Chapter 236 is not a bad thing
Kiln site, what kind of kiln site?
It is, of course, the kiln site of the ancient white porcelain kiln in Guzhen.
Seeing that Lin Sicheng remained silent, the old man smiled again: "Are you wondering why I didn't tell you where the kiln site was, even though Yuncheng has been searching for it for over ten years?"
"Or we could let the Institute of Archaeology or the Institute of Ceramics look for it. There's no need to lure you all the way to Taiyuan with just a bowl and then waste half a day arguing with you."
"Because it wasn't until you found the old kiln site in Hejin that I was able to deduce the exact location of the white porcelain kiln..."
The old man picked up the bowl. "In 1950, I was transferred to the Provincial Light Industry Bureau. During the first national industrial large-scale survey, I followed several teachers to investigate ancient kiln sites in the province. We found quite a few: Huozhou Kiln, Jiexiu Kiln, Jincheng Ancient Kiln, Huairen Kiln... and so on."
It must have been around 1960 when we went to Hejin and surveyed porcelain clay mines in Pancun Commune (town). At that time, villagers dug up some fine white porcelain shards while working on the ground. Because the composition of the porcelain clay was very similar, we speculated that there might be a white porcelain kiln site in the area..."
"But the sample size was too small, there were no obvious traces on the surface, and the exploration was too difficult, so we didn't bother... Then in 1986, during the second national industrial survey, we went to Hejin again to improve the Hejin glaze firing process."
"I stayed for about half a year. When I was about to leave, a leader from the county's industrial bureau came to me after hearing about it and asked me to appraise this bowl. At the time, I said that it was not a Ding kiln white porcelain from the Song Dynasty, but a Tang Dynasty porcelain made locally. But he didn't believe me and said that I hadn't identified it correctly."
Then I thought about it and realized that even if it wasn't from the Ding kiln, the bowl was still pretty good, so I bought it for 100 yuan. When I asked him about it, he said that he found it when he was digging the foundation for his house in his hometown during renovations.
Afterwards, I went with him to the site to take a look. Luckily, we not only found several pieces of white porcelain, but also two unfinished pieces that had not yet been fired... This made me even more convinced that there were white porcelain kiln sites from the Tang Dynasty in the Fancun Township and Senglou Township area..."
"You're probably wondering, if I was so sure, why didn't I find it back then?"
The old man sighed: "Because the conditions didn't allow it: First, the technological capabilities at the time were limited. Even if we found the kiln site and enough relics and samples, it would be extremely difficult to restore this porcelain-making process with its extremely high kiln temperature and demanding firing conditions."
Secondly, even if it could be restored, given the province's industrial level at the time, large-scale mass production would not be possible. And even if mass production were possible, it would still be unable to compare with Jingdezhen in terms of reputation and brand influence.
To put it bluntly: no matter how well you fire it, out-of-town merchants won't buy it; at best, it can only be consumed within the province. And given the economic level of the 1980s and 90s, how many families in our province could afford fine white porcelain and antique-style porcelain?
"But the most crucial issue is that there are too few clues, making investigation difficult. Rather than wasting time, effort, manpower, and money only to end up with little benefit, it would be better to find more kilns that can produce coarse porcelain that ordinary people can afford..."
"Then a few years later, I retired, and the matter was dropped. Until last month, a student from the Provincial Ceramics Institute called me and said that a large-scale civilian black porcelain kiln site from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China period had been discovered in the Longmenshan Old Kiln area in northern Hejin."
"At the time, I was puzzled. With so many mines in Laoyaotou, it must be really difficult to find a porcelain kiln. When I asked the Ceramics Institute, they said it was found by people from other provinces, which made me even more puzzled."
After asking more detailed questions and having the ceramics institute bring me several pieces of white porcelain that you were focusing on collecting from Yuncheng, I learned that the bowl I had collected for decades was actually a Tang Dynasty egg-white jade porcelain? And what you've been looking for is also egg-white jade..."
Upon hearing the old man's words, Wang Qizhi and Zhao Xiuneng's expressions changed.
Lin Sicheng remained unmoved and indifferent.
Seeing that he still didn't speak, the old man dipped his teacup in water and began to draw on the table: "This is Longmen Mountain in northern Hejin, and this is Laoyaotou. The river flowing down right next to Laoyaotou, the one on the left, is Zhemayu..."
"You probably thought before that porcelain can't be fired without water, and that if you kept searching down the Zhema Valley, you'd definitely find the kiln site. Because the porcelain clay in Guzhen is basically the same as the clay used for the fine white porcelain you found, it's likely from the Guzhen area..."
But once you leave Longmen Mountain, you'll discover that besides Zhema Valley, there are two other rivers in this area: Gua Valley in the middle and Shen Valley to the east. Coincidentally, the areas around Ganjian Village and Beiwuqin Village, located between these three rivers, produce porcelain clay, and its composition is very similar to that of the porcelain clay from Guzhen. Therefore, the white porcelain kiln you're looking for could potentially be built on either riverbank.
"Because these three rivers changed course many times, and the county annals were compiled relatively late, it's impossible to find out exactly which dynasty moved them to which location. So, after searching for more than half a month, you still can't determine the ancient riverbeds, let alone the kiln sites..."
"But this doesn't mean you're unprofessional. On the contrary, your abilities far surpass those of many experts at the Provincial Institute of Archaeology."
The old man pointed to the bowl again: "Strictly speaking, I actually plagiarized your idea: that is, using the old kiln head as the anchor point, Zhema Valley as the extension line, and the excavation point of this bowl as the coordinate, the scope of the Tang Dynasty kiln site was finally determined..."
“Finding a Tang Dynasty kiln site is like having a new anchor point. You can then follow the clues to find sites from the Song, Jin, and even Yuan and Ming dynasties… You know very well that the more sites there are, the more complete the excavation chain is, and the greater the possibility of restoring the craftsmanship…”
Lin Sicheng nodded: "Mr. Shui, I believe you!"
He truly believed it: because that was how his archaeological exploration plan was designed.
If we let him know about this bowl and the location where the old man said the broken piece was found, it would be equivalent to determining the exact location of the porcelain kiln.
Just like that ash pit at the Laoyaotou site.
Lin Sicheng thought for a moment and shook his head: "However, if what you want is egg white jade, then I'm afraid I can't make it for you!"
The old man laughed: He wasn't afraid of the man refusing, but he was afraid that the man would be like a silent gourd, refusing to utter a word no matter what.
"As long as it's negotiable, everything can be discussed!" The old man pointed to the bowl. "This bowl isn't enough, I'll add some more: Pingding pottery, black and white carved porcelain, I'll give you both of those techniques!"
He was about to say something when the old man smiled again: "Actually, this matter doesn't mean you've lost anything personally: the patent will still be yours, it just means opening another branch (center) in Shanxi. And who knows, you might even be able to get another national intangible cultural heritage item..."
To be honest, the offer was very tempting: this trip to Shanxi was for the purpose of pacifying the pottery and black and white engraving, in addition to the Chengni inkstone.
These two techniques were restored under the guidance of the old gentleman. With the most detailed information, he could ask questions immediately if he didn't understand something. At most, he would only need one or two weeks to digest most of it.
If we calculate less, we can save at least two to three months. With that time, we could probably have investigated three or four famous porcelains from different provinces.
The old gentleman wasn't wrong; for him personally, there was indeed no loss. In fact, not only was there no loss, but there were also considerable benefits: once he left Shaanxi, his influence, including that of the restoration center and his personal influence, would certainly not be limited to just those two provinces.
But to be honest: that's not how you should be a person, and that's not how you should do things.
Even though he had the utmost respect for the old man before him...
Let me just say this: Director He went to great lengths to bring over the Provincial Field Institute, the Provincial Archaeological Team, and the Provincial Museum Laboratory, working tirelessly for over a month. And yet, he simply uttered a few words and traded them for personal gain?
In a flash, Lin Sicheng shook his head: "Mr. Shui, I'm sorry!"
"You apologized too soon!" the old man smiled. "Here's what we'll do: I'll have the city make the contact first, and we're sure we can reach an agreement with Xi'an!"
Lin Sicheng smiled and then shook his head: "Mr. Shui, let's wait for a reply from the west side!"
It should have been expected. Seeing that he wouldn't budge no matter what, Shui Jisheng wasn't angry at all. Instead, he had his son book a restaurant, saying he wanted to have a couple of drinks with Lin Sicheng.
Lin Sicheng politely declined.
Both morally and logically, He Zhigang should be informed first.
Lin Sicheng politely took his leave, and Shui Jisheng personally escorted them out of the private room and then had his son see them downstairs.
A few minutes later, the old man's son came upstairs, the door to the inner room was pushed open, and a middle-aged man in his forties came out.
"You all heard that, right?" Shui Jisheng tapped the table. "Strike while the iron is hot. If you want to talk, then talk quickly."
The man nodded, then looked at the bowl on the table: "Teacher, I mean, if he doesn't agree, we'll dig it ourselves!"
Shui Jisheng couldn't help but laugh: "So what if we dig it up? Just having a Tang Dynasty site without a line of transmission means you can't even get close to the egg white jade. Besides, it's been buried for so long, soaking at the bottom of the river for over a thousand years. The relics are already in ruins, and its significance might not even be as great as the Qing Dynasty site at Laoyaotou."
"Furthermore, to restore the craft, we must uncover the entire industrial chain and the trajectory of technological evolution. In other words, having only Tang Dynasty sites is not enough; you also need to find Song, Jin, Yuan, and even Ming Dynasty sites, and you need a sufficient number of samples... Let me ask you, are you confident?"
The man paused for a moment, then shook his head: If it were that easy to find, we would have found it long ago.
Shui Jisheng sighed again: "And even if we could find it, who would restore it? If it were twenty or thirty years earlier, we old bones might have been able to give it a try."
But look at us: who isn't slurring their words and stumbling when they walk? You'd be better off preparing a coffin for each of us than asking us to restore you to your former self…”
With a "whoosh," the group of elderly people all burst into laughter.
The man was speechless after being rebuked.
If it were before, he certainly wouldn't have believed the old man's words. But after learning how Lin Sicheng found the old kiln site, he didn't even bother to doubt it anymore.
In archaeology, sometimes luck is more important than ability. Besides, that kid is more capable.
All my skills were learned from Shui Jisheng. If my teacher says there's no way to restore them, then at least no one in the province can restore them.
We can't exactly go to Jingdezhen and hire a team of experts, can we?
We can definitely hire them, but the monthly cost will be at least tens of millions. Can we afford it?
On the other hand: can that kid recover?
The answer is very likely.
For example, the Yaozhou pottery jar and tea dust glaze are still under research, and the blue and white porcelain restoration technology is only mastered by the Palace Museum throughout the country.
The more a man learns, the more incredible it seems. And frankly: no matter how difficult the craftsmanship of eggshell jade is, it's still not as difficult as making blue and white porcelain…
After a moment's thought, the man pondered, "Things in Xi'an shouldn't be too difficult to negotiate; it's just a matter of exchanging benefits. But I have a feeling this kid is a bit troublesome?"
Isn't that obvious?
If you didn't know, fine, but now that you know this bowl is a precursor to Song Dynasty egg-white jade porcelain, it's worth at least five or six million.
But the child didn't even glance at it...
The old man sighed: "Let's talk first!"
...
We didn't go far and checked into a nearby hotel.
Back in his room, Lin Sicheng started making phone calls.
Wang Qizhi and Zhao Xiuneng sat on the sofa for a long time before they finally sorted things out.
Shui Jisheng already knew that Lin Sicheng was looking for a kiln-cut piece of egg white jade.
Furthermore, they knew that Lin Sicheng wanted to restore the craft.
If it's just about finding a kiln site, the locals will definitely welcome it with open arms: because you can't move it even if you want to.
But what about restoration techniques?
Moreover, it is very likely that it originated in the Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Jin and Song Dynasties, was exclusively supplied to the imperial court of each dynasty, and even the five famous kilns could only produce a few pieces of egg white jade?
Crucially, the kiln site, industrial chain, and original artifacts were all discovered in Shanxi. If other provinces had gotten there first, all the leaders in the relevant departments should have resigned en masse.
However, the relevant departments were not very confident, or at least not confident, that they could restore the process before Lin Sicheng.
What should we do then?
It's simple, just two words: cooperation.
The same reason why, in all the reports about the discovery of the Laoyaotou site in Hejin and Yuncheng, the word "Shaanxi" is never mentioned in the documents:
Individuals can be from other provinces, but organizations must be local.
Is it difficult for the Xijing University Cultural Relics Restoration Center to register a branch in Shanxi?
It's nothing more than an exchange of interests. We can talk to Xi'an University, the Xi'an Cultural Relics Bureau, the Industrial Bureau, the Cultural Bureau, or even directly to Xi'an City. There's nothing we can't talk about.
For Lin Sicheng, the ultimate goal was to restore the technique and register a patent. What difference did it make whether it was in Xi'an or Taiyuan?
With the strong support of local authorities, the archaeological sites will be found faster and in greater numbers, and the artifacts will be restored more quickly.
Moreover, with the assistance of the two provinces, there is a high probability of applying for national-level projects, further enhancing the influence of the Lin Sicheng Cultural Relics Restoration Center.
Lin Sicheng's fame will also increase, as will the bowl, Pingding pottery, and black-ground carving techniques.
No matter how you look at it, there are many advantages and no disadvantages.
"This is a good thing?" Zhao Xiuneng recalled for a moment: "Then why did Lin Sicheng refuse without even thinking?"
Wang Qizhi remained silent: If he were Lin Sicheng, even if he had reservations, he wouldn't have been so direct.
Lin Sicheng, on the other hand, flatly refused?
Because he felt that no matter how great or numerous the honors were, they could only be the honors of the people of Shanxi, and what did they have to do with a group of old Shaanxi people like you?
To put it bluntly: once we agree, all the work done during this period, except for Lin Sicheng, including myself, Zhao Xiuneng, He Zhigang, Tian Jie, Gao Zhangyi, Huang Zhifeng, Shang Yan, the archaeological team, the experimental group, and the data group, will be for nothing.
Given Lin Sicheng's character, if Shanxi doesn't intervene, these people's names and these organizations will repeatedly appear in various documents, reports, and papers.
pity……
Zhao Xiuneng moved his lips slightly, but swallowed the words back: "Where is there anything perfect?"
Lin Sicheng is good in every way, except that he sometimes overthinks things.
Just then, Lin Sicheng came out of the suite, and Wang Qizhi and Zhao Xiuneng stood up.
"What did Director He say?"
"Let's wait for news! Director He estimates that a deal can be reached."
Seeing that he wasn't in a good mood, Zhao Xiuneng said seriously, "Junior Brother Lin, I don't think this is a bad thing!"
Wang Qizhi nodded in agreement: "It's definitely not a bad thing!"
Lin Sicheng remained silent.
He Zhigang said the same thing on the phone.
It is indeed a good thing, but at most it's a good thing for him alone...
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