Chapter 266 The names are similar, and the things are similar too.
At first glance, it makes perfect sense.
But upon closer examination, it is riddled with flaws.
For the next two months, both groups lived in Guduo Village. They kept clear information about each other's progress and discoveries every day.
Out of curiosity, Sun Jiamu also followed along for a while, watching from beginning to end how Lin Sicheng found the Guduo Terraced Fields site, how he found the Upper and Lower Bamu sites, and how he found the Beijian Geda site in Guzhen.
Furthermore, since Sun Jiamu knew about the weekly reports, it meant that Wu Hui also knew about them.
Wu Hui was also aware that the municipal cultural relics bureau later disregarded the agreement, unilaterally terminated the cooperation, and treated Lin Sicheng as a Japanese.
At that moment, he had a gut feeling that something was wrong: he didn't know Lin Sicheng, but he did know Wang Qizhi.
It's always been Young Master Wang who flips other people's tables, but this time, not only did someone flip his table, they also defecated on his head.
He, on the other hand, swallowed his anger and let others bully him from beginning to end.
This isn't Wang Qizhi, this is Wang the coward. Believe it or not, when he returns to Beijing, his old man will break his legs.
And then there's Lin Sicheng. If this kid is really as gentle, polite, and harmless as he appears on the surface, how did he, a mere twenty-something-year-old, manage to keep a group of hot-tempered men from a provincial-level organization under his thumb?
Therefore, Wu Hui suspected that the teacher and student were plotting something. It wasn't until Sun Jiamu called him, saying that Lin Sicheng had invited them to visit Xi'an.
Upon hearing that Lin Sicheng had found tons of egg white jade specimens, Wu Hui became even more suspicious.
Alright, the case is solved: Lin Sicheng was preparing a big surprise.
The cooperation agreement between the two parties has been terminated, and Lin Sicheng is now free to conduct his research unilaterally. Whatever progress he makes, whatever results he achieves, it will have absolutely nothing to do with Shanxi anymore.
To give an example: if the process is successfully restored, Lin Sicheng can register a patent himself, or even sell the entire process to a famous kiln, such as Ding kiln or Jun kiln, and the other party will have no say at all.
However, this would significantly diminish the archaeological value of the Hejin Kiln.
Borrowing from the instructions given by the leadership to archaeological and cultural relics work nationwide: trace the historical threads, bring cultural relics to life, and establish an orderly and dynamic system of inheritance…
So many famous kilns fired egg-white jade during the Song and Jin dynasties, so it doesn't matter who inherits it.
At least other people are paying real money to buy it, so they won't rip you off.
When your prized porcelain craftsmanship becomes someone else's technology, how will you survive?
It's no exaggeration to say that Yuncheng and the Cultural Relics Bureau will absolutely regret it to the point of despair.
Therefore, before discovering the Guzhen site, or even earlier, Lin Sicheng knew about the Huozhou Kiln. He also knew that there were enough egg-white jade samples for him to study.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have divided the estimated few hundred kilograms of the remaining specimens equally among the six families.
As the thought crossed his mind, Wu Hui suddenly froze.
Thinking about it this way: Lin Sicheng probably anticipated that the other party would go back on their word and break their promise. Everything that happened afterward was simply a matter of going with the flow?
Hmm, this kid's got some serious cunning...
Hmm, wait a minute... Is this kid treating me like an idiot?
What a twist of fate, what a lucky accident, suddenly discovering Huozhou Kiln, it's all bullshit.
But Wu Hui's focus was not on that, but on the things mentioned earlier: how this kid researched BTA, where his ideas came from, why he researched it so quickly, etc., was he just spouting nonsense?
Subconsciously, Wu Hui turned his head and looked at Wang Qizhi first.
Surprised and delighted, with a mix of suspicion and bewilderment... It didn't seem like he was faking it?
However, it cannot be ruled out that Lin Sicheng might even try to appease his teacher as well...
Then look at Lin Sicheng: he has a smile on his face and is humble and respectful.
But recalling what Sun Jiamu had said, Wu Hui felt a sudden unease:
This kid is something else. On the day of the farewell party, his men were furious, but when he met those locals, he didn't show it at all. He was all smiles from beginning to end.
If it were you, would you have been able to laugh back then?
Wu Hui narrowed his eyes: "Lin Sicheng, are you trying to fool me?"
"Director Wu, I'm not kidding you: I've never even been to Huozhou before?"
Just because you haven't been there doesn't mean you don't know about it.
You've never been to Hejin before, but you still managed to find all five archaeological sites on the first try.
Wu Hui sighed: "I'm talking about BTA!"
"That's even more impossible!" Lin Sicheng exclaimed, his eyes wide. "There's absolutely no need for that!"
I feel like it's really unnecessary?
Lin Sicheng dared to let me see even his core data and research results, so what else could he possibly need to hide?
Although he thought that way, Wu Hui still felt that something was wrong.
After thinking for a long time but still unable to come up with a solution, he simply gave up: as long as he knew that this person was talented, capable, and of good character, that was enough.
For the sake of his subordinates, he was willing to give up the benefits he had already gained. No matter how cunning such a person is, how bad can he be?
His opponents should be the ones with a headache, not his teammates...
Wu Hui gestured around the room: "So what are your plans? To concentrate our efforts on restoring the eggshell jade craftsmanship?"
"Yes, we will excavate the Huozhou Kiln and the Hejin Kiln simultaneously!"
Wu Hui paused: What is that?
Huozhou is in Shanxi. Don't even mention excavation; just mentioning it will make the other person realize that Huozhou white porcelain and Hejin egg white jade are the same thing.
Wu Hui did not deny Lin Sicheng's research ability; he had personally verified it over the course of a week.
But to be honest, the gap between a university-level laboratory and a province-level research capability is enormous.
Assuming sufficient materials are available, even if Lin Sicheng acted early and made initial progress, it's uncertain who will ultimately prevail if the other side goes all out.
Wu Hui thought: Shouldn't we develop the technology secretly first?
But he couldn't say that outright.
Just as he was thinking of how to give Wang Qizhi a wink, Lin Sicheng pointed outside: "Director Wu, please take a look at a few more things!"
Still watching?
What else can I watch?
Suspicious, the three of them left the supplies room.
Lin Sicheng opened the cabinets in the finished product room and took things out one by one.
Wu Hui squinted and examined it carefully: a bowl, a plate, a Yuhuchun teapot, and four or five cups.
I recognize some of them. For example, the Yuhuchun vase, you can tell from the glaze that it comes from the same kiln as the stemmed cup I just saw in the materials room: Huozhou Kiln.
For example, that plate is clearly the Hejin kiln white jade that Lin Sicheng talks about all the time.
The remaining pieces are difficult to determine at the moment and require hands-on examination. But without exception, they are all white-glazed porcelain.
Lin Sicheng first picked up the plate and the Yuhuchun teapot and placed them together: "Director Sun, look, don't they look quite alike?"
Of course it looks like that.
The former is Huozhou thin-bodied porcelain, and the latter is Hejin fine white porcelain. They use the same porcelain clay and the same process.
The only slight difference is in the glaze color: the Huozhou Yuhuchun is white with a hint of yellow, resembling ivory, while the Hejin Pan is white with a hint of yellow, and the yellow has a touch of blue.
To put it bluntly: the kiln temperature in Huozhou was not high enough, and the iron oxide in the glaze did not convert completely.
Of course, there's an even bigger difference: you can tell just by tapping it. Huozhou porcelain will leave a hole with just one tap, while you have to smash Hejin porcelain with all your might.
Just then, Lin Sicheng picked up another bowl and handed it over.
Wu Hui took it and examined it carefully: the body was delicate, the glaze was pure white, and it was as smooth as jade.
The bottom of the bowl is decorated with a printed lotus scroll pattern. The body is relatively thick, about three millimeters thick, and although the glaze is lustrous, it gives a somewhat opaque appearance.
This is a typical alkaline glaze, due to the addition of a large amount of flux, relatively low sintering temperature, high glaze viscosity, and extremely thick thickness.
Looking at the date, it should also be a Yuan Dynasty porcelain. Most importantly, the shape, glaze, and crystal structure are very similar to the previous two pieces.
With a hint of suspicion, Wu Hui turned the bowl over:
The bottom is inscribed with the characters "Shufu" in regular script.
I have a vague recollection of it...
Wu Hui tried hard to recall, then his eyes lit up: "Yuan Dynasty egg-white glaze!"
The Ming Dynasty text "Gegu Yaolun" states: "Yuan Dynasty porcelain with small feet and printed designs, especially those with the character 'Shufu' inside, is of high quality... Here, 'high quality' refers to all types of porcelain from the Yuan Dynasty's official kilns."
To put it simply: This is a piece made for the Yuan Dynasty imperial court. The blue and white porcelain and underglaze red porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty were created based on the egg-white glaze.
It is said that the egg-white glaze technique of the Yuan Dynasty originated from the egg-white jade of the Song Dynasty official kiln.
Because there is no verifiable evidence, it remains at the level of "rumored".
However, the name "egg white jade" does indeed originate from egg white glaze.
The entry for "Ancient Rao Ware" in *Gegu Yaolun* states: "Among imperial kilns of all dynasties, those with thin bodies and a smooth texture are the best, except for the Yuan dynasty which favored thicker ones... Yuan dynasty kilns with small feet and printed designs are especially good if they are thick, white, and smooth, and those with the character 'Shufu' inside are of the highest quality. The whitest and most lustrous ones are the best, also called 'egg-white jade,' and those with blue and white or five-colored designs are considered very vulgar."
What does that mean?
During the Yuan Dynasty, this type of white-glazed porcelain with thick body, smooth texture, small foot, and printed patterns was far more popular and favored among the royal family and nobility than blue and white porcelain and polychrome porcelain.
Now look at this piece in my hand: it is thick, white, and lustrous, with a central hub inside... It is 100% a Yuan Dynasty imperial artifact.
Where did it come from?
"Bought at a high price!"
Upon hearing the high price, Wu Hui didn't ask any further questions.
After putting it down, Lin Sicheng handed it over again.
After a quick glance, Wu Hui's eyelids twitched: judging from the shape, the patina, and the degree of oxidation, it must be Song Dynasty porcelain.
But this glaze color, is it the sky-blue glaze of Ru ware?
wrong!
Although Ru ware is rare, Wu Hui had seen it before: the blue of the sky-blue glaze was deeper than this.
Upon closer inspection: the glaze resembles a goose egg, with a slight bluish tinge in its whiteness, leaning more towards celadon.
Thinking of this, Wu Hui paused for a moment, and a thought flashed through his mind: Song Dynasty celadon glaze?
This is a type of porcelain glaze created by the Hutian Kiln in Jingdezhen during the Song Dynasty. Based on the celadon porcelain system represented by the Chai Kiln of the Later Zhou Dynasty and the official kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty, it combined the firing techniques of Xing Kiln and Ding Kiln white porcelain. The glaze color is between celadon and white. It is officially called Yingqing glaze or Yingqing glaze, and commonly known as celadon glaze.
He had seen it a few years ago; the Palace Museum has just one: a Song Dynasty Jingdezhen kiln celadon bowl with carved floral and children's play design.
When compared side-by-side, there is almost no difference.
It must be said that Lin Sicheng has a wide network of connections and a keen eye; the items he finds are increasingly rare and unusual.
If it were given to Wang Qizhi, whether he could find out or not would be another matter, but he would have to make at least ten or eight attempts.
While reminiscing, Wu Hui took another look, but suddenly his eyes widened: Lin Sicheng had been talking about egg white jade all along, why was he showing him this kind of thing?
It can't happen without a reason.
Upon closer inspection: Qingbai glaze, egg white glaze, egg white jade... don't these three types of porcelain have very similar names?
But the question is, is it just that the names are similar?
At first glance, the glaze colors are certainly not similar, at most they are close. But under specific conditions, the factors that cause these different colors are not very different.
Strictly speaking, Song Dynasty celadon glaze is also white-glazed porcelain, not celadon. However, visually, the celadon appears first, followed by the white.
This is the coloration caused by the conversion of iron oxide to ferrous iron under the action of carbon monoxide in a reducing atmosphere.
Huozhou porcelain is white with a slight yellow tint. This is because, in an oxidizing atmosphere, due to insufficient furnace temperature, iron oxide is converted into ferric iron, but the conversion is not complete, otherwise it would be even whiter.
For example, the celadon glaze of the Yuan Dynasty: the air inside the kiln circulated fully, forming a stable oxidizing atmosphere, and the iron oxide was stably converted into ferric iron, resulting in this warm white color after firing.
Hejin porcelain is white with a slight yellow tinge, then turns slightly bluish-white; this is a transitional color between oxidation and reduction. To put it simply: if the transition were to be slightly more pronounced, it would become a bluish-white glaze.
To put it more bluntly, the specific condition that Wu Hui suspected was that these four types of porcelain were likely made using the same firing process.
High-temperature firing, artificially creating an oxygen-deficient environment, ultimately produces a unique glaze color that blends blue and white, resulting in the blue-white glaze of the Song Dynasty.
Semi-smoldering, reaching a critical point where there is neither a lack of oxygen nor a lack of oxygen, produces Hejin porcelain: white with a slight yellow tinge, then turning slightly bluish.
If there is no lack of oxygen, but the glazing temperature is extremely high while the kiln temperature is insufficient, the iron element cannot be completely oxidized, resulting in the ivory color of Huozhou porcelain.
If there is enough oxygen and temperature, the resulting glaze will be the white glaze of the Yuan Dynasty.
Let's rank them again: High temperature and low oxygen, Song Dynasty Hutian celadon glaze – High temperature and semi-oxygen-deficient, Jin Dynasty Hejin egg white jade – Semi-high temperature and oxygen-rich, Late Jin and Early Yuan Dynasty Huozhou ivory white – Semi-high temperature and oxygen-rich, Yuan Dynasty egg white glaze…
Isn't this a complete chain of inheritance and evolution of this craft from the Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty?
If you ask: Why are the products fired at the Huozhou Kiln so brittle, while those fired at the Yuan Dynasty are so sturdy, even though they were both fired at a semi-high temperature?
Just look at that egg-white glazed bowl to know that the Yuan Dynasty no longer blindly pursued thin bodies, but increased the thickness of the body, making it more than three times thicker.
More importantly, the Yuan dynasty added enough flux to the clay and glaze, so a kiln temperature of 1,200 degrees Celsius was not required to achieve complete sintering...
For a moment, thoughts raced through Wu Hui's mind, and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Of course, it's just a possibility; this thing can't be seen with the naked eye, and it's even more impossible to guess it's just a matter of speculation.
As if guessing what he was thinking, Lin Sicheng handed him a document.
Wu Hui quickly flipped through the book and glanced at it:
The basic components, microstructure, clay and glaze formulas, trace element tracing, and comparative experiments on process traces of the four types of porcelain... Lin Sicheng did all the experiments and analyses that could be done.
Looking at the comparison results, Wu Hui was frozen in shock: Lin Sicheng, are you trying to fly to the heavens?
Having spent half my life in archaeology, I never knew that these types of porcelain not only have similar names, but also similar physical characteristics!
I never imagined that they were all using the same process?
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