胡建金
中国陶瓷考古之父陈万里曾经说过:“一部中国陶瓷史,半部在浙江;一部浙江陶瓷史,半部在龙泉。”
龙泉窑是中国瓷业史上最后形成的一个青瓷名窑,其文化内涵丰富,生产规模极为壮观,是南北两大瓷业文化交流和融合的典范,是官民瓷业相互关联、相互激荡的结果,是中国青瓷工艺发展的历史总成。
一
青瓷,在一千多年前就已融入了这座城市,融入了龙泉人的生活。
2014年3月,庆元县成人职业技术学校工地施工时发现了南宋名臣胡纮的墓,出土及追缴文物34件(套),其中国家一级文物8件,国家二级文物7件,国家三级文物7件,一般文物12件,这些文物中大部分都是青瓷。
南宋庆元三年之前,庆元与龙泉同属一地,在庆元发现的这一宋墓与这一地区其他宋元明清墓地考古发掘极其相同的是,青瓷是极为常见的陪葬品。由此可见,无论是达官贵人还是普通百姓,青瓷已是他们生活中的一部分,一杯一盏,一盘一碗,一瓶一罐,一洗一壶,都是龙泉人寻常生活的用具。
从20世纪20年代陈万里先生走出书斋,八次对龙泉窑进行实地调查开始,人们对于龙泉青瓷的考古就一直没有停过。
近几十年来,通过先后对山头窑、大白岸、安仁口、安福、上严儿村和源口林场、大窑、金村等窑址的考古发掘,龙泉瓷系被梳理得更加清晰,也更加凸显了龙泉青瓷的历史痕迹与优良技艺。
龙泉窑龙泉青瓷肇始于五代,兴起于北宋,明代中晚期后龙泉青瓷开始衰落,其生产历史长达一千多年,是中国陶瓷史上烧制年代最长、窑址分布最广、产品质量最高、生产规模和外销范围最大的青瓷名窑。
龙泉青瓷有“青如玉、明如镜、薄如纸、声如磬”之誉,制瓷技术在南宋时登峰造极,当时烧制出的粉青釉和梅子青釉瓷器,书写了制瓷历史的辉煌。
龙泉哥窑与官窑、汝窑、定窑、钧窑并称为宋代五大名窑。
龙泉窑并非只分布在龙泉,庆元有,松阳有,莲都也有。目前发现最早的龙泉窑的窑址在庆元的竹口,丽水上过邮票的一级文物南宋凤耳瓶就是在松阳发现的。丽水许多地方,随便挖个坑,就会挖出宋代、明代的青瓷片来。有人开玩笑说,在丽水挖瓷比挖番薯还省力。
考古发现,龙泉古代烧制青瓷的窑址有五百多处,仅龙泉市境内就发现三百六十多处。此外还有在丽水、闽浙边界等地发现的古窑。
二
宋时,章生一、章生二兄弟的哥窑弟窑,成了龙泉青瓷技术流派的分水岭,将龙泉青瓷推向了一个历史高峰。
康熙时的《浙江通志》记载:“处州龙泉南七十里曰琉华山……山下琉田,居民多以陶为业。相传旧有章生一、生二兄弟,二人未详细何人,主琉田窑造青瓷,粹美冠绝当世,兄曰哥窑,弟曰生二窑……”
到龙泉看青瓷,发现有两种完全不同的产品,一种是白胎和朱砂胎青瓷,另一种是釉面开片的黑胎青瓷。第一种是“弟窑”产品,第二种是“哥窑”产品。
弟窑瓷的青,是梅子青,是粉青,是豆青,晶莹剔透,犹如雨过天青,又如玉似镜。哥窑瓷的纹,是冰裂纹、蟹爪纹、牛毛纹、流水纹、鱼子纹、鳝血纹等,素有“紫口铁足”之称,瑰丽古朴。
好多人说搞不清楚什么是“哥”什么是“弟”,其实挺简单,表面一色纯青的,就是“弟窑”,表面都是密密麻麻的金丝铁线的,那就是“哥窑”。
哥窑黑胎厚釉,瓷器釉面布满裂纹,呈现金丝铁线、紫口铁足的特征。由于窑温不易控制,优等青瓷极难得,往往成为帝王将相专用。从现在故宫珍藏的一件件龙泉青瓷作品,可以看出它的历史地位与价值。
弟窑白胎厚釉,外形光洁不开片,成为当时民窑的佼佼者,也是我国宋、元时期出口的龙泉青瓷中的精品瓷和主力军,影响着世界。
三
在英文中“china”是瓷器的意思,“China”一直以来也是“中国”的代名词,可想而知中国瓷器在世界上的影响力。
龙泉窑青瓷宋元时期就大量出口,龙泉青瓷外贸的繁荣,开辟了水上的贸易之路,龙泉青瓷沿着瓯江顺流直下,沿着海运线销往世界,印度洋沿岸、阿拉伯海、红海和东非沿海,无处没有龙泉青瓷的踪迹。
陈桥驿在《龙泉县地名志序》中说:“从中国东南沿海各港口起,循海道一直到印度洋沿岸的波斯湾、阿拉伯海、红海和东非沿海……无处没有龙泉青瓷的踪迹。”现在,光是土耳其伊斯兰堡博物馆,就藏有中国古代龙泉青瓷1300余件。
龙泉青瓷传入朝鲜,影响到高丽青瓷。
日本人称龙泉青瓷为砧青瓷,并大量仿造。
16世纪晚期,欧洲人称龙泉青瓷为“雪拉同”。当时一位阿拉伯商人送了一件龙泉青瓷给巴黎市长。瓷器通体流青滴翠,玲珑剔透,幽雅静穆。市长对这件珍贵的礼品非常喜欢,但不知如何命名才能体现其珍贵。后来,法国著名作家杜尔夫的《牧羊女亚司泰来》舞台剧在巴黎上演,剧中男主角“雪拉同”(Celadon)穿了一件美丽的青色衣服。人们认为只有雪拉同身上那件碧青华丽的衣裳,才能和中国宝贝相媲美,于是把龙泉青瓷称为雪拉同。
我们可以想象,当年郑和下西洋时,浩浩荡荡的船队上,载满了龙泉青瓷,也载满了龙泉人走向世界的梦想。
多年來,世界各地不断发现了龙泉青瓷。1976年,韩国新安地区道德岛海域发现了一艘中国元代沉船,打捞出元代瓷器17000余件,其中龙泉窑瓷器达9000余件。1987年在广东阳江海域发现的“南海一号”南宋古船中,也发掘出不少龙泉青瓷。
从这些瓷器可以看出,龙泉青瓷在当时中国瓷器的对外输出中有着重要地位。
(图片来自“视觉中国”)
The Beauty of Longquan Celadon
By Hu Jianjin
Celadon making in Longquan is a key chapter of the history of Chinese ceramics. Chen Wanli (1892-1969), a pioneering archaeologist who visited Longquan eight times and explored the celadon kiln sites there thoroughly, famously stated that half of the history of Chinese porcelain is about the porcelain wares produced in Zhejiang Province, and half of the history of the Zhejiang porcelain is about the celadon wares produced in Longquan City.
Celadon dates back to more than 1,000 years ago in Longquan as evidenced, for example, by 34 burial objects unearthed in March 2014 from the tomb of Hu Hong, a prominent court minister of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Most of the 34 are celadon pieces and 22 of them were designated state treasures. The tomb site is in Qingyuan, which was part of Longquan before 1179. Archaeologists have exhumed quite a few celadon objects from tombs of different dynasties in the region and they agree that celadon was an everyday thing in the whole society.
Archaeological studies of celadon in Longquan have never stopped since the famous eight field studies conducted by Chen Wanli in the 1920s. Archaeological finds at kiln sites across Longquan over the past decades have confirmed a history of celadon production in Longquan and established the fine manufacturing techniques. Archaeologists have found over 500 ancient kilns that were dedicated to the production of celadon. About 360 sites are in the territory of Longquan, and other are scattered in nearby places.
The Longquan celadon timeline starts at the point of the Five Dynasties (907-960). In the Northern Song (960-1127) celadon-making flourishes. It begins to decline after the middle of the Ming (1368-1644). It struggled for existence for centuries and staged a comeback in the 1950. The whole timeline lasts over 1,000 years. No other group of kilns in ancient China functioned in such an extensive region for such a long time, producing and exporting such a large quantity of fine ceramics. In short, Longquan celadon was a never-before and never-again phenomenon in ancient China.
Zhang Shengyi and Zhang Shenger, two brothers in Longquan, represented two different styles of celadon made in Longquan. Zhang Shengyi was the elder brother whose celadon is characterized by a net pattern of gold and iron crackles on the surface as well as purple mouth and iron bottom. This product was difficult to produce largely because it was hard to control temperature in the kiln. His kiln is known as Ge Kiln (elder brothers kiln). The best celadon wares from Ge Kiln constitute an important part of the imperial collection of ceramics at the Palace Museum in Beijing. Zhang Shengers kiln is largely known as Di Kiln (younger brothers kiln) and celadon in this style is characterized by a smooth layer of glaze without any crackle on the surface. The best colors of celadon wares from Di Kiln are plum green and light green. During the Song and the Yuan (1127-1368) dynasties, the Di Kiln in Longquan and neighboring regions produced and exported a large number of celadon to the international consumers.
Celadon made in Longquan went to the world from the Ou River and Chinese seaports all the way to the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea and Eastern Africa. From seaports there, a large quantity of celadon artifacts was then further distributed. A museum in Istanbul, Turkey houses a collection of 1,300 celadon wares from Longquan. Celadon made in Longquan had impacted porcelain making techniques in other countries. It gave birth to Korean celadon on the peninsula. In Japan, celadon was imitated and mass-produced. In 1976, a sunken Chinese ship was discovered in the sea near South Korea. The ship dates back to the Yuan Dynasty. Of the over 17,000 porcelains salvaged, 9,000 were celadon made in Longquan. In 1987, a Chinese ship of the Southern Song Dynasty was discovered offshore Yangjiang, Guangdong Province. It was not until 2007 that the shipwreck was lifted from the ocean floor. Of the porcelain loaded on the ship are many celadon wares made in Longquan.