Chapter 35 Cloisonne Love

The ancient cultural market in Haiwang Village has returned to its former hustle and bustle. The arch into Haiwang Village Park is surrounded by stalls selling ancient books and rare jade articles.Some set up cloth sheds, and some set up in the open air, full of beautiful things in eyes and colorful colors. The old bookstalls are surrounded by bookshelves, counting from the south are the Sun family of Ronghuatang, the Sun family of Changxing Bookstore, the Gu family of Jiujingge, the Li family of Yangzhuozhai, the Zhang family of Qunyuzhai, and the Li family of Jiuantang. They are all small bookstalls.

The books are put on shelves, well organized, and the collection of classics and history is divided into categories. Careful cultural people can always find two or three rare books in this sea of ​​books. Most of the antique stalls are set up in sheds, selling rare jade, ancient Buddha statues, gold and silver jewelry and the like.Those mask stalls, incense candle stalls, kite stalls, and those who sell rabbits, feather dusters, and diabolos cannot enter the compound of Haiwang Village, so they set up stalls outside the gate, and they are bustling in the factory. Haiwang Village is an earthen kiln for firing glazed tiles in the Qing Dynasty, also known as Liulichang.During the Qianlong period, the tombstone of Li Neizhen, the Zhu state of the Liao Dynasty, was excavated, and it was known that it was a village in the Liao Dynasty.

Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, this place has been a gathering place for the book market. Cheng Yumen, the coordinator of the "Siku Quanshu", said in a poem: "The family rests on the horse to review the rare treasures, and the dealers buy second-hand books at the stalls." Lin Huiyin and Liang Sicheng are frequent visitors here.As early as the 1920s and 1930s, I often visited here with a group of friends such as Zhang Xiruo, Xu Zhimo, and Shen Congwen. On this day, she was accompanied by Liang Sicheng to Haiwang Village.At an old antique stall, a cloisonné vase attracted her attention. This vase was almost exactly the same as the one she saw at her grandfather's house in Shanghai when she was a child. She held it in her hand and looked at it carefully.The owner of the stall was an old man. Seeing that Lin Huiyin liked this vase very much, he said: "The two gentlemen still have good eyesight. This is the authentic cloisonné of the old Tianli. You can't see it anywhere else. It is the big name of the old Tianli. , can’t hold it anymore, it’s about to close down, Beijing’s cloisonné has been busy for hundreds of years, and it’s completely gone by now.”

After Lin Huiyin bought this vase, the old man also told her: Beijing Cloisonne has Laotianli and Zhongxing No. 2 Factory as the largest factories, both of which were old factories in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, and they can no longer continue to operate.As for the small factories in Dexingcheng, Tianruitang, and Quanxingcheng, it is even more difficult to sustain. Back home, Lin Huiyin always thought about what the old man said, and couldn't help worrying about the fate of this traditional craft.After repeated discussions with Liang Sicheng, she decided to set up an art group in the Department of Construction of Tsinghua University to rescue the endangered cloisonné.In addition to Gao Zhuang and Mo Zongjiang from the original National Emblem Group, this art group also has three little girls, Chang Shana, Qian Meihua, and Sun Junlian.Now Shana Chang is the dean of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, and Meihua Qian is the chief designer of the Beijing Enamel Factory. She is one of the few cloisonné experts in China.They still often recall the unforgettable days of rescuing cloisonne with Lin Huiyin.

At the first meeting of the art group, Lin Huiyin took out this vase for everyone to pass on.The three girls were all amazed, this was the first time they had seen cloisonne. Liang Sicheng said: "The Bauhaus once advocated that art is not a specialized profession, and there is no difference between artists and craftsmen. Architecture, sculpture, and painting should constitute a trinity of environmental art, and all three should turn to the same A combination of craftsmanship." Lin Huiyin told everyone about the history and technical characteristics of cloisonne. Cloisonne, also known as copper-bodied filigree enamel, is a famous special handicraft in Beijing. It first began in the Tang Dynasty, and was most popular in the Jingtai period of the Ming Dynasty. Because the main color is mostly peacock and blue dolphin glaze, it is named cloisonne.This craft is famous both at home and abroad for its beautiful shape, fine patterns and gorgeous colors.Its elegant and solemn artistic style has long been unique and praised by the world.

Lin Huiyin went on to say: "Cloisonne is a national treasure and cannot be lost in New China." In order to investigate the production status of cloisonne, Lin Huiyin, Mo Zongjiang, together with Chang Shana, Qian Meihua, and Sun Junlian, ran all day, only to find several inconspicuous small workshops.These small workshops are dilapidated and dilapidated. Some have only three or five master craftsmen and a few small stoves. The output is very low, and the products cannot be sold. A master craftsman heard Lin Huiyin say that they were investigating to restore the cloisonné craft. He was so excited that he burst into tears. He shook Lin Huiyin's hand and said, "Save the cloisonné!"

After a period of investigation, they basically found out the few remaining workshops in Beijing and the production situation of cloisonné.Most of these factories are on the verge of closing down, and there are no new and old artists. They have been operated in workshops for hundreds of years, with monotonous patterns and lack of stimulation to the entire craft market. Therefore, they have no competitiveness, low output, and cannot be sold. To save this endangered national art, the key is to adjust the production structure and renew the design in an all-round way, so as to bring it back to life.

Lin Huiyin found out the precious decorative patterns of past dynasties, and asked everyone to analyze and study them.The patterns used for cloisonne are only lotus and peony, which have not changed for hundreds of years, while Chinese decorative patterns are always changing and developing. Lin Huiyin pointed out those patterns to everyone: "Chinese traditional patterns express their symbolic meaning in this way. All nations and cultures in the world also have their own symbolic systems. China's auspicious patterns are an example. It originated from Shang and Zhou Dynasties began in the Qin and Han Dynasties, matured in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Auspicious patterns use traditional decorative patterns to express people's wishes and pursuits through the meaning of natural phenomena, homonyms or additional words. The auspicious patterns Most of the contents are blessings, festivities, longevity and well-being. The themes are animals, plants, utensils, gods and men, symbols, etc. These decorative patterns have a strong national color. It is bright, showing an ancient national tradition. However, everything can develop only when it changes. The pattern design of cloisonne rarely changes, which is one of the reasons why it cannot develop. Cloisonne, a national craft, must reflect various aspects. Artistic features are the only way to get out of the predicament. We should compile a collection of Chinese patterns of past dynasties, weed out the old and bring forth the new, and break out a new way. Let Wang Xun write the article, Xiaochang, Xiaoqian, and Xiaosun you all draw pictures, and it will be done soon ."

Lin Huiyin became excited, her cheeks flushed.Liang Sicheng walked over and said, "You're excited again!" Lin Huiyin felt very tired at this moment, and leaned wearily on the pillow. They went to the cloisonné workshop many times to investigate and study, from filigree, dotting, bluishing, polishing, and gilding, they worked with the old workers one by one, and were familiar with each process. During the investigation, they saw that the old craftsman dipped a thin flat copper wire into bletilla striata juice, circled it into various patterns, then burned it with solder, and fixed it on the blank tire, which completed the "firing wire". "the process of.Then, add various colored glazes in the gaps of the patterns. This is a kind of delicate work, which requires no cross-coloring and layered shades. After filling the colored glazes, put it in a ventilated place to dry in the shade, "point blue" process It's finished. The heat of "burning blue" is the most important. The glaze shrinks during the sintering process. It needs to be filled with glaze and fired again, and it can be fired four or five times.After sintering, the copper wire and glaze have been fused with the fetal bone, and then the burrs are smoothed and then finely ground. This is called "polishing", and a gorgeous finished product is born. "Gold-plated", that's even prettier.

Lin Huiyin mobilized everyone to design new patterns for cloisonne, and asked everyone to draw several pictures.Lin Huiyin was too sick to start writing, so Mo Zongjiang completed her creative ideas. Seeing that Lin Huiyin was sick like this, the old masters of the cloisonne factory couldn't bear to let her drag her sick body to the factory, so they took the initiative to go to Lin Huiyin's house to discuss.In this way, batches of new products have been trial-produced. In the spring of this year, Chang Shuhong held the Dunhuang Art Exhibition on the Meridian Gate Tower of the Forbidden City.When Lin Huiyin got the news, he immediately organized everyone to observe.When Chang Shuhong returned from France in 1936, Liang Sicheng encouraged him to go to Dunhuang many times when he was teaching at the National Beiping Art Academy. In the autumn of 1942, Liang Sicheng asked Chang Shuhong if he would like to work in the Dunhuang Art Research Institute. In March 1943, Chang Shuhong established the first Dunhuang research institution in Dunhuang: the National Institute of Dunhuang Art.Started the career of lifelong Dunhuang research.In the past few years, Liang Sicheng has helped him a lot, and has worked hard for the research institute's funding and other issues.Chang Shuhong broke the boat and stayed in Dunhuang for several years. This exhibition is all the results of his exploration of Dunhuang art.

Supported by Mo Zongjiang, Lin Huiyin climbed up the Meridian Gate Tower with difficulty.Facing the wonderful copy of Dunhuang murals, she was stunned and speechless for a long time.She held Chang Shuhong's hand tightly and said, "Old Chang, thank you for bringing me back a piece of Dunhuang." Chang Shuhong also said excitedly: "It doesn't all depend on Mr. Liang's encouragement and support." Chang Shuhong's imitation of murals brought her to a long time ago.She looked at the "Hunting Picture" from the Northern Wei Dynasty, "The Supporter and the Bullock Cart" from the Sui Dynasty, and "Music Player" from the Tang Dynasty and the pipa. Color, feel the vivid social life at that time.What attracted her most was the flying sky that rebounded from the pipa, which was soft and elegant like smoke and clouds, expressing the flight of life.She said to Mo Zongjiang: "From the nature in his eyes, through the process of his unique feelings, thoughts, ideas, and aesthetic mind, he synthesizes natural shapes, colors, and lines into visual images, and endows them with specific spiritual connotations. , to create a plastic art characterized by the illusion of space, which is what Chinese folk art lacks the most. Abandoning the flying life, those symbols have only the meaning of diagrams." After returning, she and Mo Zongjiang designed a set of cloisonné patterns with the theme of Dunhuang flying Apsaras, and immediately handed them over to the factory for trial production.The fired products are really unique. At that time, the "Asia and Pacific Regional Peace Conference" was being held in Beijing, and the Soviet cultural delegation was also visiting China. The first batch of products with Dunhuang artistic style were given to guests as gifts and received high praise. Ulanova, a famous Soviet ballet dancer, said happily: "This is a gift representing the new China. It is really beautiful!" In 1953, the Second Cultural Congress was held, and Lin Huiyin was invited to participate because of his achievements in saving cloisonné art. On the day of the meeting, Xiao Qian was sitting at the back of the venue. Lin Huiyin waved to him from a distance. He walked over, sat beside her, and whispered as usual: "Miss Lin, you are here too!" Lin Huiyin smiled: "Miss Huan, you have become an old woman!" In the report of the National Artists Association, Jiang Feng, the head of the Artists Association, fully affirmed and spoke highly of the achievements of the Tsinghua Art Group and Lin Huiyin in saving cloisonné art. Decades have passed, and Beijing cloisonné crafts have been developing rapidly, expanding from a few varieties in the early days of liberation to hundreds of varieties, and showing the level of comprehensive craftsmanship, it has become a worldwide craft product.But no one would have thought that it was those delicate hands that painted the first new glaze for it!