Jianbao life

Chapter 194 Porcelain Craftsman Zhang Zhenchang

There are only four courtyards in this porcelain kiln, and there are only eight rooms between the white walls and black tiles.

Li Heng can be regarded as having seen the artistic conception of "building a hut in a human environment without the noise of cars and horses".

It was the first time for Li Heng to come to Fanyin Mountain. Lin Weiya seemed to have been here many times. She was familiar with the road, and she introduced to Li Heng as she walked:

"Look, this is the porcelain kiln in Fanyin Mountain. Isn't it very artistic? There is a trading market around it. Compared with Jiangcheng, it's much more elegant and leisurely!"

That's right, people here rely on the porcelain business for a living, so it's naturally closely related to the environment.Moreover, craftsmen like porcelain are often more like masters who hide from the world and live in seclusion, mysterious.

But why is the mountain here called Fanyin Mountain when doing business and transactions related to porcelain?
Just as he was thinking about it, Lin Wei walked up to a middle-aged man who was forging fetal clay, and said, "Mr. Zhang Zhenchang, hello, I am Lin Weiya who contacted you before."

Zhang Zhenchang was stirring the soil in front of him and said without raising his head: "Okay, wait a minute, I'll come over after I've mixed it."

Lin Weiya nodded, pulled Li Heng aside and waited obediently.

Zhang Zhenchang kept his eyes on the mud that was being stirred and washed. He carefully mixed the powder and granular raw materials with different ingredients, put them into the mixing machine, added water to make a slurry, and stirred and washed them.

"What is this?" Li Heng asked.

He used to think that making porcelain is directly made of clay with stickiness, but how many different materials are needed to mix it?

"That's the ancient method of making mud. Our fetal soil has to be carefully selected, otherwise it really can't show the beauty of our porcelain."

Someone behind said, startling Li Heng.

Looking back, it was a middle-aged woman with a tray in her hand. Seeing Li Heng's reaction, she smiled and said, "Did I scare you? I'm sorry, my husband won't be here for a while. Yes, he won't leave at that point, why don't you come and have a sip of tea?"

A few of them chose a seat and sat down. Through chatting, they learned about the origin of this lady.

This middle-aged woman is Zhang Zhenchang's wife, named Zhang Ailian.He is also Zhang Zhenchang's partner.

Zhang Ailian is somewhat interested in traditional Chinese painting. When she was young, she learned traditional Chinese painting skills from a master. Now she is partnering with Zhang Zhenchang to challenge the difference between painting on paper and pottery.

Zhang Zhenchang was not a ceramic craftsman at first, he was a half-way monk, because he became interested in ceramics, so he had the urge to enter this field.

What's interesting is that Zhang Zhenchang is different from other people who have a teacher. He is self-taught from the beginning to the end. Without a master to guide him, he has gone a lot of detours, but it seems that he was born with a profound relationship with ceramics. With the same fate, Zhang Zhenchang soon got on the right track.

At that time, they were still in their prime and unmarried. Zhang Zhenchang was in charge of drawing, glazing, firing, etc., and Zhang Ailian was in charge of hand-painting. All these processes were handmade, so each work is unique after it comes out.

As the days went by, the two fell in love with each other for a long time. This is also a good story in the porcelain industry.

"Look at our work." Zhang Ailian deliberately handed her work to Li Heng and Lin Weiya, her tone full of deep joy.

I have to admit that Zhang Ailian's works are handsome in style and simple in style, coupled with the unique shades and shades of Chinese painting, they are plain and simple yet unique, very special and eye-catching.

"My husband is such a stubborn person. Everything we have now can be replaced by machines." Zhang Ailian said with a smile, "The waterwheel over there was built with a lot of money 20 years ago. Only our family has such a unique waterwheel in this area.”

The waterwheel over there is constantly driven by the water flow to drive the gears. Looking at such a large waterwheel, there are no waves in the soil stirring hole.

"Even though it is so complicated, the kinetic energy is constantly being lost. This waterwheel was specially designed by my husband. Only by doing so can the texture of the tire mud be more delicate and even."

Zhang Ailian introduced intermittently, without any complaints in her tone, but even more proud.

Zhang Zhenchang over there saw that it was finally almost done, so he went to tell his apprentice to take good care of him.

He first washed off the muddy water on his hands, then changed into cleaner clothes and came out to meet the guests.

"I'm sorry, this is the most critical point." Zhang Zhenchang said with some embarrassment. “Recently working on a new tire sill.”

Zhang Zhenchang has been engaged in ceramic art creation for more than 20 years, and has also created his own ceramic art characteristics. In recent years, he has been obsessed with studying copper red glaze and other kinds.

While displaying his imaginative and unrestrained creations, his works also show the inheritance of the gentle and elegant qualities that a porcelain should have, and also contain the unconventional chic and unique style of cultural accomplishment, which is very popular among collectors. One of the reasons for Lin Weiya's visit.

Li Heng also admired Zhang Zhenchang after hearing the story of the couple.

To say that he is a real craftsman, Zhang Zhenchang is undoubtedly worthy of this title.

A real craftsman doesn't care about those false names, they only care about their own works.Nowadays, the pace of life is too fast and the pressure is too great. There are very few pure hand craftsmen who can withstand the pressure of life.

"Mr. Zhang Zhenchang, hello, I'm here... to accept your next few works." Lin Weiya said sincerely.

Hearing Lin Weiya's words, Zhang Ailian looked at Zhang Zhenchang with some embarrassment.

Zhang Zhenchang put his hand around Zhang Ailian's and said, "Actually, I don't recommend that you accept our porcelain. There are still many porcelain kilns in this kind of place. Why don't you find something else?"

"Why?" Lin Weiya asked in surprise.

"To tell you the truth," Zhang Ailian finally opened her mouth, "I'm injured and can't paint this kind of delicate work...so, I'm going to disappoint you."

Lin Weiya couldn't believe it at first, but then felt a little regretful: "That's it..."

"That's really embarrassing, then—I'll ask my apprentice to send you around, maybe you'll be interested in something." Zhang Zhenchang didn't wait for Li Heng and the others to refuse, and directly called out to the one over there who looked a little The younger apprentice: "Xiao Jiang, come here, it's your day off, and let's take a good look around with them."

The apprentice named Xiao Jiang turned his head when he heard the sound, touched the sweat on his head and said, "Okay, everyone wait!"

(End of this chapter)