Antique Chinese Blue And White Porcelain Official History Documentary

Yan Yuguo, a Beijing native, was born to the family of an antique seller. He has been working in the field of cultural relic appraisal for over three decades. Yan's favorite item is blue and white porcelain. This is a typical Kangxi brushstroke. It's painted with a traditional Chinese brushstroke, which is ink-mixed five-color brushstrokes. The characteristics of the brushstrokes are very distinct. Kangxi's blue and white porcelain is the best in the Qing Dynasty. So the current market price is also the best. The appraisal company that Yan Yuguo works for is located on a traditional street. The street is filled with calligraphy, painting, and stationery shops. Blue and white porcelain is essential for these shops. The elegant and simple blue patterns on the pure white ceramic are classical style in China. Cai Xinhuan is a businessman from Wenzhou in east China's Zhejiang province. He runs a gallery near Liulichang, Beijing's best-known antique and art market. The gallery sells calligraphy and paintings, as well as blue and white porcelain items. Cai Xinhuan is determined to develop his cooperation with painters who paint on porcelain, because he is certain the market for blue and white porcelain will grow. A Yuan Dynasty porcelain vase was auctioned off for 14 million pounds at an auction in 2005 at Christie's in London. Including the commission, the total value of the vase was 15.68 million pounds sterling. That is a world record in the auction sale of Chinese artwork. Blue and white porcelain is regarded as the representative and pinnacle of Chinese porcelain. However, for many Chinese people, this art form is both a miracle and a mystery. Artists take cobalt ore, which is composed of cobalt oxide, and paint patterns on the ceramic shape, then cover the paint with transparent glaze. After it is fired, the clay turns white and the black cobalt turns blue. Lu Lijun from Yangzhou and Ye Jianxin from Beijing are both traditional Chinese painters. They fell in love with blue and white porcelain because of a chance encounter. Their blue and white porcelain story began in a small town. Located in central China, Jingdezhen is world-renowned for porcelain. Porcelain making here has a history of a thousand years. Since the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century, blue and white porcelain has been the heartbeat of this porcelain capital. The products have been exported around the globe. Archaeological finds show that Chinese people were masters of beautiful ceramics as early as the Tang Dynasty in the 7th century. The Mongolians founded the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century. Arabic, Persian, and Central Asian Muslims flocked into China, bringing Islamic culture. That period was the conjoining of the two cultures. Blue and white porcelain is not a good color for our Chinese people. But blue and white porcelain is a color of the highlands, a color of the deserts, a pure and sacred color. Patternless porcelain pieces dominated Chinese porcelain before the Yuan. Blue and white porcelain revolutionized the aesthetics of this art form. There are fewer than 400 original Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain pieces today. But blue and white porcelain still leads Chinese porcelain works. Various types of porcelain works have been produced in Jingdezhen, but only blue and white porcelain has retained its popularity. This kiln was set up 300 years ago and served as a working kiln until 1995. The intricate structure of the kiln allowed for different temperatures in different areas of the kiln. That in turn allowed dozens of different types of porcelain pieces to be fired at the same time. Blue and white porcelain pieces are fired at a rather high temperature, around 1,300 degrees Celsius. The exact temperature, however, remains secret. In the sealed kiln, fire heats the porcelain, giving it eternal life. The pattern and size of these two vases are identical, but the results after firing are different. One dragon is clear and looks powerful, while the other is hazy. This is the magic that results from firing the pieces at different temperatures. Apart from firing, blue and white porcelain is the brainchild of an artisan's inspiration and imagination. The clay is shaped. Then the art piece receives its soul through painting. Painting is the key to this artistic creation. The shape of this vase is nothing out of the ordinary. However, its patterns are unforgettable. This was a gift to Emperor Kangxi in celebration of his 60th birthday. 10,000 Chinese characters were painted on it. 10,000 different versions of the character longevity without a single repetition. The exquisite technique and meticulous design are legendary. As the brainchild of cultural exchange, blue and white porcelain has never stopped evolving and changing over the past centuries. Profound and unique, Chinese painting has injected new artistic language into this artistic craft. Porcelain works from different eras present different interpretations of beauty. In the early 20th century, a bold Jingdezhen artisan named Wang Bu combined traditional ink painting techniques with porcelain making, creating a new painting skill called fen shui, or dividing water. By mixing cobalt and water in varied proportions, color gradations are achieved. From that point on, blue and white porcelain began to take on a whole new look. It has been, however, rare to see professional painters among porcelain artisans. This tradition remained unbroken until the modern era. Ye Jianxin and Lu Lijun are at the forefront of professional painters turned porcelain artists, and their wishes in doing so are the same. Lu Lijun wanted to demonstrate his talent on porcelain as early as 1991. He was soon invited to paint on porcelain, but realized that painting on rice paper was different unsuccessful attempts. Traditionally, unsuccessful and defective products are smashed into pieces. This practice keeps finished output low and secures the purity and dignity of the art. Ye Jianxin came to blue and white porcelain later than Lu Lijun. When Lu had already fallen in love with blue and white porcelain, Ye remained devoted to ink painting. Ye, however, invented a new style of ink painting. It took Ye Jianxin two years to understand the intricacies of porcelain and cobalt. Ye felt that ink painting skills that had been studied and developed for thousands of years could be transferred to porcelain, as long as the artist was very skillful and had a deep understanding of the art. Ink painting is the essence of traditional Chinese painting. Ink painting is the manifestation of how people interpret and respond emotionally to the world. When combined with new ink painting, blue and white porcelain acquires a special and novel attraction. Lu Lijun wished to create an artistic conception of his own on porcelain. For instance, snow scenes, which are his favorite. It is said that hundreds of years ago, there were blue and white porcelain pieces that featured snow scenes. The technique has now been lost because of its extreme difficulty. In ancient times, it was impossible to achieve this kind of technique. The level of blue and white porcelain is quite high. The traditional blue and white porcelain of Jingdezhen does not have this level. In 2002, after thousands of failed attempts, Lu Lijun created his blue and white porcelain vase, Auspicious Snow. It was awarded the gold prize at the World Chinese Arts Exhibition in Hong Kong. Since then, Lu's works have been sought after by collectors at home and abroad and are now valued at hundreds of thousands of yuan. Professional painters have brought many changes to this ancient craft. The artists demonstrate their personalities through their work. From nameless artisans to professional master artists, blue and white porcelain has always followed in the footsteps of the changing times, dynamically and elegantly. Liao Zhidan, a young Jingdezhen artisan, has a cozy studio. With a background in traditional Chinese painting, oils, and sketching, Liao is bold in innovation in his blue and white porcelain work. For this particular art form, it may be harder to create something new than to follow tradition. Chinese people today, however, think that making blue and white porcelain part of modern life is the best way to protect and develop this art form. Chinese people from different walks of life demonstrate their respect for porcelain art and traditional culture in different ways. Zhang Lianzhi, a successful businessman from Tianjin, is an avid collector. He makes full use of every opportunity to collect ceramics, even fragments. In September 2002, Zhang Lianzhi purchased a 100-year-old building for 30 million yuan. He decided to renovate it, creating a porcelain house to make it a vivid monument to China's long-standing porcelain culture. In September 2007, the porcelain house opened to the public, amassing 400 million ancient porcelain fragments and 13,000 ancient ceramic plates and bowls. These pieces have all been inlaid in the walls. Blue and white porcelain is the heroine of the ceramic house, and the collection includes some valuable pieces from the Yuan Dynasty. The blue patterns are a perfect complement to the architecture. Complete or fragmented, the porcelain pieces have been gathered together with new affection and have regained their power, which reaches beyond porcelain aesthetics and history. In fast-paced modern China, the soul of blue and white porcelain is not lagging. On the contrary, because it takes in modern life, this art form radiates youth and vitality. This white silk gown is adorned with refined blue embroidery, perfect for elegant and sweet Chinese women. This gown was designed by You Jia, associate professor at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. In 2008, this blue and white porcelain-inspired gown stood out from among the vast number of competing applicants to be appointed the ceremonial dress for the Beijing Summer Olympic Games. Many patterns are inspired by the patterns on the porcelain. However, the porcelain cannot be completely copied. We took the main patterns, such as flowers and ruffles, and applied them to the clothing to create a new design. But all the elements are taken from the porcelain. Blue and white porcelain has entered people's daily lives in China's capital, Beijing. In the Beitucheng station on Beijing's Line 8 subway, porcelain decorations attract the attention of passengers. This idea came from two young Beijing designers. The blue and white porcelain was a very unexpected idea. When I was looking through the magazine, I saw a picture that looked a bit like a hand-painted porcelain. It was very beautiful. So I wanted to see if the blue and white porcelain could be used in this space. The blue and white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty was actually a very rare thing. There weren't many of them in stock at the time. Its aesthetic and uniqueness were buried for a long time. We also know that there are a lot of patterns and patterns in blue and white porcelain. But basically, we chose to do it with flowers and ruffles. Why? Because it's not very controversial. It doesn't have a specific direction. It just gives people a beautiful feeling. We think this is particularly suitable in a public space. I think the biggest impression that blue and white porcelain has given me is its details. It's a beauty that cannot be measured by a mechanical number. No matter how mysterious and miraculous a craft is, it can never be stronger than the emotions in people's hearts. People keep tradition alive with their wisdom, creating beautiful designs. Because of this, blue and white porcelain has managed to continue through the vicissitudes of the times and remain a part of our lives.