Jun porcelain, which originated in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty, is known as the first of the five famous porcelains in China. It is a treasure in the traditional porcelain making process of the Han nationality and is called a national treasure and a treasure. Jun porcelain is famous for its unique kiln-changing art. It is known as "gold has a price, but Jun is priceless" and "a piece of Jun porcelain is worse than a million dollars". Jun porcelain is milky and lustrous, like jade but not jade, but better than jade; the texture is pure and thick, and the sound of cracking is like a piano or a bell; the colors are fantastic, and the artistic conception is remote and unparalleled. The firing technique of Jun porcelain has been continuously developed and formed in the process of making and spreading Jun porcelain. It is the crystallization of the hard work and wisdom of the ancient working people in my country. In 2008, the firing technique of Jun porcelain was selected into the list of national intangible cultural heritage. The main contribution of Yuzhou Jun porcelain is that it is fired into gorgeous red glaze Jun porcelain, thus creating a precedent for copper red glaze, changing the previous situation in China where only black glaze and green glaze were available for high-temperature colored glazes, and opening up a new artistic realm. Jun porcelain is named after the official kiln set up near the ancient Juntai in Yuzhou City during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty to specially fire imperial porcelain. The firing technique of Jun porcelain originated in Shenhou Town, 30 kilometers southwest of Yuzhou City, Henan Province. This is an ancient town surrounded by undulating mountains. The surrounding mountains contain rich resources of porcelain clay, glaze, refractory materials and coal. According to archaeological data, as early as the Xia and Shang dynasties, this unique resource had been used by local hardworking and intelligent craftsmen to produce pottery. At the beginning of the appearance of Jun porcelain, it mainly produced plates, bowls, basins, jars, bottles, furnaces, etc. for daily needs. According to archaeological surveys in recent years, since the Tang and Song Dynasties, the ancient Jun kiln has begun to develop from south to north with Shenhou Town as the center. Artistic characteristics of Jun porcelain Jun porcelain art has gone through a long period of time from immaturity to gradual maturity, and during this period it has been gradually matured and developed under the influence of other sister arts. Jun porcelain belongs to the northern celadon system. Chinese celadon has a long history. Before the Tang Dynasty, celadon has always been the mainstream of ceramic production. Jun porcelain is different from other types of porcelain with its unique natural kiln-changing art. The kiln-changing phenomenon of "one color in the kiln and thousands of colors out of the kiln" constitutes the special beauty and artistic effect of Jun porcelain, and has a high artistic charm. As soon as it came out, it was cherished by the world and entered the ranks of famous kilns. The outstanding technological achievements of Jun kiln are based on the scientific matching of body and glaze, the reasonable control of the change of flame atmosphere during the firing process, and the use of oxidation and reduction atmosphere to make the same glaze glaze color into kiln-changing colors of different depths. The opalescent state of Jun glaze and the kiln-changing phenomenon are two appearance characteristics that constitute the artistic beauty of Jun porcelain. The opalescent state refers to the beautiful azure semi-opalescent state of Jun kiln glaze, which is like agate or opal. It not only makes Jun glaze produce a series of blue from light to dark, but also gives a subtle luster and elegant texture, reducing the glamorous floating light caused by the vitrification of the glaze. The kiln change phenomenon refers to the melting and flow of Jun glaze at high temperature, and the complex and staggered changes of opacity and coloring make the glaze color become colorful, purple, red, blue and white complement each other, giving people a sense of the beauty of nature that changes rapidly. During the firing process of Jun porcelain, due to the thickness of the glaze layer and the firing temperature, a variety of flow patterns appear, which further enhances the effect of glaze decoration. The more common and appreciated ones are earthworm mud pattern, ice flake pattern, and silk pattern. Earthworm mud pattern is a natural kiln change pattern of Jun porcelain. In the glaze layer of Jun porcelain, irregular traces like earthworm mud are constantly appearing, winding and intriguing. There were different opinions on the cause of its formation in the past. Through the practice of craftsmen and archaeological discoveries, it is known that Jun porcelain is fired twice. After bisque firing, a thick glaze is applied. In the early stage of firing, some glaze layers crack and irregular cracks appear on the glaze surface. After high temperature, the glaze layer melts, and the lower viscosity part of the glaze flows into the cracks and fills them. After firing, mud patterns are formed due to the influence of temperature. This flow pattern generally appears in the part where the temperature of the glaze layer is low, and the color varies, including dark red and cyan. Ice flake pattern is also called "open armor", that is, irregular cracks like ice flakes appear on the glaze surface. Glaze cracking is a fatal defect on daily pottery, but it is fortunate to appear on art porcelain, which is an artistic beauty. The glaze surface of Jun kiln ware is cracked, and the added crack decoration makes the ware quaint and interesting. The reason for the cracking of the glaze surface is that the silicon content in the glaze is too high and the expansion coefficient of the body glaze is different, and cracks appear when cooling after leaving the kiln. The silk pattern is formed during the high temperature stage of the firing process. The copper, iron and other elements in the glaze are affected by the high temperature and the atmosphere in the kiln, as well as the ups and downs of the shape and the clever flow of the glaze. It is like a lifelike hair-free, with a strong sense of three-dimensionality and movement, and the glaze surface is decorated very delicately and softly. The firing technique of Jun porcelain has been said to have "seventy-two processes" since ancient times, mainly because of its complex production process. If divided by modern production processes, Jun porcelain production generally requires eight major processes, including raw material processing, modeling design, molding, forming, bisque firing, glazing, glaze firing, and inspection and selection. 1. Raw material processing. Find raw materials with reliable performance, stable quality, and suitable for kiln changes in Jun porcelain in the mining area, and carefully select them. Then carry out necessary processing on the raw materials. 2. Modeling design. The traditional modeling of Jun porcelain is mainly based on plates, bowls, bowls, stoves, flower pots and other utensils, pursuing a dignified, atmospheric, simple and natural artistic style. Modern Jun porcelain has made bold reforms on the basis of inheriting traditions, adding modern aesthetic elements, and creating a new expression field for Jun porcelain art. Jun porcelain shapes include traditional vessels, figures, animals, and special shapes, forming hundreds of modeling series and thousands of varieties, including vessel series, animal series, figure series, stationery series, tea set series, bird series, and practical series. 3. Mold making. The mold is made into a model. In ancient times, the model material was mud, which was then bisque fired into a mold and used for stripping. Nowadays, gypsum powder is commonly used to make a slurry with water, which is then solidified into a mold. Gypsum molds can be used for both grouting and stripping. The similarities between bisque fired mud molds and gypsum molds are that they both have certain strength and water absorption and can be used repeatedly. The model is generally hollow inside, and the shape of its inner wall is the shape of the blank. 4. Forming. According to the type of product and different needs, Jun porcelain forming generally includes grouting, wheel throwing, and stripping. Slurry injection molding is to inject mud into the plaster model, pour out the excess mud after a certain thickness, and open the model after a while to take out the formed body; throwing molding is to put a mud ball on the rotating 1 and pull it into various round bodies by hand; stripping molding, also known as printing molding, is to beat the mud into mud sheets, close to the inner wall of the model for compaction, and docking to form; freehand molding refers to the method of molding by hand kneading, sculpture and other techniques, which is generally used for the production of small or special-shaped utensils. 5. Biscuit firing. The formed fine blank is fired once without glazing, at a temperature of 900-950 to increase the strength and water absorption of the blank, which is conducive to glazing operation. 6. Glazing. The unglazed body after biscuit firing is glazed by rinsing glaze, dipping glaze, pouring glaze, brushing glaze and other methods, so that a layer of glaze slurry with a suitable thickness is attached to the surface of the unglazed body. This is glazing. 7. Glaze firing. The glazed blank is put into the kiln for firing, which is glaze firing. The temperature during glaze firing is generally between 1280 and 1300. In ancient Song Dynasty, the official kiln of Jun used wood for firing. After the founding of New China, coal was used for firing when the production of Jun porcelain was resumed. After 1994, gas firing was generally used. When Jun porcelain was fired, due to the influence of temperature, atmosphere and climate, the fired products have colorful and ever-changing kiln-changing effects. Generally speaking, wood kiln products are fresh, elegant, beautiful and elegant; coal kiln products are warm and unrestrained, with magnificent pictures; carbon kiln products are simple and natural, and quiet and unadorned; gas kiln products have bright glaze layers, bright and light. Under the regulation of the firing system, a certain kiln may also have other styles due to changes in objective factors. 8. Inspection and selection after kiln. The fired products are inspected and graded according to the standards of Jun porcelain technicians. Qualified products generally have several levels, such as genuine products, fine products, and treasures. Genuine products have no defects or very small defects, and the kiln-changing effect is average; fine products have no defects and have certain kiln-changing effects; treasures are the best among fine products, with rich and unique kiln-changing effects. Kiln-change effects include the color, spots, texture, cracks, natural pictures, and artistic conception of the glaze of Jun porcelain products. The historical evolution of Jun porcelain firing techniques Before the Tang Dynasty, the glaze colors of Chinese ceramic products were relatively monotonous, mainly green in the south and white in the north. In the Tang Dynasty, ceramic art developed rapidly, and porcelain craftsmen were no longer satisfied with the single green color, and began to innovate on the basis of the original porcelain making process. Craftsmen applied different glazes on black glaze, brown glaze, and tea-leaf glaze, and after high-temperature firing, large gray-blue and milky white spots and flow patterns finally appeared. This is flower porcelain, which is what the ceramic historians call Tang Jun. In the Northern Song Dynasty, craftsmen added trace elements of copper to the green glaze based on the flower porcelain craftsmanship of the Tang Dynasty, and successfully created high-temperature kiln-change copper red glaze through reducing atmosphere. At this time, Jun porcelain gradually showed the flow traces of glaze at high temperature vividly, showing unexpected artistic beauty and interest. The technique of adding trace copper to the glaze and producing kiln changes at high temperatures is indeed an achievement of the Jun porcelain artists in Shenhu. The History of Chinese Ceramics says: "The Jun kiln in the Song Dynasty first creatively fired copper red glaze, which is a great achievement." It is also because of this that the history of Chinese ceramics ended the situation where "Southern Blue and Northern White" dominated the world. At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the firing skills of Jun porcelain were already very exquisite and highly appreciated by the court. During the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, he selected 1, concentrated the outstanding craftsmen of Jun porcelain folk kilns, and set up an "official kiln" near Juntai in Yangdi (now Yuzhou City) to burn tribute porcelain for the court. He also stipulated that the official kiln should select 36 top-quality products to be sent to the court every year, and the rest should be broken, and the fragments should be buried deep underground, and not allowed to flow into the Han people. Therefore, Jun kiln products are very rare and extremely valuable, with the reputation of "gold has a price, Jun is priceless", and people say "a family with a million is not as good as a piece of Jun porcelain", so that in later generations even the broken porcelain fragments of ancient official Jun have become treasures pursued by collectors. Jun porcelain in the late Northern Song Dynasty was no longer limited to simple shapes such as flower pots, plates, and bowls. It was more of a variety of flower pots and other furnishings used for bonsai in the palace. At the same time, there were also some vessels such as jars, furnaces, and tripods used for sacrifices. At this time, the glaze colors of Jun porcelain appeared in rose purple, crabapple red, agate red and other kiln-changed glaze colors. These gorgeous and colorful glazes make the natural charm of Jun porcelain "like jade but not jade, better than jade" shine. The Northern Song Dynasty Jun official kiln created the glory of Jun porcelain art, but it also became the beginning of the decline of Jun porcelain art. The demise of the two Song dynasties and the cessation of the firing of the Jun official kiln caused the Jun porcelain industry to begin to decline. After the Yuan Dynasty unified China, it provided corresponding conditions for the survival of Jun porcelain, and the kiln-changed art of Jun porcelain was spread and continued, and spread throughout the country, forming a huge Jun kiln system. "History of Chinese Ceramics" says: "Although the firing of Jun porcelain began in the Northern Song Dynasty, the formation of a kiln system of Jun kilns was mainly in the Yuan Dynasty." With Yuzhou as the center, there are not only many kilns in Henan that imitate Jun porcelain, but also in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hebei, Shanxi and other places. Its imitation Jun products have reached a certain level and have had a huge impact. After the Ming Dynasty, due to the needs of life, the firing of daily-use porcelain was gradually restored, but Jun porcelain as an ornamental porcelain has not been revived. After the founding of New China, under the cordial care of the first Premier, the people's governments at all levels strongly supported the restoration and development of Jun porcelain production, excavated traditional Jun kiln craftsmanship, and rejuvenated this ancient art. Since then, the Jun porcelain industry has entered a new period of great development. The spring breeze of reform and opening up has ushered in the golden age of Jun porcelain. Jun porcelain is favored by the world for its preciousness and elegance. Entering the 21st century, the firing technology of Jun porcelain has made greater development and breakthroughs. The double-fire kiln furnace of the Song Dynasty has been restored, and the wood-fired firing process has also been restored, making it possible to create Jun porcelain comparable to the official residence of the Song Dynasty. It can be said that now is the most active and agile era for Jun porcelain art after its rebirth from the ashes. With the encouragement and attention of the country, Jun porcelain art will also enter an unprecedented stage of prosperity and development. Mr. Deng Bai, a famous calligrapher, painter and ceramic artist, wrote a poem for Jun porcelain, which says: "The first branch of spring fragrance is inserted, and the flying colors and flowing clouds of Yuzhou porcelain are bold words. Don't look at them as ordinary, it is the time when the east wind is proud." Characteristics of Jun porcelain products in various dynasties In the history of ceramic firing, the traditional view is that it began in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty, and the same is true for Yuzhou Jun porcelain. The "Tang Jun" discovered now is the predecessor of Jun porcelain. The Jun glaze of the Tang Dynasty is a large piece of blue and white glaze dotted on the black glaze, or a large piece of black glaze dotted on the blue and white glaze, and there is also a blue and white glaze on the black glaze. The glaze color changes from black to white and blue, black and 1, lively and changeable, mainly using iron as a colorant. The ancients called this glaze porcelain "flower porcelain". Jun glaze of the Song Dynasty is a kiln-changed monochrome glaze. Its glaze color was developed on the basis of Tang Jun. Jun porcelain kiln workers removed the black component in Tang Jun glaze and took its blue and white color, pursuing an elegant jade-like effect. The basic color of the glaze is sky blue, and the kiln-changed color is sky blue for the darker one and moon white for the lighter one. The kiln-changed flower glaze is characterized by the purple-red spots on the blue-blue glaze surface. After firing, it is as beautiful and brilliant as the colorful clouds appearing in the blue sky. Most of the Jun glazes in the Yuan Dynasty are kiln-changed color spots, and a few are kiln-changed monochrome glazes. However, the blue-blue glaze surface is not as moist as that of Song Jun. It is relatively rough and has a slightly larger fluidity. The purple-red spots are not as layered and full of charm as those of Song Jun, but are slightly dull. However, due to the coordination of the blue and red colors, it is also a very decorative kiln-changed glaze. Jun glaze in the Qing Dynasty was mainly fired in a bellows small blue carbon kiln, so it is also called "Lu Jun". Lujun glaze is a special kind of Jun glaze. Compared with the previous generation, it has more solvent components in the glaze, so the glaze has greater fluidity at high temperature and is easy to crystallize when cooled. The kiln-changed effect is very peculiar. The glaze colors include cinnabar red, sky blue, sky blue with various purples, etc. The identification of ancient Jun porcelain is divided into four aspects: one is to distinguish the authenticity, the second is to determine the era, the third is to determine the kiln, and the fourth is to estimate the value. The following points should be noted when identifying ancient Jun kilns: 1. Look at the body. Since Jun kilns are fired with reducing flames, the surface of the unglazed body (mainly the foot of the vessel) is generally brown; 2. Look at the shape. Before the Ming Dynasty, the shape of Jun porcelain was mostly daily necessities, with obvious characteristics of the times; 3. Look at the craftsmanship. Ancient Jun porcelain was made by hand-molding, and the kilns were hand-pulled and printed; 4. Look at the glaze color. From the characteristics of the times, Jun porcelain has different glaze colors in different eras, such as black glaze and blue spots in the Tang Dynasty, purple-red flower glaze in the Song Dynasty, sky blue, sky blue, and moon white glaze in the Song and Yuan Dynasties; 5. Look at the bottom foot. The bottom foot of the official Jun kiln in the Song Dynasty is generally smeared with sesame paste glaze or a thinner blue-white glaze. Cui Songwei Cui Songwei, male, Han nationality, from Shenhou Town, Yuzhou City, born in 1967, a member of the Communist Party of China. Director of the China Ceramics Association, Master of Chinese Traditional Crafts, Member of the China Arts and Crafts Association, Henan Province Ceramic Art Master, Henan Province Arts and Crafts Master. From 1984 to 1994, he studied under Liu Guoan and Liu Fuan to learn the skills of glazing, firing, and modeling of Jun porcelain, and worked in management and technology at the Hongshiqiao Porcelain Factory. In 2000, he built Jinfengyuan Jun Kiln and served as the factory director and technical director. He is mainly engaged in the research and development of the process technology of traditional coal-fired, wood-fired, and furnace-fired Jun porcelain. In the original Jun porcelain second...more>>>Cui SongweiCui Songwei, male, Han nationality, from Shenhou Town, Yuzhou City, born in 1967, a member of the Communist Party of China. Director of China Ceramics Association, Master of Chinese Traditional Crafts, Member of China Arts and Crafts Association, Master of Ceramic Art of Henan Province, Master of Arts and Crafts of Henan Province. From 1984 to 1994, he studied under Liu Guoan and Liu Fuan to learn the skills of glazing, firing, and modeling of Jun porcelain, and worked in management and technology at the Hongshiqiao Porcelain Factory. In 2000, he built Jinfengyuan Jun Kiln and served as the factory director and technical director. Mainly engaged in the research and development of the process technology of traditional coal-fired, wood-fired and furnace-fired Jun porcelain. In the original Jun porcelain II...more>>>Cui Songwei, male, Han nationality, native of Shenhou Town, Yuzhou City, born in 1967, member of the Communist Party of China. Director of China Ceramics Association, master of Chinese traditional crafts, member of China Arts and Crafts Association, Henan Province Ceramic Art Master, Henan Province Arts and Crafts Master. From 1984 to 1994, he studied the glaze matching, firing, modeling and other skills of Jun porcelain under Liu Guoan and Liu Fuan, and worked in management and technology at the porcelain factory in Hongshiqiao. In 2000, he built Jinfengyuan Jun kiln and served as the factory director and technical director. Mainly engaged in the research and development of the process technology of traditional coal-fired, wood-fired and furnace-fired Jun porcelain. In the original Jun porcelain II...more>>>