What is the hook in porcelain?

From a historical point of view, the types, crafts and pottery officials of imperial ware factories in the late Yongzheng period and the early Qianlong period are in the same strain, so they can be regarded as the development stages around the same period, that is, the latter belongs to the development period of the former.

1. Formation of Ridge Branches in Trunk

The products in the early Qianlong period are similar to those in the late Yongzheng period, so there is no obvious difference between the products in the early Qianlong period and the late Yongzheng period in monochrome glaze and blue and white. However, in terms of external colors, the decorative style of icing on the cake began to appear in the early days of Qianlong, showing its unique flavor of the times, and the decoration of utensils became more and more luxurious, even reaching the point of luxury. The main factors causing this complex style are:

1, the inevitable process of porcelain making development.

Porcelain making is always from simple to complex, and decorative patterns are no exception. After entering the new historical period, all walks of life will actively reflect a new style of change, so it should be a historical necessity to decorate and change and move towards prosperity. This is mainly due to the achievements of Tang Ying, the pottery supervisor. With the death of Tang Ying in the 21st year of Qianlong, there was no effective pottery supervisor in the imperial factory, which led to the rapid decline in the quality of official kiln porcelain and made it difficult to innovate.

2. The rulers yearn for the direct embodiment of national prosperity and people's security.

As the ruler of a country, it is his inevitable wish to pursue the prosperity, stability and unity of the country. Porcelain decoration is a high embodiment of national economic development to some extent, so luxurious porcelain decoration can bring certain psychological comfort to the rulers.

3. The embodiment of economic prosperity in Qianlong period.

After the development of Kang and Yong, the early Qianlong period was the most stable and prosperous period of the whole Qing Dynasty, so the Qing government had enough economic and financial resources to support the production of this luxurious decorative porcelain. Later, with the increase and intensification of various corruption phenomena, the decoration of official kiln porcelain gradually became inadequate.

The development of porcelain in Qianlong Imperial Factory should be in the peak period until about 20 years after Qianlong. After that, various negative factors appeared in history, which led to the decline of imperial porcelain and directly affected the development of branch binding patterns.

2. Classification of ridged branches of trunk

The branch pattern of Qianlong period was basically the same as that of the previous dynasty, which was mainly divided into traditional type and innovative type. Different from the past, during the Qianlong period, a large number of hook patterns were used instead of branch patterns, resulting in a decrease in the number of branch products.

1. Traditional branch binding mode

The creativity in the Qianlong period was mostly reflected in pastel porcelain, and the blue and white glaze products were basically the same as those in the late Yongzheng period, so the branch winding of this kind of porcelain did not change much (Figure 1, 2). Because the production of pastel porcelain in Qianlong period was still in a leap period, the creative winding pattern made of gorgeous pastel glaze (Figure 3) also became a major feature of this period.

2. Innovative winding mode

There were not many innovative designs during the Qianlong period, and the typical innovative product should be Tang Ying's "Wannian Jiazi Pen Container" to welcome Jiazi Year;

On June 21, the eighth year of Qianlong, Yuan Wailang Chang Bao, Treasurer Bai, Seven-product leader Samuha, and deputy leaders urged the eldest son to make a declaration ... In order: according to the icing on the cake, he made a pen container that will last for thousands of years, and then sent it. Respect that. "("Jiangxi ")

"On August 19, I collected five pen holders made by Tang and handed them in." ("Jiangxi")

On the first day of December: Tang Yingcheng's Gong Jin Wannian Jiazi Pen Container Fold.

Tang Jinying, a slave of Jiujiang Customs, was managed by Yuan Wailang, the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Thieves did porcelain work in the kiln factory in October, because craftsmen gathered at that time, and I sincerely wanted to make a pair of ten thousand-year-old jiazi pen holders. The cycle is smooth and continuous. At the beginning of the Millennium Jiazi, craftsmen and others are all overjoyed. Even when the weather is fine, the green tire, kiln fire, color setting, painting and calligraphy are all smooth and smooth in a few days. My slave returned to the customs on the second day of 1 1 month. Today, I sent my slave to pay tribute to the emperor with a pen container. Really play.

Zhu Pi: Browse. "

According to the above historical data, Wannian Jiazi pen container was made at least three times before June 21st, Qianlong eight years (ominous number), August 19th (five pieces) and October (a pair), and the total number should be more than seven pieces. Unfortunately, only one of the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Forbidden City in Taipei has been handed down from generation to generation (Figures 4 and 5).

As can be seen from the literature, the two pen containers left now should represent the production process of Qianlong for eight years, and the decorative techniques of icing on the cake and tracing gold are adopted to leave the vessel blank. Artifact 4 is also decorated with decorative patterns such as "Eight Immortals of Darkness", cranes, red bats and auspicious clouds.

The Eight Dark Immortals can also be called the Eight Treasures of Taoism, which is different from the Eight Treasures of Buddhism. It refers to the eight musical instruments held by the Eight Immortals, representing the Eight Immortals, which are auspicious and omnipotent. It should be said that the main function is similar to the "eight treasures of Buddhism", representing different realms and pursuits of Buddhism and Taoism.

In the long-term folk circulation and the interpretation of folk artists, the current eight dark immortals mainly have the following functions and characteristics:

Fish drum, a treasure held by Zhang, "Fish drum frequently knocks Sanskrit", which can predict life;

Sword, a treasure held by Lv Dongbin, "Sword is full of magic now", which can suppress evil spirits and exorcise evil spirits;

The flute, the treasure held by Han Xiangzi, "the purple flute blows thousands of waves quietly", which makes everything breed;

Lotus, a treasure held by He Xiangu, can cultivate one's morality.

Gourd, a treasure held by Li Tie monster, "Gourd can only save Five Blessingg", which can help all beings;

Fan, the baby held by Zhong Liquan, can be brought back to life by "gently shaking the small fan with joy";

Jade board, the treasure held by Cao Guojiu, "Jade board is quiet", which can calm the environment;

The flower basket, a treasure held by Lan Caihe, "there is nothing in the flower basket", can enlighten the gods.

Third, the connection mode in Qianlong period.

The main reason for the decrease of harness in Qianlong period is that the products of this period were changed to hook-lotus thread in many places where harness was used in the past. Hook lines were widely made in Qianlong period, which are very similar to branch lines and easy to be confused. From the modeling features, the two have the following main differences:

1. connection mode

From the connection mode of painting, the branch winding pattern mainly embodies the overall characteristics of root vein connection and continuous winding; However, the hooking pattern is characterized by discontinuous root veins (Figure 9- 1, 9-2); It should be said that the latter is more flexible in connection than the former.

2. Development space

Twisted branches are generally good at transverse stretching, which has great advantages in the plane with small height and transverse connection. If the vertical space is too large, it needs to be painted several times in sections to make the whole feel scattered and fragmented; The "hooking mode" is unconstrained in both vertical and horizontal directions and can be extended in all directions at will, so it will be more convenient and harmonious to use the "hooking mode" under the condition of limited horizontal interval. This advantage makes up for the deficiency of "crooked branches" For example, in the device 10 (figure 10), the hook-and-lotus pattern can be used to draw a whole pattern decoration on an object with vertical and horizontal variation, which is beyond the competence of the "branch binding pattern".

Four. abstract

The use of beam splitting pattern in imperial ware factory basically reached the peak of development in the early stage of Qianlong. Later, due to various historical reasons, including the death of Tang Ying, the incompetence of pottery supervisors, the development and expansion of new hook patterns, and the weak economy, the innovation of branch patterns seemed to stagnate. Slowly, the hooking mode has the upper hand in coexisting with the twig binding mode and learning from each other's strong points, gradually replacing the twig binding mode and heading for the development climax of "hooking mode".

It is these seemingly unremarkable simple patterns, whether it is "tangled branches" or "hooked lotus patterns", that make the painting decoration of official kilns in past dynasties colorful and charming.