Talking about the ancient town -2. Li San Huang pen Yao

Xing Bin, the owner of the ancient town collector Rong Anzhai, collected several items made of loess: bowls, plates, water pots, incense burners and small pots. Although the appearance is not very gorgeous, it is a practical daily necessities produced by the local Huangpen kiln in Guzhen.

With the development of modern science and technology, stainless steel pot and various colored plastic articles for daily use have entered the family in large quantities, and this kind of earthenware products has gradually withdrawn from the market. The yellow pot kilns in Sanliwan, our county have all been closed, and no one is producing this kind of earthenware. However, in the past, the yellow pots, dishes, basins, incense burners, vases and other utensils produced by Sanliwan Yellow Pot Kiln were sold to the surrounding areas, which was once very prominent.

It is impossible to verify when Sanliwan Huanghu Kiln began, but the old man in Sanliwan said that Sanliwan Huanghu Kiln has a history of at least 100 years.

There is another beautiful myth about Li Sanhuang's jars and kilns:

It is said that the Monkey King made a scene in the Heavenly Palace, ate the elixir of the old gentleman, and was crushed by the Tathagata at the foot of Wuzhishan. Too old gentleman in a bad mood, come to the earth for fun. One day, he swam to Lisan Bay and found that there was a flood every year, and people were very miserable. But the soil in the river bend is very good and can be used to burn utensils. He decided to inspire people here and do a good deed for them. So he disguised himself as a Taoist and taught Sanliwan people to burn yellow pots, vegetables and incense burners. Whenever Sanliwan people finish taking soil, at night, the land god fills up the mud pit borrowed during the day, making Sanliwan's soil inexhaustible. After people learned the technique of burning utensils, the old gentleman on the throne left. Li Sanren thanked the old man and the land god for their gifts. Every time they light a kiln, they always set off incense, fruits and firecrackers to worship the old gentleman and the land god, and people around them also come to worship the gods, which is very lively.

Although it is only a myth and legend, it also reflects the psychological expectation that the kiln master hopes to burn miracles like the old man's gossip furnace.

Sanliwan is low-lying and produces water almost every year. At the east end of Sanli village, there is a flat land 200 meters square, almost all of which is high-quality cement, which is a good raw material for firing yellow pots. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, a man named Wang Dayan was attracted by the high-quality cement in Lisan Bay, so he built a kiln for burning yellow pots in Lisan. However, due to poor technology, the quality of yellow cans is not good and the sales are not smooth. A few years later, he stopped production.

In the early years of the Republic of China, Meng Zhaoxian's brother-in-law from Sanli Village came from Suxian County. After checking the cement in Li Sanwan, he encouraged his brother-in-law to build a kiln for burning pottery. They invited technicians from Xukouzi, Suixi County, today to bring wheels, repair fields and make a fire. The kiln owner pays the master handsomely, and the master's enthusiasm is very high. The fired products have gradually developed from a single production of yellow cans to three or four varieties such as plates, jars and cans. In particular, Master Wang Xuedao is good at painting plum gardens, landscapes, insects and fish. He attached vivid pictures to beautiful ceramic products, which was deeply loved by consumers. Foreign vendors have come to purchase goods, which has greatly promoted the development of Lisan ceramics industry.

According to the memories of the old people in Guzhen, there were two specialties in Guzhen Bridge before the fall, one was an anvil and the other was a yellow basin. Among them, the yellow basin industry is the most popular. Every market day from March to August, the products of Li Sanhuang Pot Kiln are filled with the streets and alleys of Niushi Lane and Wafang Street East Street. Farmers from all directions always like to buy some daily necessities such as yellow pots and water tanks to take home. In particular, the year is approaching, and the sales of yellow cans have increased sharply, which is in short supply. At the pier east of Guzhen Bridge at the southern end of Laojie, you can often see cargo ships full of yellow pots and sail.

The smooth sales channels, in turn, promoted the development of ceramic industry, and firing ceramic products became an important way to get rich. On the eve of the Anti-Japanese War, Meng Zhaode, Meng Xianming and others, following Meng Zhaoxian, also invested in pan kilns and hired kiln handles from Jieshou Taihe and other places to burn ceramic daily necessities. In its heyday, the earth kilns in the south, east and north of Sanli Village were filled with smoke, and the scene was spectacular.

These kiln workers often bring their own special tools, married with children, to settle in Sanli Village. They are not only hard-working, but also comprehensive in technology and exquisite in craftsmanship. The variety of ceramics they fired has increased from three to four to more than a dozen, including not only yellow pots, plates and cans, but also four-nosed water jugs with a diameter of two city feet. You can also fire pen containers, washing pens, kettles, piggy banks, waist ornaments and so on. This small work is well-made and exquisite in craftsmanship, and is deeply loved by people. At this point, the products of Li Sanhuang Pot Kiln have not been limited to household kitchen utensils, but have entered the living room and study of literati, and have also moved from local sales to foreign sales. And in this process, the world's first is the master Zhu Tianxi. Master Zhu is known as the country because he is good at drawing figures and stories of the Three Kingdoms. Colorful ceramic products with lifelike figures of the Three Kingdoms make people fondle admiringly, and their sales have greatly increased. Merchants from surrounding counties and cities have come to purchase goods one after another, and they continue all year round. Cars, boats and boats are in an endless stream, which is very lively. The development of Li Sanhuang basin industry not only brought wealth to the operators, but also brought great vitality and financial resources to the catering service industry in the ancient town.

Who decides to go up and down, and there is no basis for it? When the Japanese occupied Guzhen, the local ruffians and traitors took the opportunity to blackmail foreign businessmen, which made them afraid to purchase goods, and Li San Ceramics lost its market. So the masters from other places left home one after another, and Li San's yellow basin kiln also stopped production one after another.

1948, Guzhen was liberated. In order to arrange the life of the kiln people and meet the people's demand for yellow pots, the local government decided to organize scattered and individual yellow pots and implement collective leadership. At the same time, Li Sanhuang Pot Kiln was renamed as "Li San Ceramic Factory", which brought Sanlitao porcelain industry back to life.

1965, Guzhen County was established. The party and the government strengthened the leadership of Lisan Ceramic Factory, and Lisan Ceramic Factory was able to produce normally and continuously. However, due to weak technical force, few product designs, single color and the popularity of enamel plastic products, Lisan Ceramics Factory has been unable to restore its former prosperity.

Zhang is a villager, smart, sensitive and studious. Seeing the villagers burning kilns to make yellow pots, he privately pondered the technology of making yellow pots. He is very shrewd, and through repeated practice, he can draw inferences from others. So he simply set up a kiln at home and began to burn pottery. He burned many kinds of utensils, such as yellow pots, vases, thermos pots, incense burners, plates and so on.

He is the last kiln burner in Sanli village. For environmental reasons, Master Zhang stopped burning utensils in the past two years. Up to now, there is still a yellow basin in his kiln. This is your own idea. Some city people who love photography often visit his house and take pictures of some things he has burned. Master Zhang and his wife always receive them warmly and answer questions without reservation. Master Zhang said that his two sons also learned the firing technology, and he hoped that this technology could be passed down forever. A few years ago, a photographer filmed the whole process of his yellowing, and Master Zhang was happy to keep the technology of burning yellow pots and kilns through images.

Whenever in their spare time, Master Zhang and his wife always like to take a walk around the kiln. Seeing things and thinking about the past, I am reluctant, but I can't help it. Master Zhang often stands in front of the kiln and thinks. The red kiln fire seems to be burning again. Twilight drums and morning bells, decorated with sails, the prosperity of the past may only stay in people's memory forever!