萬片青瓷屏扇 一次華麗轉(zhuǎn)身

文/竺大文 涂佳煜

金逸瑞在杭州國家版本館青瓷屏扇前。Jin Yirui poses for a photo in front of the celadon screens at the Hangzhou branch of the China National Archives of Publications and Culture.

踏入杭州國家版本館南大門，撲面而來的是巨大的“梅子青”屏扇。那溫潤的綠仿佛傾瀉而下，像遠(yuǎn)山，像碧水，拉開了一個寬銀幕版的文潤閣入口。

杭州國家版本館一共采用了251樘屏扇，它由7萬片純手工燒制的青瓷片組成，全部來自浙江龍泉窯。在整個青瓷的工藝與藝術(shù)史上，我們很難找到如此大規(guī)模的應(yīng)用。

從日常器皿化身宏大建筑，從生活場景移入傳世工程。青瓷一脈，在江南綿延千年，在這個最新的文化地標(biāo)處，完成了一次華麗轉(zhuǎn)身。

日前，我們專程前往龍泉，對話龍泉青瓷非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)傳承人金逸瑞—他創(chuàng)建的南宋哥窯瓷業(yè)有限公司是3家青瓷屏扇生產(chǎn)企業(yè)之一，聽他講述制作中的靈感和辛苦，感悟文化里的傳承與創(chuàng)新。

突破尺度限制

制作杭州國家版本館的青瓷屏扇，用的是特制的新式窯爐。金逸瑞的公司共制作了3個窯爐，從去年4月起夜以繼日地投入燒制，才成就了這萬片青瓷。

我們在現(xiàn)場看到這些貌不驚人的窯爐，卻想不到其中蘊(yùn)藏著如此多的奧秘。

這一切要從金逸瑞參加的一次頗為神秘的會議開始。2020年7月，杭州來的團(tuán)隊在龍泉征召企業(yè)，說要做一個大工程，條件是能夠制造30厘米×80厘米左右的大塊青瓷板。

當(dāng)?shù)?0余家重點(diǎn)生產(chǎn)廠家都去了。“當(dāng)時，我們認(rèn)為這是不可能的?！苯鹨萑鹫f。

瓷板對表面平整度的要求與日常瓷器天差地別。一位巧匠在陶輪旋轉(zhuǎn)的離心力下能以雙手塑造出圓滑的弧度，但一塊平整無瑕的青瓷板，非機(jī)器切割往往難以達(dá)成。他們無法想象這么大的青瓷板會用在什么場合。

金逸瑞指著桌上一塊書本大小的茶盤說：“之前，這樣大小的瓷板都很難做?！?/p>

開會回來后，他還是琢磨開了。遙想南宋時期，龍泉窯一反越窯的深沉，以“胎薄如紙，釉厚如玉”的輕盈通透驚艷世人，達(dá)登峰造極之境。這與當(dāng)時的工匠以黏度更大的石灰堿釉替代石灰釉，首創(chuàng)“多次素?zé)?，多次施釉”的技術(shù)密不可分。

金逸瑞說：“一次創(chuàng)新，其實(shí)就是跨過了之前技術(shù)上的某個界限?！?/p>

沒有任何捷徑，他只能一遍遍燒制、摸索。版本館的設(shè)計團(tuán)隊、工程專家也數(shù)次來到龍泉，共同商討方案，給了金逸瑞莫大的信心。

由青瓷板切割制成的茶盤衍生品。金逸瑞/供圖An accompanying item for a tea set cut from celadon. Photo credit: Jin Yirui.

歷時半年，燒出的瓷板從15厘米×30厘米、20厘米×40厘米的小尺寸，逐漸擴(kuò)大到當(dāng)時窯爐所能容納的最大尺寸30厘米×60厘米。

此時，起初的20多家企業(yè)在試驗中一一退出，最終只剩下金逸瑞的龍泉市南宋哥窯瓷業(yè)有限公司、龍泉甌江青瓷有限公司、龍泉市寶溪先明瓷廠3家進(jìn)入最終的研發(fā)生產(chǎn)環(huán)節(jié)。

金逸瑞意識到，要進(jìn)一步突破尺寸的限制，必須為青瓷板量身定制新的大型設(shè)備。新窯爐好不容易做出來，又帶來了其他問題。在窯爐內(nèi)部，20余層層間距約5厘米的隔板整齊疊放，全部裝入青瓷板后，整個爐子增加約平時兩倍的重量，帶來承重隱患。金逸瑞不得不重新設(shè)計窯車軌道，用鐵件二次加固底座。

瓷板間隔密集，冷卻不夠快怎么辦？金逸瑞再次想出妙招，在窯爐側(cè)面、正面各開出若干通氣孔。

這一年多，金逸瑞把其他的訂單都推掉了。當(dāng)?shù)谝粔K燒制成功的青瓷屏扇出爐，他不禁輕呼了一聲。

在這生生不息的千年窯火中，曾蘊(yùn)含歷代青瓷藝術(shù)家的多少創(chuàng)新之舉，至今這窯火仍在跳躍不已。

尋覓極致之青

青是山水之色。

龍泉地處群山環(huán)抱之間，甌江水之源，山水的靈魂便附著于瓷胎之上。陶瓷考古學(xué)家朱伯謙記載：“龍泉窯開創(chuàng)于三國西晉，生產(chǎn)瓷器的歷史長達(dá)1600年，是中國制瓷歷史上最長的一個瓷窯。”

金逸瑞酷愛這一份青。后來，他知道了這些產(chǎn)品將用作國家工程，用作國家版本館的主要構(gòu)件，更感到一種冥冥中的必然。

代表“青瓷釉色與質(zhì)地之頂峰”的梅子青，色如掛枝初梅，青翠碧綠，正應(yīng)了杭州國家版本館“文潤閣”的“潤”字。

然而，二次燒成的青瓷板經(jīng)過切割修整，四面會露出白色的胚邊，側(cè)面看去不免破壞屏扇整體的色彩。為此，青瓷扇板除尺寸的突破外，還一改以往的兩次燒成為三次燒成。

打破常規(guī)的第三次爐燒，就是為了讓這一厘米寬的細(xì)邊也能掛上精致的釉色。金逸瑞期望，即便在百年之后，每一片瓷板被拆下來，也都是一件傳世的藝術(shù)品。

這份對青瓷的執(zhí)念，深深地根植于20世紀(jì)50年代以來龍泉窯的復(fù)興之中。

當(dāng)年，在中央領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的支持下，沉睡的龍泉窯火被重新點(diǎn)燃。新成立的龍泉國營上垟瓷廠匯集了一批青瓷藝術(shù)的泰斗級人物，其中有國家級“非遺”龍泉青瓷傳承人徐朝興、中國工藝美術(shù)大師夏侯文等。

金逸瑞俯身檢查青瓷板的平整度。胡春麟/攝Jin Yirui checks the smoothness of a celadon plate. Photo by Hu Chunlin.

金逸瑞一家也趕上這波浪潮。1955年，他的父親才15歲就從溫州到龍泉做青瓷。后來，生了兄弟姐妹6個，現(xiàn)在5個都在從事青瓷行業(yè)。

2009年，龍泉青瓷傳統(tǒng)燒制技藝成為“人類非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)”，而在兩年之前，金逸瑞已經(jīng)正式師從徐朝興大師。青瓷藝術(shù)的接力棒傳到了他這一代的手中。如今，金逸瑞和長兄金逸林、金逸榮3人均已是工藝美術(shù)大師，成為龍泉青瓷血脈延續(xù)的中堅力量。

這次的青瓷屏扇，多一次燒制，完工時間就將增加15小時。不僅如此，青瓷在第三次燒成時，掛釉極其困難，還非常容易開裂，“經(jīng)常是一窯又一窯推進(jìn)去，拉出來全都斷成好幾截。最終的成品率只有50%?！苯鹨萑鸩粺o心痛地說。

這種不惜工本的做法，為的是細(xì)節(jié)之處的盡善盡美，為的是將他所熱愛的青瓷藝術(shù)臻于極致。

版本館尚在建造中期，金逸瑞來到杭州，看到了只安裝了一半的屏扇，就把他激動壞了。目睹日夜觸摸的瓷片、千番調(diào)制的色澤以如此宏大的形式鋪陳開來，在國家級文化工程中被大面積運(yùn)用，他的感動與驕傲之情無以言表。

他一遍遍地跟我們強(qiáng)調(diào)：“青瓷終于被作為主體得以運(yùn)用，不再是裝飾、附帶、點(diǎn)綴，是一萬平方米的主體??！”

想象無限可能

“瓷器里有最深的文化?！苯鹨萑鸬倪@句話，道出了他傳承青瓷制作技藝36年的經(jīng)驗，更道出了這次承接杭州國家版本館工程的感悟。

試燒留下的近萬件“廢板”，金逸瑞舍不得丟。在他的工作室里，有各種切割下來的青瓷屏扇。他不時地摩挲它們，想象它們各種可能的形態(tài)。

南宋青瓷，插花瓶、飲茶杯、焚香爐，釉色純凈天然，所謂“絢爛至極，歸于平淡”，是宋人生活美學(xué)的極致展現(xiàn)。

杭州國家版本館，青瓷屏扇整體的大氣鋪陳，開如層巒疊翠，合如粼粼碧波。原來青瓷還可以傳遞這樣一種正在進(jìn)行時的文化自信。

大尺寸、三次燒成、大面積鋪設(shè)，在金逸瑞看來，這是杭州國家版本館青瓷屏扇的三項創(chuàng)舉。這種對于龍泉青瓷的大膽運(yùn)用，在將其藝術(shù)造詣推向高峰的同時，也為龍泉青瓷未來的發(fā)展打開了一扇門。

金逸瑞會花許多時間去耐心地沉入想象，就像他一直以來做的那樣。

在工作室的展廳里，擺放著一只蓮花形狀的哥窯盤，盛放的大蓮花中心，一朵小蓮花悄然舒展，金逸瑞將作品起名為《母子蓮》。

“母親去世后，我們經(jīng)常會想到她?！苯鹨萑鸾忉尩溃耙虼讼胱鲆患?，作為寄托我對母親思念的載體”。龍泉青瓷中，蓮花元素并不少見，如何借傳統(tǒng)元素抒發(fā)個人情感，金逸瑞尋覓靈感整整三年，最終呈現(xiàn)出母子連心的寓意，動人心扉。

現(xiàn)在，金逸瑞和他的同行，愿意花更多的時間去尋覓龍泉青瓷中古今相通的人文意蘊(yùn)，觸摸古典青瓷中現(xiàn)實(shí)的溫度。

金逸瑞制作青瓷器。金逸瑞/供圖Jin Yirui works on a piece of celadon ware. Photo credit: Jin Yirui.

“說起來它們?nèi)矶伎梢杂?，只是怎么用的問題，情感是否正好跟器物配得起來?！苯鹨萑鹉闷鹨粔K屏扇說，“傳統(tǒng)的東西是非常經(jīng)典的，但每一輩的人感情總有些不一樣”。

他說，如果這種形式的青瓷能被大家接受的話，龍泉青瓷整個產(chǎn)業(yè)就會被帶動起來。這是一個“上不封頂?shù)娜碌目臻g、獨(dú)立的市場”。

金逸瑞做各種嘗試，把屏扇切割成不同形狀的茶盤、壺承、杯托，他在釉上手繪蘭花的圖案，仿佛一張壁畫。他珍藏著一塊燒制中意外剝落的完整釉面，說這是絕版，但沒想好做什么，或許這是一種無用之用。

在這位工藝大師的身上，閃爍著發(fā)明家的創(chuàng)造熱情。他甚至燒出獨(dú)具一格的朱紅色瓷板，反問道：誰說龍泉瓷一定是青色？工作室的墻邊靠著一塊高度與人比肩的巨型青瓷板，是杭州國家版本館瓷板面積的四倍多，是他趁熱打鐵、挑戰(zhàn)極限的得意之作。

曾幾何時，龍泉青瓷以“雪拉同”的美名流傳世界，輸出的不僅是器物，更是中國人的智慧和生活方式。在宋元時期，這里集中了獨(dú)步天下的頂級制造技術(shù)，被后人稱為當(dāng)時的“硅谷”。今天的龍泉，依然有“奪得千峰翠色來”的神姿，依然有“雨過天青云破處”的風(fēng)華。

杭州國家版本館的青瓷屏扇開開合合，打開的不僅是版本珍藏的寶庫，也是傳承千年的龍泉青瓷的無限可能性。

How Celadon Panels Are Making a Gorgeous Turn

By Zhu Dawen Tu Jiayu

Stepping into the south gate of the Hangzhou branch of the China National Archives of Publications and Culture, you will be greeted by impressively large plum-green screen doors.The fine and smooth green doors stream down like distant mountains and limpid water. A total of 251 screen doors are installed here, comprising 70,000 hand-fired celadon panels, all from Longquan kilns in Zhejiang. Throughout the entire history of celadon craftsmanship, it is extremely rare to find such a largescale application. Coming from everyday utensils to a grand architecture, from mundane scenes to a heritage project, ancient Longquan celadon has made a glorious comeback at this latest cultural landmark of Zhejiang.

The other day, we made a special trip to Longquan and talked to Jin Yirui, the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Longquan celadon craftsmanship, who shared with us challenges and inspiration as well as cultural inheritance and innovation during the process. The Southern Song Dynasty Ge Ware Co.,Ltd. that Jin founded is one of the three celadon screen-door manufacturers for Hangzhou branch of the China National Archives of Publications and Culture.

The celadon screen doors are made with a new dedicated type of kilns. Jin’s company established three such new kilns, which had been firing day and night to produce 10,000 celadon panels since last April. It all started with a meeting in July 2020. A group of people from Hangzhou was recruiting enterprises in Longquan for a major project, which was to make large 30cm x 80cm celadon panels. The 20-odd key local manufacturers attending the meeting all considered the mission impossible. The required surface flatness of celadon panels was way different from that of ordinary porcelain products. A flat and flawless celadon panel was almost unattainable by non-machine cutting. Yet Jin kept contemplating possibilities after the meeting. “To innovate is to break through a certain limit in previous technology.” There is no shortcut on the road to innovation. Jin started research and trial firing repeatedly.

Six months later, the resultant celadon panels gradually expanded from a small size of 15cm x 30cm to the largest size that a kiln could accommodate at that time — 30cm x 60cm.By then, the companies had withdrawn one by one. Only Jin’s company and other two entered the final production process. Jin realized that to further break through the limit of size, large new equipment must be tailored for large panels. The new kilns, which he had managed to create, brought other problems. Inside the kiln,when 20 layers of partition boards were fully loaded, the entire furnace increased its usual weight by about twice, causing potential load-bearing risks. Jin had to redesign the track of the kiln car and reinforce the base with iron pieces. Besides, with celadon panels densely spaced, cooling was not fast enough. Jin then made several ventilation holes on the side and front of the kiln. In over a year’s time, Jin Yirui rejected all the other orders. When the first largescale celadon panel came out successfully, he couldn’t help crying.

金逸瑞制作青瓷器。金逸瑞/供圖Jin Yirui works on a piece of celadon ware. Photo credit: Jin Yirui.

金逸瑞。Jin Yirui.

金逸瑞哥窯作品《母子蓮》。金逸瑞/供圖Mother and Child Lotus, a piece of celadon ware by Jin Yirui. Photo credit: Jin Yirui.

Green is the color of mountainous and riverine landscapes.Longquan kilns, seated in Longquan county between mountains and at the source of the Oujiang River, boast the longest history in Chinese porcelain making — about 1600 years. Jin is captivated by this greenness. When he learnt that the products would be used as the main components of the Hangzhou branch of the China National Archives of Publications and Culture, he felt a certain inevitability of destiny, or plum-green, represents “the pinnacle of celadon glaze color and texture”, which, conveying an aesthetic atmosphere where green plums hanging on the branch fresh and verdant, exactly corresponds to the Chinese character“Run” (gentle and smooth) in this place, which is also known as the Wenrun Pavilion. However, when a twice- fired panel was cut and trimmed, edges of its white base would be exposed on all sides,which would inevitably damage the overall beauty of the screen door when viewed from the side. Therefore, the traditional firing procedure was amended, where panels would be fired three times so the thin edge of one-centimeter width could also be covered with the delicate plum-green glaze. Jin hopes that in a hundred years, every celadon panel can still be a vintage artifact when dismantled. This obsession is rooted in the revival of Longquan celadon since the 1950s. At that time, with the support of the central government, Longquan kilns were rekindled. The newly established Longquan State-owned Shangyang Porcelain Factory brought together many masters of celadon art, including Xu Chaoxing, the then inheritor of Longquan celadon craftsmanship.Jin Yirui’s family also caught up with this wave. Now, of his six siblings, five them are engaged in the industry. In 2007, Jin Yirui officially apprenticed himself to Master Xu Chaoxing. Two years later, the traditional firing techniques of Longquan celadon became “human intangible cultural heritage”. The baton of the art was passed to Jin’s generation.

One more firing adds 15 hours to the finish time. Besides,during the third firing, glazing became increasingly difficult, and the glaze easy to crack. “The final yield is only 50 percent,” Jin said sadly. Yet this kind of desperate approach was chosen for the perfection of details. During the construction of the Wenrun Pavilion, Jin Yirui came to Hangzhou once. When he saw the carefully toned celadon panels that he had caressed day and night so grandly laid out, his excitement and pride were beyond words,“Celadon is finally used as a main construction component,10,000 square meters in all!”

“In porcelain hides the most profound culture.” Reluctant to throw away the “defective panels” in the trial firing, Jin stored all of them in his studio, totaling nearly 10,000 pieces.

Back in the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), celadon ware was used as flower vases, tea cups, and incense burners, which embodied the life aesthetics of Song people: “From splendid blaze,they returned to the common.” The celadon screen doors convey a strong sense of cultural self-confidence. In Jin’s view, the grand size, thrice firing and large-format layout are major innovations of the project, which have not only pushed the artistic achievements of Longquan celadon to a new peak, but opened a door for its future development.

Jin Yirui and his colleagues spend more time exploring the humanistic connotation of Longquan celadon that connects the ancient with the modern. “With the whole piece of celadon open for use, it’s just a question of how to use it.” Picking up a panel, Jin said, “Traditional artifacts are classic, though people of different generations have different understandings of it”. If this form of celadon ware can be generally accepted, the entire Longquan celadon industry will see a “new creative space and independent market with no upper limit”. Jin made various attempts to cut defective panels into different shapes of tea trays, pot and cup holders. He also treasured a complete piece of glaze that was accidentally peeled off during firing for future creative use. Against the wall of his studio leant a giant celadon board whose height is comparable to that of a person, or four times the size of a panel as used at the Hangzhou branch of the China National Archives of Publications and Culture, which is his proud work of challenging the limits. Flames of creative enthusiasm are always flaring in this celadon master.