Chapter 227 Take it slow
"Old factory director, where did Yongji discover the white porcelain when they invited you to talk to the chief engineer?"
"You know the big iron ox on the banks of the Yellow River? It's right there, dug out when the dike was being built."
"Is it a lot?"
"There were many, several, probably family tombs from the Jin Dynasty. But by the time we got there, they had already been looted, stolen, and destroyed, leaving only a few pits and piles of broken porcelain..."
The old man sighed and pointed to the two porcelain shards in front of Lin Sicheng, "They're mostly this type, pale celadon and fine white porcelain..."
So, is it possible that there are people in Yongji who possess a complete piece?
Even if there are no complete pieces, there must be a few broken pieces of porcelain, right?
Lin Sicheng pondered for a moment, then stood up: "Old factory director, thank you for today!"
As he spoke, he nodded, and Zhao Ershou quickly pointed out several gift boxes.
I bought two boxes of ginseng and one box each of bird's nest and summer herb before leaving the hotel. I don't know if they're good or not, but they were definitely not cheap.
The old man waved his hand: "Just asking a few questions, what do you need me to bring?"
"It's my pleasure to trouble you for so long!"
After declining the gift box for a while, Lin Sicheng put it down and took nothing else but the two porcelain shards.
The group said goodbye, and the old man asked his son to see them out the door.
After a while, the middle-aged man returned, and the old man looked out the window at the departing car lights.
"What did the county government say when they called?"
"They said they came from Xi'an, and they had a letter from Northwest University. Apparently, they're looking for some ancient porcelain kiln site!"
Northwest University, specializing in porcelain research?
But to be honest, Shanxi has never produced any famous porcelain in ancient times. Why didn't these people go to Hebei or Jingdezhen?
The old man didn't understand, and just shook his head: "Difficult!"
...
It is indeed difficult.
Before even approaching the old factory director, Wang Qizhi and Zhao Xiuneng already felt it would be very difficult. After doing so, it became even more challenging.
But Lin Sicheng seems quite confident?
Zhuang Zijing was still there, so it wasn't easy to ask. The two of them secretly guessed and occasionally exchanged glances.
They didn't drink alcohol, just had a simple meal, saw Zhuang Zijing off, and then the three of them returned to the restaurant.
Seeing that the two were hesitant to speak, Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "Teacher, I plan to go to Yongji tomorrow. I think I can find some samples, and maybe even a complete device."
The two of them were stunned for a moment.
It's not that they can't find someone; let alone Yongji, they wouldn't even flinch if they accompanied Lin Sicheng to Africa.
But it feels a bit rushed.
Yesterday we arrived in Hejin, today we arrived in Xiangning, and tomorrow we're going to Yongji... It's like we're either on the road or on the road, except for eating and sleeping.
They didn't care; they couldn't be of much help anyway. They could sleep in the car, and they could fall asleep as soon as they got back to the hotel.
But Lin Sicheng couldn't do it.
We need to organize our thoughts and make plans. Once we find more samples, we'll probably have to work non-stop: testing during the day and verifying the data at night.
Like I said yesterday, at worst we can wait three months, there's no need to go through all that trouble...
The two exchanged a glance. Just as Wang Qizhi was about to say something, Lin Sicheng reached into his pocket.
Four porcelain shards, each in a specimen bag, were placed on the table. Lin Sicheng pointed to the two with carved designs: "A new technique!"
"What?"
"Well, basically, it's not mentioned in any historical documents, no similar artifacts have been unearthed, and no related discoveries have been made by any cultural heritage protection or research institutions before..."
Lin Sicheng paused for a moment: "Now we can be basically certain that this thing was fired in Yuncheng. Although these two pieces are Ming porcelain, even in the Ming Dynasty, they could have reached the level of tribute porcelain."
This indicates that Yuncheng likely had a complete system of ceramic kilns, with technology at a leading level nationwide. Therefore, it's not necessary to specifically locate the kilns. As long as there are enough samples, the technological characteristics can be clearly understood, and it can be proven that the kilns originated in Yuncheng, that's sufficient!
Wang Qizhi and Zhao Xiuneng were completely stunned, staring at the two carved porcelain pieces.
They had never seen this type of porcelain before. They even pondered it at the old factory director's house: it was a small local kiln, not even recorded in local historical records, so it was normal that they didn't recognize it.
The two of them never even considered any new discoveries or new processes.
Everyone in the country knows that Shanxi has never produced famous porcelain, and even the people of Shanxi themselves acknowledge this. So, suddenly, something about Shanxi being "at the forefront of the nation" has emerged?
what does that mean?
Revise local academic history, fill gaps in the regional science and technology evolution chain, and strengthen local discourse power on civilization.
It's a bit of a mouthful, isn't it?
It's complicated to explain, so to put it simply, it fills a historical gap!
Therefore, if it is indeed the new technology that Lin Sicheng described, the local government's level of attention to it would far exceed that of applying for World Heritage status.
The former is the protection of endangered technologies, while the latter is the preservation of cultural discontinuities and new scientific and technological discoveries. Of course, the former is more important.
"Moreover, this time the difficulty is not great: the firing technique for this type of vessel should have originated from the nearby Ding kiln and Cizhou kiln."
Lin Sicheng pointed to the black lines in the carving: "But it has made great innovations, especially the glaze color that appears after filling in the black color. It should be the application of chemical elements and processes that other kilns have not used."
Therefore, there is no need to speculate on the overheating temperature, temperature range, or verify the reaction atmosphere, let alone derive the process..."
"As long as there are enough samples, the specific components can be analyzed, and it can be proven that this is a newly discovered process and that it is produced in Yuncheng, then we can fill the gap in local production!"
Lin Sicheng paused for a moment: "I think that when the time comes, the technology for making Chengni inkstones will be more than enough!"
certainly.
It wouldn't be a problem to exchange the sulfur glass technique, which was submitted for World Heritage status along with Chengni inkstone, for it.
No wonder Lin Sicheng seemed excited and confident when he came back.
At the time, Wang Qizhi and Zhao Xiuneng were puzzled: Even if they found the kiln site, it was impossible for the mine and factory to stop work so that they could dig. What was there to be happy about?
The two exchanged a glance and nodded vigorously: "Then let's find... what time to leave tomorrow?"
"As long as it's normal!" Lin Sicheng smiled. "Why don't you two have some more?"
The two nodded: We definitely need to drink something, otherwise we won't be able to sleep tonight...
After chatting for a while, Lin Sicheng went upstairs first, then lay on the bed with his head tilted back.
In fact, he only told half the story: those two carved porcelain shards are not only about filling a gap in local culture, as he said, but may also involve whether Shanxi ever produced tribute kilns.
Lin Sicheng was certain that these two pieces were the pillow surfaces of a porcelain pillow. This type of vessel is relatively rare, with few in private collections; if he had ever seen one, it would only be in the Palace Museum.
How many porcelain pillows were there in the ancient city?
There are about a thousand pieces of porcelain of various sizes, which may not sound like much. But the problem is that this is just over a thousand of the more than 360,000 pieces of porcelain in the Palace Museum. No matter how brilliant Lin Sicheng was, he couldn't possibly study them all.
The key point is that this kind of thing doesn't involve high technology. Regardless of which kiln it was fired from, the techniques and methods used are basically the same as those used in everyday utensils and decorative items. Furthermore, apart from the Palace Museum, there aren't many in other collections. After Lin Sicheng roughly understood the principles and characteristics of the craftsmanship, he didn't study it much further.
The reason he had some recollection of "white background with carved patterns and black enamel filling" was probably just because he'd overheard it. Otherwise, with his phenomenal memory, he would have remembered it once he'd actually handled it.
So, after thinking for a long time, I still couldn't figure it out.
What should we do then? Should we ask someone to take a look?
Subconsciously, Lin Sicheng thought of Old Mrs. Wang, but only for a moment before he shook his head decisively.
Since it is not recorded in the literature, the Palace Museum cannot record it separately. To find out where it is and which piece it is, we can only search one palace after another.
Putting aside the fact that Old Mrs. Wang doesn't even know who he is, the Forbidden City has nearly ten thousand palaces. By the time she finds him, she'll probably be exhausted.
But there's no rush.
As the saying goes, a good feast is never too late; take your time.
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