Chapter 267 is holding back a secret weapon.
The few thin sheets of paper gave Wu Hui a feeling of being in another world.
No one ever imagined that Song Dynasty celadon glaze and Song Dynasty egg white jade were actually the same thing.
Why is it that historical records clearly state that the Yuan Dynasty's egg-white glaze technique originated from the Song Dynasty's celadon porcelain, yet no one has ever studied it?
The answer can be summed up in two words: scarce and expensive.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, there have been successive excavations of Yuan Dynasty egg-white glazed porcelain. The largest number of such excavations was discovered in 1984 in a hoard of egg-white glazed porcelain in Shexian County, Anhui Province, consisting of 109 pieces bearing the inscription "Shufu".
It includes jars, plates, bowls, stem cups and other vessel types, and is the world's largest complete hoard of Yuan Dynasty egg-white glazed porcelain.
There are more celadon porcelains from the Song Dynasty: the first was in 1971, when a group of Song Dynasty celadon porcelains were unearthed during a rescue excavation of a Song Dynasty noble tomb in Fushan, Zibo.
The collection includes thirteen pieces of varying sizes, including a four-handled jar, teacups, teacup stands, an incense burner, and a melon-shaped ewer. All pieces are covered with a celadon glaze, which is lustrous and the shapes are regular.
This is the earliest discovered and, to date, the most complete collection of Song Dynasty Yingqing porcelain in China, encompassing the widest variety and largest quantity.
The second excavation took place in 1982, when the Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the Jingdezhen Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics conducted multiple excavations at the Hutian Kiln, unearthing some Song Dynasty celadon (shadow blue porcelain) specimens, kiln furniture, and porcelain-making tools.
There are no complete pieces, but there are a lot of porcelain shards, almost a ton.
Subsequently, Song Dynasty Yingqing porcelain circulating among the people was discovered in various provinces, and major museums collected it: such as the Palace Museum, Jingdezhen, Wuhan, Sichuan, Shanghai, and even abroad, but the number of pieces collected was only in single digits.
This is the quantity. Now let's talk about the price: Yuan Dynasty egg-white glaze is not widely recognized in the private collecting world, so it is relatively cheap. A good piece can cost hundreds of thousands of yuan, while a poor piece can cost tens of thousands of yuan.
However, the celadon glaze of the Song Dynasty was a hundred times more than the egg white glaze of the Yuan Dynasty: the lowest price was for a celadon glaze vase with double goose design sold at Christie's Hong Kong in 1999 for HK$1.1 million.
The most expensive piece was a celadon bowl with carved floral and chrysanthemum designs, sold at China Guardian auction in 2006 for 8.6 million yuan.
Even a small piece of porcelain, just two fingers wide, can cost three to five thousand.
Don't think it's expensive; this is the price of Song Dynasty porcelain.
Then let's talk about the demand: Leaving aside the 1980s and 90s, let's talk about today. With the technological level of 2008, how much sample material would be needed to restore a certain ancient porcelain-making technique?
The answer is "tons".
If the goal is simply to analyze basic components, determine differences in process inheritance and aging, trace process traces, and verify production techniques, the required sample size will be slightly smaller. But even then, the unit will still be "hundreds of kilograms".
Even if it's just one piece, half a kilogram, a basic component analysis alone would require about ten pieces. If we want to trace the manufacturing process and verify the production techniques, we would need at least forty or fifty samples.
Leaving aside whether we can find that many samples, and even if we do, whether they'll sell them, let's just calculate the price: we haven't found the kiln site for Yuan Dynasty egg-white glaze, only complete pieces, weighing over a hundred kilograms, so we'd have to buy half of the Anhui Provincial Museum's collection.
Yingqing porcelain does exist in shards, but a single shard, only two fingers wide, can cost several thousand or even hundreds of kilograms. How much would that cost?
To put it simply: tens of millions.
How much is the budget for a national key project applied for by the Institute of Cultural Studies and the National Museum of China?
The better ones are in the tens of millions, while the worse ones are probably only five or six hundred, seven or eight million. And this is the funding for the entire cycle, which is likely to be two or even three years.
Therefore, the total budget for the project was not even enough to buy specimens.
Nobody's got money to burn and then research this. With all that money, wouldn't it be better to research something with lower costs and easier results?
Even though the names are similar, even though historical records mention that Yuan Dynasty egg-white glaze originated from Song Dynasty celadon, even though there is only one character difference between celadon glaze, egg-white glaze, and egg-white jade, no one has ever thought of studying this topic.
Without research, of course no one would know: the egg-white jade that exists only in historical records and whose appearance has been almost never seen is actually the celadon porcelain of the Song Dynasty...
Wu Hui flipped through the report again and again: "Hejin porcelain and Huozhou porcelain are easy to deal with, you collected quite a lot of them. But these two types require at least hundreds of kilograms. Where did you get the samples?"
Lin Sicheng succinctly stated: "It was exchanged... Last year, I unintentionally acquired a Qing Dynasty Jiaqing period famille rose porcelain vase made by a kiln worker. I had my senior brother Zhao take it to Jiangxi and exchanged it for four hundred kilograms of celadon porcelain shards..."
"In addition, Senior Brother Zhao had a pair of black-glazed appliqué jars from the Shouzhou kiln (a famous kiln in Anhui Province) from the Tang Dynasty. He took them to Anhui and exchanged them for forty pieces of egg-white glazed porcelain from the Yuan Dynasty. They are all large pieces such as jars and pots, and relatively speaking, the quality is not very good, but they are enough for research..."
Wu Hui didn't know what to say.
He wasn't sure exactly how many of these Qing Jiaqing famille rose porcelain vases existed, but he was certain that there were no more than a handful of them in the world.
Several years ago, Jingdezhen borrowed a bronze vessel from Shanxi, but never returned it, even taking the matter to court in Beijing. Later, with the mediation of the Cultural Relics Bureau, Jingdezhen reluctantly returned a Han Dynasty bronze vessel, and the matter was finally settled.
Now, someone brings a bottle and wants to trade it for broken porcelain shards; anyone who refuses is a fool.
If Wu Hui were to give an estimate, it would be at least six or seven million.
A single black-glazed appliqué jar from the Shouzhou kiln of the Tang Dynasty would be worth at least a million, so how much would two pieces cost?
The three items together amount to eight or nine million... which is exactly what he predicted: the material samples alone would cost tens of millions.
Looking at Lin Sicheng again, Wu Hui felt that the kid was radiating golden light.
The kind of light that shines through your wealth.
Subconsciously, Wu Hui recalled the question Lin Sicheng had asked in the materials room: "Director Wu, if I go to Beijing, establish a project, and get funding, can I spend it however I want?"
At the time, he thought Lin Sicheng was joking, but now he realizes that Lin Sicheng just wanted to spend money however he wanted.
For a moment, Wu Hui felt that Lin Sicheng had too much money to burn: spending nearly ten million just to verify whether the two types of porcelain had a lineage relationship.
He felt it wasn't worth it to give the money to the Institute of Cultural Studies or the National Museum of China, let alone to have it paid for privately.
Of course, Lin Sicheng's statement was not unfounded: if it can be proven that the Song Dynasty Yingqing porcelain is the egg white jade mentioned in historical records, and also the egg white glaze of the Yuan Dynasty, then the archaeological value of the Hejin kiln and Huozhou kiln can be raised to another level.
If he were to recreate the firing process of the egg white jade, he could earn back two or three times the amount just from patent licensing.
But the question is, what if?
He sighed: "Lin Sicheng, what will you do if the craftsmanship can't be restored?"
The saying goes, "Make a fortune quietly." Shouldn't you be taking advantage of the fact that Shanxi hasn't reacted yet and quickly restore the craftsmanship?
But you're doing something else, trying to do simultaneous excavation, which is like pulling your opponent to the same starting line. Isn't that just handing weapons to the enemy?
Ten million yuan, Lin Sicheng, just like that, it went down the drain?
Lin Sicheng chuckled and said, "We shouldn't be talking about this when we're doing research!"
I don't believe you!
Wu Hui sighed: "Tell me, what exactly do you want to do?"
"Director Wu, there's no rush. Let's finish reading first!"
Still watching?
Wu Hui paused for a moment, then patiently waited.
Lin Sicheng took back the other three pieces, keeping only the Yuan Dynasty egg-white glazed plate.
Then he took out a white glazed cup and put the two pieces together.
At first glance, the two items seemed to be no different, but after taking a closer look, Wu Hui narrowed his eyes.
He picked up the cup, and a smooth, jade-like, gentle, and pure white appearance came into view.
Subconsciously, eight characters came to mind: "White as solidified fat, pure as accumulated snow."
Wu Hui paused for a moment: "Yongle sweet white glaze?"
Lin Sicheng nodded: "He's Senior Brother Zhao's younger brother. Young Master Zhao personally delivered him from Beijing."
Wow, this one must be worth at least seven or eight million.
"No... Lin Sicheng, do you know how expensive this is? You're using something like this for experiments?"
"We haven't done it, at least not at this stage. We're just doing a longitudinal comparison."
What are we comparing in a longitudinal comparison?
Wu Hui's eyelids twitched, and he picked up the plate as well.
If you compare the appearance, the egg white glaze is white, opaque, and has a strong milky feel, presenting a "wooden" effect without a glassy texture.
This sweet white glaze, however, is "semi-wooden," meaning it is both semi-smooth and semi-transparent. Furthermore, the cup body is extremely thin, less than one millimeter. Overall, it possesses both a milky smoothness reminiscent of jade and a translucent, semi-glassy crystalline effect.
Compared to egg white glaze, its gloss and reflectivity are just right.
To summarize, it's like the cup in your left hand is an improved version of the plate in your right hand, a thinner version.
While pondering this, Wu Hui picked up the flashlight on the table and shone it on the bottom of the cup.
Then, my eyes widened:
What is Yingqing?
The light reflects the shadow, just like what is right before our eyes.
The problem is that this is a sweet white glaze. No literature mentions any connection between Yongle sweet white glaze, Yuan dynasty egg-white glaze, or Song dynasty celadon.
Wu Hui stared blankly for a long time, then looked around haphazardly: "Where's the analysis report?"
You just said how could I bear to use something like this for an experiment, and now you're asking me for the analysis report?
Lin Sicheng looked helpless: "There was no report, I just did a comparison. But I suspect there's some connection between these two types of porcelain!"
Without needing to speculate, Wu Hui had eyes: most likely, these two types of porcelain were related through inheritance.
To put it simply: In the process of inheritance, the sweet white glaze has improved the craftsmanship of the egg white glaze: the body is thinner and the glaze is more transparent!
But why hasn't anyone studied this before, or even discovered it?
Because these things are rarer and more expensive, with a single piece easily costing seven or eight million. They might appear at auctions, in the safes of top collectors, or in large museums.
But it will never appear in a laboratory.
Those in the know have no opportunity, nor would they even imagine it; those who don't, even if they had the opportunity, would be even less likely to imagine it. Therefore, it's impossible for anyone to do what Lin Sicheng did: put two items side-by-side for comparison, tracing their origins and craftsmanship…
Just as I was secretly amazed, Lin Sicheng took away the egg-white glazed plate and took out two cups, placing them next to the sweet white glazed cups.
Wu Hui glanced at it and felt a deep sense of powerlessness welling up inside him.
The first item is a repaired broken piece of equipment, with a hole missing in the middle.
Even so, it was enough to shock him, because it was a Ming Dynasty eggshell cup.
The so-called Chenghua Doucai and the famous Chicken Cup were all painted on the body of an eggshell cup, then fired twice in a low-temperature kiln.
The rarity and preciousness of Chenghua doucai and chicken cups are directly proportional to their quantity and price.
Even if it's just a broken piece of equipment...
Looking at the second one, Wu Hui was beyond shocked.
What did I just say? The Chenghua Doucai Chicken Cup?
In the blink of an eye, Lin Sicheng took one out.
It's still a damaged piece, only half put together, and it can't even be called a repair; it's just a temporary, reversible adhesive.
Even if it is a damaged piece, it is still the nineteenth chicken cup in the world.
Wu Hui felt that using something like this to verify the lineage of ancient porcelain craftsmanship meant that Lin Sicheng was practically insane, if not completely mad.
There is no need for verification, because more than one document records that the Chenghua Doucai technique originated from the eggshell cup, which in turn originated from the sweet white glaze. The technical difficulty lies not in the painting and secondary firing, but in the base body.
"This must be the chicken cup that Wang Qizhi mentioned your partner asked you to repair?"
Wu Hui sighed, "That General Manager Zhao just watched you take this thing into the lab? Wasn't he afraid that you might impulsively use it as a specimen for testing?"
It's unlikely to be that serious; at most, people would just speculate in their minds. But now, whether it's the big boss Zhao, the little boss Zhao, or even Old Madam Zhao, everyone has placed all their bets on him. If the tests are really done, absolutely no one will say anything.
Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "Well, Senior Brother Zhao is also a partner in the restoration center. If I make money, he'll get a share too."
Wu Hui scoffed: Make money?
Before, there was still a slight possibility. But after seeing the sweet glaze cups, eggshell cups, and chicken cups, Director Wu realized: Lin Sicheng should be blessed by his ancestors if he doesn't lose money.
What's more, he seems to have lost his mind, what kind of excavation is he trying to do?
Just as Wu Hui was secretly marveling at the sight, Lin Sicheng took out a few more items. Wu Hui was taken aback: There are more?
He glanced at it and immediately understood: a Qing Dynasty famille rose porcelain cup, a Ming Dynasty Dehua kiln thin-bodied white glaze cup, and a Qing Dynasty Dehua kiln thin-bodied white glaze cup.
These two pieces don't need to be traced back to their origins; historical records from the Qing Dynasty clearly state that the craftsmanship of thin-bodied porcelain from the Qing Dynasty's official kilns originated from the doucai porcelain of the Ming Dynasty.
The same applies to Dehua white porcelain with thin body: around the mid-Ming Dynasty, the official kilns implemented a system of official-private joint production, and the private kilns made breakthroughs in technology.
It was around that time that Dehua kilns, based on the techniques of sweet white glaze and eggshell cups, created the Dehua thin-walled porcelain.
No experiments are needed; you can see it with your own eyes: whether it's the body, glaze, or crystal phase, there's basically no difference between any two.
Looking at the last item, Wu Hui found it quite interesting:
This is a thin-bodied white porcelain from Dehua during the Qing Dynasty, commonly known as "scallion root white," which is white with a bluish tinge.
This is an innovative porcelain from Dehua kiln, which transformed the "ivory white" (white with a slight yellowish tinge) and "lard white" (white with a slight reddish or yellowish tinge) of the Ming Dynasty into a glaze with a slightly bluish tint.
The cause is simple: the proportion of iron oxide (FeO) in the glaze increases, and the kiln atmosphere during firing is no longer a single oxidizing flame, but rather a reducing flame, resulting in a bluish-white glaze color.
Thinking about it this way, this kind of porcelain has nothing to do with innovation; it should be called retro porcelain, because its core craftsmanship is completely consistent with that of Song Dynasty celadon.
If the atmosphere of the firing process were slightly stronger, the finished product would be the Song Dynasty celadon bowl he had seen before.
Of course, this presupposes first proving the lineage between Yuan dynasty egg-white glaze and Yongle sweet-white glaze. Only then can a complete chain of technological evolution be established.
Northern Song Dynasty Yingqing porcelain – Jin Dynasty Hejin porcelain – Early Yuan Dynasty Huozhou porcelain – Mid-Yuan Dynasty egg white glaze – Ming Dynasty sweet white glaze – eggshell cup – Chenghua Doucai – Early Qing Dynasty thin-bodied porcelain – Mid-Qing Dynasty famille rose.
This is the tribute porcelain system; civilian porcelain follows a different evolutionary chain: Ming Dynasty sweet white glaze – mid-Ming Dynasty Dehua thin-bodied white porcelain – Qing Dynasty Dehua celadon (retro celadon)...
While pondering, Wu Hui suddenly paused: Huh, looking at it this way, it turns out to be a complete chain of craft evolution from the Song to the Qing dynasty?
No, it's not just from the Song to the Qing Dynasty... The discovery of the Beiwuqin site can fully confirm that the origin of this type of porcelain is in the early Five Dynasties period, or even the late Tang Dynasty.
If we trace it further back, we can go all the way to the Republic of China era and even to the present day. Moreover, during the Republic of China period, it was no longer limited to Dehua kilns; even slightly larger private kilns could produce thin-walled porcelain.
The thinnest ones can be as thin as 0.1 millimeters, and some are even extremely large and transparent, transparent enough to be used as lampshades.
Like this one:
So, if we reorganize it: from the late Tang Dynasty to the Republic of China, from official kilns to folk kilns, this porcelain-making technique has been passed down for more than a thousand years.
Count them up. So far, how many ancient ceramics have such a complete process chain and such a clear line of technological evolution, spanning more than a thousand years?
The answer is one.
Previously, the longest production chain was for Longquan celadon: it began in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and ceased production in the Ming Dynasty, spanning almost a thousand years.
Now there is another type: celadon glaze, egg white jade, or thin-bodied porcelain.
Besides its heritage, its representativeness and influence in history must also be considered: From the Jin to the Yuan dynasties, only during the Southern Song dynasty, when celadon was highly valued, was Longquan celadon listed as tribute porcelain for a brief period. During the rest of the period, it was primarily coarse porcelain for everyday use.
This type of thin-walled porcelain was used as imperial ware in five dynasties: Northern Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing.
I wouldn't say it's far ahead of the competition, but in terms of craftsmanship and technological level, it's definitely a little bit stronger...
Wu Hui finally understood: Why did Lin Sicheng want to excavate the Hejin Kiln and Huozhou Kiln?
Without excavating these two sites, he would have no way to prove the transmission process of this craft technique, let alone the complete evolutionary chain.
To put it bluntly: without the corroboration of the Hejin Kiln and Huozheng Kiln, he cannot connect the Northern Song Dynasty's Yingqing porcelain with the Yuan Dynasty's egg-white glaze and the Ming Dynasty's sweet white glaze.
What if it is ultimately proven true?
From the Tang Dynasty to the Republic of China, spanning over a thousand years, and serving as tribute porcelain for five dynasties... I dare not say it is unparalleled, but it is at least unprecedented.
Crucially, by sheer bad luck, Lin Sicheng discovered a pottery kiln site from the Yangshao period within the archaeological site's boundaries.
Does this mean we can trace back even further?
Thinking of this, Wu Hui's pupils couldn't help but shrink: he finally understood why Lin Sicheng had tricked him and Sun Jiamu into coming to Xi'an.
Leaving aside the pottery kiln site, let's just talk about the period from the Tang Dynasty to the Republic of China: spanning more than a thousand years, with a complete chain of inheritance and profound historical influence. This is no longer a routine excavation project, but a major initiative involving national-level research and tracing the origin of the craft.
Secondly, it is not only necessary to excavate the Hejin Kiln and Huozhou Kiln, but also to re-examine and excavate the Hutian Kiln site. Furthermore, it is necessary to conduct in-depth investigations and research on the Yuan Dynasty egg-white glaze, the Ming Dynasty sweet white glaze, and the Dehua Kiln techniques of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and even to explore the site.
It involves Shanxi, Jingdezhen, and Fujian (Dehua Kiln). If one of these provinces is put in charge, let's not even talk about whether the technology is sufficient or the conditions are right, or whether the other two are willing to follow your command.
Therefore, from any perspective, this project will only be led and organized for excavation by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
Instinctively, Wu Hui recalled Lin Sicheng's earlier words: "Director Wu, don't worry, I'll accept defeat. After I finish these next few days, wherever you and Director Sun tell me to go, I'll go. Whatever you ask me to do, I'll do."
You can dig a hole with a Luoyang shovel.
Think about the dozen or so BTA results on the computer, and the analysis report you just read, then look at the neatly arranged, orderly white-glazed porcelain on the long table, and then recall the whole process of his exploration of the five sites in Hejin...
So you made him dig a hole?
This isn't just a waste of talent; it's a complete misuse of someone's abilities.
More importantly, he discovered all the sites, including the Hejin Kiln and the Huozhou Kiln.
At the same time, he verified the origins of the technology and the entire process chain. In fact, he had already completed most of the research work; all he needed to do was excavate the site to indirectly verify the technological process.
Therefore, he should either be in charge of exploration and excavation or in charge of technological research; there is no third possibility.
At most, they'd just worry about his youth and lack of experience, so they'd assign him a hands-off manager to protect him.
Just like the lab next door: Wang Qizhi was just a figurehead, while Lin Sicheng did the work.
But from Yuncheng's perspective, this would be like the sky falling down.
Originally, it was the only fine white porcelain production center and tribute kiln in the Yuan Dynasty, and one of only two white-glazed porcelain pillows produced during the Jin, Yuan and Ming Dynasties (along with Ding Kiln). Now it has become one of only two or three, because Huozhou Kiln must also be added.
From the perspective of the provincial cultural relics department, they might as well bang their heads against the wall.
Originally, it was the only complete Song Dynasty egg-white jade firing site in the country with a complete process system. However, the egg-white jade that only exists in historical records is actually the shadow celadon porcelain of Hutian Kiln in Jingdezhen during the Song Dynasty.
Whether in terms of firing history, representativeness, or the scale of the site, the two cannot be compared side by side.
More importantly, the influence of this technique on porcelain during the Ming and Qing dynasties, especially the Ming dynasty: sweet white glaze, eggshell cups, Chenghua doucai porcelain, and even chicken cups... how can you compare them?
It can't even compare to Dehua kiln.
It's like the difference between having only one light on in the dark and having many lights on a stage.
The former can make it incredibly dazzling, while the latter will only make it pale in comparison.
Wu Hui could already imagine how difficult it would be for Shanxi when the Cultural Relics Bureau halted the Hejin Kiln project and systematically replanned the excavation schedule.
How incredible it must have been for the Cultural Relics Bureau to organize and send Lin Sicheng to Hejin again with the expert group.
Once they find out how this happened and how it got to this point, they'll probably regret it so much they'll want to vomit blood.
If only I had known this would happen, why did I do it in the first place?
But from Lin Sicheng's perspective, the logic is flawed...
Wu Hui thought for a moment and decided that there was no need to beat around the bush anymore, so he simply got straight to the point:
"Why not continue researching for a while longer? Even if we don't completely restore the process, we should at least make a breakthrough so that others can't catch up, before we bring these things out?"
"Otherwise, all that you've done, spending so much money and putting in so much effort, isn't it just a waste of time and money for someone else?"
"Thank you, Director Wu. My teacher and I thought the same thing, which is why we've kept you waiting for so long!"
As he spoke, he took out the freshly fired celadon cup.
Wu Hui glanced at it, and his eyes bulged outwards. Then, as if electrocuted, his fingers trembled involuntarily.
What's this?
Song Dynasty Yingqing porcelain, Hejin Qingbai porcelain, or Ming Dynasty eggshell cups, or Qing Dynasty Dehua scallion root white porcelain?
Or perhaps it encompasses all the techniques of several types of porcelain, like a large miscellaneous painting?
Wu Hui opened his eyes and looked them over one by one:
No wonder, after being bullied like that, Wang Qizhi was unusually silent.
No wonder Lin Sicheng was still able to smile on the day of the farewell party.
This teacher and student were holding back more than just a big move; this was their ultimate move.
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