Art History in Travel: "Crossing" the Southern Tang Dynasty in Yao Tao Village, Jingxian County, and meeting ancient folk painters.

Sometimes, God makes it difficult for the weatherman.

It was going to rain, but he kept holding it, like an alcoholic who didn't want to go to the toilet after drinking good wine, and like a crazy child, until he couldn't hold it, he poured down.

This is the weather I met in Yao Tao Village that day.

If we say that this trip from Jingxian to Shexian can always find some joy in expectation-it is the birthplace of Xin 'an Painting School and Huangshan Painting School, and also the manufacturing base of Four Treasures of the Study, China, then we can touch some surprises in Yao Tao Village of Jingxian.

For the public, Yao Tao Village is not well-known, and because of the lack of systematic archaeological excavation and research, the pottery that has been accumulated for thousands of years is still sleeping under the ruins of ancient pottery kilns in the surrounding Qingshan.

When you step into the ancient pottery exhibition hall in the village, you will have a strong sense of crossing. It's like walking into a kitchen and warehouse in the Southern Tang or Song Dynasty and experiencing the real life atmosphere of the ancients. From the fragments of some ancient pottery, we can clearly feel some flower-and-bird painting techniques of folk painters at that time, and the mysterious clues of "Xu Xi Ye Yi" and "Drip Ink Method" recorded in the history of painting may be hidden in them.

Yao Tao Village is located in Xiqin Town, Jingxian County, Xuancheng City, Anhui Province.

If you like China's traditional culture, especially China's paintings and calligraphy, the journey from Hefei to the south will bring some expectant joy at any time.

After Wuhu, it takes less than an hour's drive to Jingxian County, which is an important production base of Xuan paper and Xuan pen.

As early as the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the Cao Shi family in Xiaoling, Jingxian County once monopolized the production and management of rice paper. After entering the Yuan Dynasty, with the promotion of Ni Zan, Wang Meng, Zhenwu, Huang and others, ink freehand brushwork occupied the mainstream of Chinese painting, and the formation of its techniques and styles was not unrelated to the production of Xuan paper in Jingxian County. The local "Xu Anbi" in Xuancheng has a longer history. At the peak of the Tang and Song Dynasties, the local purple hair became famous all over the world and was treasured by literati.

The south of Jingxian County borders Huangshan City, and Shexian County, not far away, is the political, economic and cultural center of ancient Huizhou, which gave birth to Huizhou merchants and cuisines, and is also the main producing area of Huimo and She Yan.

This route includes Four Treasures of the Study-pen, ink, paper, inkstone, one-stop operation.

If you customize the itinerary wider, you can go directly from Shexian County along Xin 'anjiang via Qiandao Lake, Tonglu and Fuyang to Hangzhou. From Jingxian county to the north, bordering Wuhu, you can go to Nanjing by entering the Yangtze River from here.

Hangzhou and Nanjing are the two most important cultural centers in southern China, and they are the capitals of different dynasties, especially Wei and Jin Dynasties, Southern Tang Dynasty and Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, merchants gathered and humanities gathered, and countless writers and artists left countless masterpieces.

Four Treasures of the Study's important manufacturing base is located in the ancient Huizhou area about 300 miles in Fiona Fang, including Jingxian County and Shexian County centered on Huangshan Mountain.

In 1930s, Zhang Daqian and Zhang Shanma went to Huangshan along Xin 'anjiang River in Hangzhou and stayed in Shexian County. Zhang Daqian customized commemorative ink here, and the book "Return of the Sea of Clouds" was distributed to friends after returning to Shanghai, which was very proud.

The important reason why the Zhang brothers came to Huangshan was inspired by the painters who were active here in the early Qing Dynasty. These painters include Mei Qing, Shi Tao and Hong Ren. For example, Shi Tao, born in 1642, lived in Xuancheng, Anhui Province for a long time when he was young. He visited Huangshan Mountain for the first time when he was 28 years old. Coincidentally, it was at this age that Zhang Daqian began his first trip to Huangshan.

These painters in the early Qing Dynasty formed a unique painting style after facing the feelings of Huangshan Mountain, and were classified as "Huangshan Painting School" by their neighbors. Since then, Zhang Daqian, Huang and others have taken over their mantle. Although Huang himself was born in Jinhua, Zhejiang, he was originally from Shexian County, Anhui Province.

There are also a number of painters who are active here-"Xin 'an School of Painting", which is broader and earlier than "Huangshan School of Painting". At the beginning of Qing Dynasty, Zhang Geng concluded in "On Pushan Painting" that this painting school learned from Ni Zan. Wang Shizhen thinks that the founder of Xin 'an School of Painting is Hong Ren (Jianjiang), and he, Cha Shibiao, Wang Zhirui and Sun Yi are also called "the four schools of Xin 'an".

Both Xin 'an Painting School and Huangshan Painting School have the same characteristics: based on Huangshan and its surrounding scenery, they advocate "learning from nature" and break through the sweet and vulgar style of "four kings in the early Qing Dynasty" in structure and technique;

Secondly, they all admire Ni Zan, Huang and others to make ink painting more expressive. This is related to the local production of high-quality pens, inks and paper inkstones.

Although this land in southern Anhui is so closely related to the history of painting in China, Yao Tao Village, the destination of our first trip after the epidemic, has nothing to do with painting. As you can probably guess from the name of this village, it is famous for making pottery.

If the encounter with Xuan Paper and Xuan Pen was the expected joy of this trip, I met some unexpected surprises in Yao Tao Village.

The weather forecast said it would rain, but when we were in the village that morning, the ground was clear. Clouds have been gathering step by step, collecting the water vapor in the mountains, woodlands and paddy fields in the village.

The short sunny weather gives us an opportunity to investigate the overall geography and landform of this thousand-year-old village.

The area of this village is larger than I expected. The front center of the village should be in a concave place surrounded by mountains. A small river flows into the village by a detour, surrounded by green hills, in which buildings are criss-crossed, and chickens and dogs hear each other. On the flat ground in the middle, cottages, white walls and tiles are dotted around.

The studio of ceramic master Hu Jinzhong is located in one of them. "The mountain directly opposite is Longshan, followed by Tiger Mountain." He stood on the steps outside the yard, pointing around. He enthusiastically introduced: "To the east of Longshan is Qinglong Mountain, and to the west is Phoenix Mountain."

In addition to making his own pottery, Hu Jinzhong is also obsessed with studying the history of local pottery. He bought an ancient folk house at his own expense, collected the ancient pottery and fragments of various villagers, and set up the "Ancient Pottery Exhibition Hall" after sorting them out.

The prosperity of Yao Tao village pottery industry can be traced back to the Jin Dynasty. According to "Jing County Records" and the products recorded in Qianlong period: "The clay ware comes out of the pottery kiln. According to legend, Jin Gezhi was passed down as Tao Liandan, and there were Shi surnames and Tao surnames in Jianfu who were good at this. " Jiaqing's "Jing County Records" also recorded: "Gexian Temple is located in the pottery kiln in the northeast of the county. According to legend, Ge Honglian practiced Dan here, and pottery was made because of the temple. "

Unfortunately, Gexian Temple has already been destroyed. According to the records of Qing Dynasty, Ge Hong (284-364 AD, real name Akagawa, real name Bao Puzi), a famous alchemist in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, used to make an alchemy here in his early years, which promoted the prosperity of the local ceramic industry. In the second year of Xianhe (AD 327), Ge Hong heard that Jiaodi produced cinnabar and went south to Guangzhou, where he lived in seclusion. China's painting The Migration of Ge Zhichuan depicts the theme of Ge Hong's seclusion with his family, the most famous of which is Wang Meng's Migration of Ge Zhichuan, which is now in the Palace Museum in Beijing.

From 65438 to 0984, Li Guangning, an expert from Anhui Cultural Relics Bureau and executive director and deputy secretary general of China Ancient Ceramics Society, came here for a field trip. Inferred from the way of burning porcelain and collecting porcelain specimens, this is a group of ancient folk kilns from the Five Dynasties to the Northern Song Dynasty, which mainly burned daily celadon.

At the China Ancient Ceramics Research Association and China Ancient Export Ceramics Research Association held that year, Li Guangning analyzed and reported the samples collected from the two investigations. Experts attending the meeting agreed that the kiln site was fired in the Five Dynasties-Northern Song Dynasty, and its upper limit may be earlier than the late Tang Dynasty, so it belongs to the famous Xuanzhou kiln mouth. This view has been generally recognized by the industry, but until now there is no systematic archaeological excavation in this area, and the above investigation can not be used as a conclusion.

According to the Records of Jingxian County, the pottery industry was inherited by the Tao and Shi families in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the eve of the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the pottery industry here was quite developed-"Twenty-five years ago from the end of the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, there were more than 60 long kilns such as pottery kilns, stone kilns, Xinxi and Luojiachong, with thousands of kiln workers, and their products were sold to Wuhu, Nanling and Luojiachong. During the Anti-Japanese War, sales were blocked and the ceramic industry declined. 1949, there are 3 large and small kilns in the county. There are more than 40 kiln workers who produce daily pottery and cylindrical tiles. "

At present, Yao Tao Village still retains the traditional pottery-making technology, and seven or eight workers led by Master Wang Yulin are still inheriting this ancient technology.

The dragon kiln still in use in the village was moved to the entrance of the village in the 1950s. Now it is also the research base of Zhejiang University's intangible cultural heritage, including teachers and students from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and Shanghai school of visual arts, who often come here to exchange and study.

In 2008, Li, an international ceramic master, learned more about ceramic technology here and filmed the documentary "Ceramic Kiln". This film represented China in the 10th French International Ceramic Film Festival and won the "Cultural Heritage Award". Later, the documentary was awarded the "Best Ceramic Documentary Award" by UNESCO.

The "Ancient Pottery Museum" is a typical Huizhou residence. The main building is a brick beam structure, and the horsehead wall used for wind and fire prevention is mottled by rain, which reminds people of Huang's sentence "Where did the chalk book come from?" When it rains, the wall will move. "

There is a vestibule at the entrance and a patio inside. The space that used to be the hall and the side hall is now arranged as a showroom. Through the glass window, items made or used by the ancients are placed in turn.

So close, I walked into a kitchen or utility room in the Southern Tang or Song Dynasty, and all kinds of bowls, lamps, pots, wine notes, roulette wheels and cans were displayed on the display shelf in turn. Perhaps one of the small pots was used by the ancients to hold salt, and the earthenware pot with ears may be used to hold wine, the big earthenware pot in the corner, or to store grain.

According to Hu Jinzhong, the ancient kiln site in Yao Tao Village covers an area of10.5 million square meters, and the maximum accumulation layer can reach 6 meters. However, no systematic excavation has been carried out. All his collections are collected on the ground, mainly blue glaze, black glaze and yellow-green porcelain.

Among them, the earliest pottery and fragments should be utensils fired by local craftsmen during the Southern Tang Dynasty in the Five Dynasties. Because of the huge demand and cost, most of these household utensils are mainly practical. They are not like the exquisite works of art in the Forbidden City or other museums, but they all bear the real life imprint of the ancients, so that we can speculate on the lifestyle at that time, and even touch and smell the sweat and earthy smell left by their works. This simple sense of reality is even more shocking than those exquisite utensils that are too whitewashed and flawless.

It was in this showroom that Master Hu showed me several pieces of ancient pottery from the Southern Tang Dynasty in the Five Dynasties. Some time ago, I happened to write some words about Xu Xi in Southern Tang Dynasty. I swallowed Xu Xi's "ink dropping method" recorded in the history of painting, because I didn't see any traces to support it. When writing, I feel uncertain.

However, the flowers painted from these ancient pottery remind me of Xu Xi's painting style of "wild escape". They are not like the mainstream double hook flower-and-bird painting techniques in Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties. In the Five Dynasties, this technology was represented by Huang Quan and his son in Shu. Xu Xi, who lives in Jiangnan, has completely different skills from them.

In Picturesque, compiled by Guo in the Northern Song Dynasty, Xu Xuan, a gifted scholar in the Southern Tang Dynasty, was quoted as saying: "Ink is the normal state, miscellaneous colors are the negative side, and the traces are not harmonious." At the same time, he also quoted: "When writing, I never take the faint color of Fu as a credit." This shows that Xu Xi's painting method is contrary to the faint coloring that has been popular since the Tang Dynasty, creating a new "drop ink method". Its technique is characterized by ink painting to shape the image, supplemented by color.

In Xuanhe's Painting Spectrum, several characteristics of Xu Xi's "ink-dropping method" are also mentioned: "Xi Du's ink-dropping method is used to write his branches, leaves, stamens and calyxes, and then it is rich in color, so it is a masterpiece of ancient and modern times."

Besides the combination of pen and ink and color, flowers and birds in Xu Xi are also said to be "wild". In Song Dynasty, Shen Kuo described Xu Xi's paintings as "pen and ink as the object, only a little sloppy and graceful, with a little vivid meaning". In the painting guide written by Ren Yuan Dong Tang, he also said: "Western paintings are quite heavy and business is booming."

Xu Xi's own paintings are hard to see, and from the flower patterns on these groups of ceramic fragments, we can fully understand that the folk painters in Jiangnan at that time had already mastered the painting techniques of wireless painting first and then coloring. They painted the branches of flowers with only a few strokes, and created a vibrant one with natural ink. Although it is not precise, its pen is fluent and vivid, and there is obviously a certain fixed program and powder book.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of more professional and detailed archaeological research, the ceramic fragments left by these folk painters only provide us with some imagination space and ideas about Xu Xi's techniques in the Southern Tang Dynasty.

At about three or four o'clock in the afternoon, when we drove to Hangzhou, the heavy rain finally poured down with lightning.

The scenery behind him became blurred, and Yao Tao Village, together with many historical mysteries, was shrouded in misty rain.