it would be selected by the court first, and the remaining ones selected by the court could be used by the common people.

Later, it became more and more strict, and the emperor specially built a royal kiln in Ruzhou.

Afterwards, the porcelain that could be used was transferred away by the imperial court, and the unusable ones were smashed on the spot and buried, and there was no Ru porcelain on the market.

So why are there so few Ru porcelain handed down after Ru porcelain was lost?That's why.

"The folklore is really unreliable. When did Yan He's daughter die in the kiln?"

"Also, the sky blue color is probably not what Song Huizong dreamed about!"

Chen Wenzhe was very happy to see a secret and understand the truth of history.

Of course, at this time, he was more interested in Yan He's porcelain making technology.

He has a craftsmanship that has been passed down from his ancestors for more than two hundred years. As long as he can learn a little, he can completely inherit the complete firing process of Ru porcelain in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chen Wenzhe carefully checked that book, even the process of compiling this book, and read it slowly.

Because he is very familiar with the production process of porcelain, Yan He described the whole process of porcelain from the preparation of clay to firing into vessels in his book.

He comprehensively summarized the development of the porcelain industry before the Northern Song Dynasty, and described the raw materials and firing techniques in great detail.

In the book, the porcelain making process is divided into soil extraction, mud refining, box plating, mold repairing, material washing, billet making, printing billet, turning billet, drawing billet, glaze shaking, full kiln, kiln opening, colored ware, furnace firing, etc. The fourteen steps can be said to be quite perfect.

Among them, there are quite a few related to the porcelain-making process of official kilns in Ru kiln, such as the composition and firing process of Ru kiln glaze medicine.

Among them, the most important ones are the traces of nails, flowing glaze, piled glaze, and chipping left on Ru porcelain.

In this, it is clearly recorded how to use agate.

"Ru kiln is forbidden to be fired in the palace. There is agate powder in it as glaze. It is only allowed to be sold for the emperor's selection and retreat. It is especially rare near here."

This book records in detail the details of the glaze making of "agate glaze" in Ru Kiln.

Regarding the glaze-making process of agate glaze, there are many records in many documents after the Song Dynasty.

For example, Li Rihua in the Ming Dynasty recorded in "Zi Tao Xuan You Zhu" that "Ru Kiln used agate powder as glaze.

Liang Tongshu of the Qing Dynasty recorded in the "Ancient Kiln Ware" "Ru Kiln" that "the chip agate is glaze, like elder brother and deep yellowish, like egg white, so-called light blue color." and so on.

Although these later documents all mentioned the glaze of agate, but how to glaze it and what effect it can achieve, few people have clarified.

Agate is a translucent chalcedony, a gemstone of the subspecies of aphanitic quartz, with birefringent (bright) properties.

The glazed surface of porcelain is also regarded as glass. Glass and chalcedony are very similar in appearance and physical properties. Both are composed of silica and both have glass luster.

Therefore, agate glaze is also very reasonable.

In fact, the same as silica, in the rock formation process, different conditions will produce gemstones with different crystallization.

Silica is crystal when it crystallizes perfectly; quartz when it crystallizes imperfectly:
After the silica gel is dehydrated, it becomes agate; when the hydrous colloid of silica solidifies, it becomes opal;

When the silica grains are smaller than a few microns, they form chalcedony, chert, and secondary quartzite.

There is a very popular view among some experts nowadays.

They believe that "agate is more precious than quartz, and using it as a glaze reflects the noble status of the royal family, indicating that royal supplies are spared no expense, and agate will not have much impact on the nature and color of the glaze."

Therefore, genuine Ru porcelain does not depend on whether agate is added to the glaze.

(End of this chapter)