Chapter 22 Section 8 Longquan Kiln and Ge Kiln

The central kiln is located in Dayao and Jincun, Longquan County, Zhejiang.This is a porcelain kiln system in southwestern Zhejiang. There are similar kiln sites in Longquan, Suichang, Qingtian, Yunhe, Lishui, etc., forming a large-scale porcelain kiln system with strong production capacity.Here the Song Dynasty belonged to Chuzhou, so its works are also called Chuqi and Chuzhou Porcelain.The production time is from the Northern Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty.After Jiajing Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, it gradually declined. The most developed period of Longquan celadon production was the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The output was very large. No matter whether it was sold domestically or exported, it was found in many countries and regions that passed through the land transportation line or the Maritime Silk Road. Other kilns could not match it. Compare.

The characteristics of Longquan celadon.Longquan celadon in the Northern Song Dynasty is characterized by vitreous glaze, thin glaze layer, green glaze color, relatively light, gray and white body, thick texture, thick carcass, ancient and clumsy shape, thin mouth edge, thick part with large arc, bottom and The thickness of the rim varies by four to five times. Because the raw materials are not processed finely and no materials are added to improve the performance of china clay, it is easy to deform during firing. The craftsmen increase the thickness at the place that bears the most pressure during production, so the shape is heavy.In the Southern Song Dynasty Longquan celadon found a porcelain plate with the inscription "Yao Zhai Fushi".Longquan celadon in this period formed a unique artistic style.In addition to daily utensils such as plates, bowls, bottles, cans, etc., there are also artworks required for indoor furnishings, such as sacrificial vessels, imitation bronze ware, and antique jade ware.The shapes are diverse, the quality is more exquisite than that of the Northern Song Dynasty, the lines are refined, the production is regular, and the structure is reasonable. There are two kinds of gray and white tires and iron bone tires.Glaze colors include plum green, pink green, moon white, crab shell green, goose skin yellow, etc.Due to multiple glazes, the glaze layer is thick, shiny and smooth, with a jade-like texture.

According to records such as "Zhejiang Tongzhi" in the Ming Dynasty, it is said that in the Longquan area, there were Zhang brothers who were good at firing porcelain.The younger brother Zhang Shenger mainly produces celadon, and what is usually called Longquan celadon is also called brother kiln.The blue-glazed open-piece porcelain produced by his elder brother Zhang Shengyi is called Ge Kiln.This is actually misinformation.There are no relics of Zhangsheng 1 and Zhangsheng 2 kilns in Longquan County, that is to say, there is no special distinction between brother kilns and younger kilns in the Longquan kiln system.Only some kilns of Longquan celadon produced a kind of high-grade celadon under the influence of official kilns in the Southern Song and Yuan Dynasties.Some are light gray tires, and a few are dark brown iron bone tires.The carcass is thin and dense, and the carcass (such as the edge of the mouth and the bottom of the ring foot) reveals the color of the carcass.There are ice cracks of different sizes on the glaze surface, the large ones are dark in color and iron brown, and the small ones are light in color and golden yellow, which are called "golden wire and iron wire" patterns.This kind of work is produced in some workshops, and the workshops that produce this kind of work are still mainly producing Longquan celadon.People call this kind of porcelain with "gold wire and iron wire" pattern as Ge Kiln.Ge kiln porcelain has a high artistic level, and was listed among the five famous kilns of Song porcelain by later generations.At present, the academic circles have different opinions on the existence of Ge Kiln and where the kiln site is, which needs to be confirmed in future archaeological discoveries.