After dreaming of getting rich, I dressed up as a collapsed idol

Chapter 475

Among the five famous porcelains of the Song Dynasty, Ru, Guan, Jun, Ge and Ding, Ru porcelain is the best, named after Ruzhou where it is produced.

In the late Northern Song Dynasty, the Ru kiln was monopolized by the royal family and was used to produce porcelain exclusively for the palace, namely "Ru official porcelain". It was also the first truly official kiln in Chinese history and rarely spread to the public.

"Because of the difficulty of the craft, the kiln only existed during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song. During the Jingkang Incident, the Jin army invaded Bianjing, and the Northern Song Dynasty fell. The Ru kiln craftsmen could not escape, and the kiln was destroyed. Many of the techniques were lost. Later, the Southern Song Dynasty tried to restore it, but could no longer produce the same glaze color."

"Some were lost during the wars, and Ru porcelain bodies are thin and fragile. Currently, there are very few authentic Northern Song Ru porcelains handed down from ancient times. Most are collected by major museums at home and abroad, and there are probably only a few pieces in the private sector."

Before the formal start, Qu Jiang first briefly introduced the historical background of Ru porcelain to the few people.

"Of course, modern instruments have been able to unlock the secrets of the Ru kiln's firing process through scientific analysis. However, it is difficult to prevent the bubbles and seams between the internal patterns that have been deposited over time with modern technology."

He did not elaborate on this point. After giving a general idea, he led Lu Qingfeng and the others and the camera of the program crew to a bamboo basket filled with stones of different sizes.

Pick out a little finger-sized, yellow-white, transparent one and place it in the palm of your hand for everyone to see.

"This is agate from Ruzhou. Chinese porcelain evolved from pottery. From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties, porcelain was mostly celadon. The body was hard and the glass glaze on the surface was green. This was the time when ancient porcelain firing technology was basically mature."

"By the Sui Dynasty, white porcelain craftsmanship had already begun to emerge and mature. Ru porcelain had already appeared in the Tang Dynasty and was further promoted until the Song Dynasty."

I think everyone knows something about the history of the Song Dynasty. Although the Song Dynasty was weak and suppressed military power and emphasized culture, and was not good at fighting, its economy was unprecedentedly prosperous thanks to the advancement of agricultural technology, the development of handicrafts and commerce at that time.

Art and aesthetics reached the peak in Chinese history.

"Ru porcelain is similar in texture to jade, but not jade, yet better than jade. This agate is added to the glaze, and the fired color is green and gorgeous. The glaze is rich and lustrous, like piled fat, and looks like jasper. This color is called sky blue."

The raw material agate used to make Ru porcelain passed from Qujiang to the hands of five people, who marveled at how this tiny stone was processed and turned into exquisite porcelain.

"Many people say that this porcelain was created because Emperor Huizong of Song had a dream about the color of the sky after rain, which led him to order the craftsmen of the Ru kiln to produce this blue-blue porcelain. Although this legend is false, it also reflects the world's love and recognition of this color."

Qu Jiang was obviously fully prepared. After everyone had finished looking at the agate, he took them to the next step.

The agate that everyone saw before was placed in a stone jar

"To use agate as a glaze, it must first be calcined at high temperature. In ancient times, unlike modern times, there were no machines to control the temperature. They usually used coal. They buried a jar full of agate underneath and manually blew air to reach the required temperature. This is what the calcined agate looks like."

He brought another pot of calcined agate.

Because of time limitations, it was naturally impossible to present every step perfectly on camera. After the program team planned the content of this special, they contacted him in advance.

Prepare the things needed for the firing process in advance.

After high-temperature incineration, the unnecessary parts are removed, leaving only the pure white parts that can be used as raw materials.

Holding it in your hand, you can feel that the agate has become much more brittle because its internal molecular structure has been destroyed.

The next step is to pound the calcined agate into powder, still by hand, using a wooden lever that works on the principle of a lever.

Guide the agate into the depression, step on one section with your foot, and crush it into powder bit by bit.

The five people experienced it separately and it took nearly an hour to obtain the raw materials.

This is not the end yet, because the particles are still too rough, they need to be manually ground again with a small stone until no obvious pebble-like particles can be seen. Pour in spring water and grind again.

"This step becomes water flying."

Qu Jiang gave an introduction while guiding everyone through the complex process.

"It mainly uses the buoyancy of water to separate powder particles of different sizes. The larger particles will sink to the ground, while the smaller particles will be separated when we pour water."

"After a few attempts, you can get qualified glaze materials."

He showed everyone the basin of half-yellow, half-white paint obtained by Shui Fei, and then put it aside to settle.

"Don't worry about this for now. We'll use the ash from burning the grass next."

Lu Qingfeng was quite clear about this, as it was one of the essential skills for a protagonist traveling through time to ancient times.

The principle is that plants are rich in carbonates, which are decomposed by heating to produce potassium hydroxide, which is then cooled, filtered, evaporated, dried, and finally soda ash is obtained.

In the past, after harvesting wheat and rice, people in rural areas would leave the straw and burn it on the spot to produce potassium hydroxide, a natural fertilizer that nourishes the farmland.

The wisdom of the ancients is hidden in every aspect of life.

Burning wood ash here in Qujiang is not to produce alkali, but it requires multiple water changes to remove the alkalinity, and finally sedimentation to wait for the remaining part.

The precipitated agate powder and wood ash are then drained and placed in a jar to age. Finally, they are mixed with feldspar powder and golden soil to make glaze.

"These materials include quartz, potassium oxide, calcium oxide, aluminum oxide, ferric oxide and other ingredients required for Ru porcelain glaze. When it comes down to science, it's actually a chemical formula."

"The difference is that the ancients relied on trial and error over and over again, ultimately gaining successful experience and then passing this memory down from generation to generation."

The final glaze is a creamy yellow, similar to sesame paste, but much lighter.

Only at this step is the preparation of the glaze completed, as well as the embryo of the porcelain. According to Qujiang's usage, it is also very particular, using kaolin from a specific mining area in Ruzhou.

The clay is repeatedly washed and refined until it becomes an ash body, and then the clay is pulled by hand.

Just put the kneaded mud on a rotating wheel. There is a small hole on the edge of the wheel. Insert a wooden stick and rotate it quickly. When the wheel rotates, you need to be quick with your eyes and hands.

Use your hands to shape and create the porcelain embryo you want.

"After a period of drying in the shade, the embryo can be repaired."

The wheel is still in the shape of a stone mill, and iron tools are used to remove the excess parts along the inside and outside of the rough embryo little by little, making the surface full and round.

The bottom is trimmed to form a foot.

Qu Jiang demonstrated it once, and soon a teacup embryo appeared in his hand. He then asked Lu Qingfeng and others to try it.

The first time I did it, of course, it wasn’t perfect, but since it was my first time doing this kind of handicraft, I still found it interesting.

"Generally speaking, these shaped porcelain pieces need to wait for a period of time until the water in the embryo evaporates and the surface turns lime. Then, after a sudden downpour, they can be fired in the kiln."

Lu Qingfeng held the water cup he made and listened to Qu Jiang's introduction, when he suddenly remembered a line of lyrics.

The sky is blue and waiting for the rain!