Riding the wind of rebirth

Although the jade carving factory has developed into a company, it still retains the layout of a front store and a factory. However, the factory is now a bit bigger, a five-story building in the shape of a zigzag. When the general manager Yao Chong learned that Zhou Zhi had arrived, he hurriedly stepped out in person. The floor came to greet him.

There was no elevator in the building, so Yao Chong took Zhou Zhi up the stairs. On the corridor wall at the corner of each floor, there was a large glass cabinet, which contained large carvings from the jade carving factory.

The characteristic of Su Gong is "fineness", which is extremely fine. In addition to jade carving, woodworking and embroidery are all like this.

The more delicate it is, the more work it takes, just like the Xianghuan and Xiancha that Zhou Zhi just received. Although the volume of Xiancha is more than ten times larger than that of Xianghuan, the labor time consumed by Xianghuan is much higher than that of Xiancha.

The main reason is that the sash ring is made of Hetian white jade and the Xiancha is made of sapphire. The value of white jade is much higher than that of sapphire, making it worthy of the fine workmanship.

Of course, there is another aspect, that is, the material itself can withstand such delicate work and has the ability to express rich details.

If the texture of the material is thicker than the knife, such as agarwood, stoneware, or Burmese amber, it cannot support such carvings.

Even the jade and crystal in high-end products are too transparent, so it is difficult to visually reflect the knife work on the surface.

In order to deal with such materials, Suzhou jade craftsmen inherited Lu Zigang's inheritance, which is to frost part of the surface of the material to block direct penetration of light, showing considerable details and richer visual effects.

For example, Zhou Zhi sees a crystal statue of Guanyin on the third floor. The Bodhisattva's face, hair, nails, clothing, necklaces, ribbons, etc. have been frosted. The remaining parts such as the skin exposed on the chest and hands, and the pupils of the eyes have been frosted. , the jewelry on the necklace, the Buddha's aperture behind and other parts are treated as glossy surfaces, creating a magical effect that seems to be there and not, and combined with the theme, makes people feel the heart to worship.

"Compared to Feitian, Teacher Lu and Teacher Zhang's skills have improved again." Zhou Zhi couldn't help but admire: "It's really amazing!"

Yao Chong was also a little confused by Zhou Zhi's young age. When he received a call from the Gongmei Store in Urumqi this year, he said that this was a super rich man who had swept away all the white jade and aniseed materials in Urumqi for many years.

At the same time, he also bought the treasures of the museum that he has owned for many years, including teacher Zhu Qinghong’s antique Han jade series and Duo Wu Feitian, a collaboration between Lu and Zhang. Yao Chong’s first reaction was that Zhou Zhi should be a half-bald man. He is tall, with a big belly, a big gold bracelet in one hand, a luxury car key in the other, and looks like a middle-aged nouveau riche man wearing suits and ties.

As a result, when we met, he turned out to be a well-mannered student carrying a canvas backpack. How could you not be in a trance?

But no matter what it looks like, the train consignment note in your hand cannot be fake. The jade materials sent by others are now placed in the warehouse. Several teachers basically go there every day to look at them when they go to work. They all say they are dozens of pieces. Even if the customer is a ten-year-old child, he must hold the top-quality ingredients that he has never had access to in years. Then he smiled and said: "How does Mr. Zhou know that this is the craftsmanship of Teacher Lu and Teacher Zhang?"

Zhou Zhi couldn't laugh or cry: "This Crystal Water Moon Avalokitesvara won last year's Hundred Flowers Award again, and our school library also ordered the magazine "Chinese Art". It has exclusive interviews with two teachers." "Yes, yes, that's true. "Yao Chong reacted: "I thought Mr. Zhou could tell the difference from the creative style, which shocked me."

The heritage of the big factory is indeed extraordinary. When I came to the factory conference room, I saw a dazzling array of glass cabinets on the walls, all of which were extremely exquisite carvings. The surroundings were hung with various honorary certificates, trophies, and leaders from several generations. When you come to inspect the factory or view the exhibition, you can take photos with the exhibits and the creators. There are also photos of guests from all over the world viewing the displays, and photos of some works being presented to foreign guests as national gifts.

When you enter this conference room filled with honors, you can feel what it means to have a century-old heritage.

There were five or six people waiting in the conference room, four of them were older, and there were two young men and women who looked not much older than Zhou Zhi.

"Let me introduce you." Yao Chong asked the clerk to pour tea for everyone, and raised his hand for everyone to sit down: "This is the representative of Party A who entrusted our factory to process the supplied materials this time, Mr. Zhou Zhizhou."

"Mr. Zhou, this is Xu Zhimian, Chief Engineer of our factory. He is also Teacher Zhu's master, Teacher Lu and Teacher Zhang's grandfather." Yao Chong smiled and introduced the people present to Zhou Zhi: "Teachers Zhu, Teacher Lu and Teacher Zhang You should all know each other, these two young men are their apprentices, Guo Changzheng and Lu Jianghua."

"General Manager Xu is old, and we generally don't dare to work for him. Today, thanks to Mr. Zhou, it is rare for three generations of masters and apprentices, old, middle-aged and young, to gather together in our factory."

Zhou Zhi said with a smile: "When I was on a business trip in Urumqi, I saw Master Zhu's imitation Han Dynasty jade carving components, as well as Master Lu and Master Zhang's dancing flying sky. I was really amazed by the workmanship. I immediately bought it from Urumqi Gongmei Mall. Come down."

"As a result, I just saw the Water Moon Guanyin statue in the corridor on the third floor, and I realized that the skills of the two of them have improved again. It's really gratifying."

Zhang Mingyu seems a little introverted and doesn't speak much. Lu Man said: "We were very happy to receive the jade material from Mr. Zhou. More than ten kilograms of Hotan seed material have not been used in our jade carving factory for a long time. Everyone is very happy." I’m both excited and nervous, but don’t worry, we will satisfy you to the greatest extent, but I just don’t know what kind of theme you are planning to do?”

"Now the market can only accommodate small jades, and jade is the same. I make some bracelets and wear them with me. I'm afraid that others won't know that I have money, and they still call it style." Xu Zhimian is a thin old man with dry muscles, and he still has a lot of money. He had a long beard and shook his head to express his dissatisfaction: "The apprentices in the factory have to do this all the time, and sooner or later their skills will be ruined!"

"That's not entirely true." Yao Chong couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed: "Now is a market economy. We can only organize production according to the needs of the market. For high-quality and low-priced products such as jade bracelets, ring faces, and earrings, we The factory has to support hundreds of people, and if we want to provide benefits to everyone, we have to follow the market."

Seeing that Xu Zhimian was about to speak, Yao Chong quickly gave Lu Man a wink. Lu Man pulled Xu Zhimian's sleeve to silence him. Yao Chong then seized the opportunity and continued: "Of course, our Suzhou Jade Carving Factory has inherited craftsmanship that has been passed down for hundreds of years." , we must not lose it. Not only must we not lose it, we must make further progress and strive for more works that can win awards in the province and ministry, including national-level and world-level tasks. Of course, the more the better, the better. good!"

"Look, Mr. Zhou is here to customize high-end products just because he likes the craftsmanship of our factory!" Yao Chong said with a smile, "It shows that we have previously encouraged everyone to study technology hard and take two paths together. , there is nothing wrong with it, and the craftsmanship of several masters has not fallen behind at all!"