Guangxiu, Guang Cai and the history of tooth carving

Embroidery is one of the outstanding national traditional crafts in China, which has a history of more than 2,000 years and is world-famous. Guangxiu is the general name of folk embroidery skills in the Pearl River Delta region with Guangzhou as the center. It is famous for its rich composition, vivid image, clear texture, rich colors, diverse stitches and changeable artistic characteristics. Guangdong Embroidery and Chaozhou Embroidery are collectively called Guangdong Embroidery, and they are also called China's four famous embroideries together with Hunan's Xiang Embroidery, Sichuan's Shu Embroidery and Jiangsu's Su Embroidery.

Guangdong embroidery began in the Tang Dynasty. There is a true story about Guangxiu. According to historical records, there was a Guangdong girl named Lu Meiniang who was 14 years old in the Tang Dynasty. She embroidered a roll of Buddhist scripture "Hokkekyo" on a one-foot square silk. The font is smaller than Xiaomi, and it is clearly divided. This story shows how long the history of Guangxiu is and how outstanding its skills are. Guang embroidery developed into Ming Dynasty and has become one of the important folk handicrafts. In the ninth year of Zheng De in Ming Dynasty (15 14), a Portuguese businessman bought dragon robe embroidery in Guangzhou, returned to China and presented it to the king, and received a generous reward. Since then, Guangxiu has become famous overseas, and many products are exported abroad every year. In the thirty-fifth year of Jiajing (1556), crozet, a Portuguese, marveled at some Cantonese embroidery crafts such as beaded embroidered shoes. At that time, Guangzhou embroidery artists had reached a high level, and they could skillfully and creatively use wool embroidery, using peacock hair and ponytail to make and tie threads, and using gold thread and silver thread to embroider.

The late Ming Dynasty to the middle Qing Dynasty was the prosperous period of Guangdong embroidery industry. British businessmen began to sample processing. Due to the rich colors of the sample patterns, the artistic style of western painting is highlighted, and the principles of perspective and light refraction are applied, so it has a far-reaching impact on Guangdong embroidery. Guangxiu began to develop from small batch production in small folk workshops to commodity production. A large number of embroidery products used for interior decoration and daily clothes were produced, which made its export enter its heyday.

By the middle of the Qing Dynasty, due to the prosperity of Cantonese opera and Cantonese opera, new varieties of Cantonese opera costumes were added to Cantonese embroidery. At that time, the costumes made by Guangzhou Zhuangyuanfang were very famous in China, and even the court troupe came to customize them. During the Qianlong period, Guangzhou embroidery has become a city, with as many as 50 embroidery workshops and embroidery villages and more than 3,000 employees.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, Guangdong embroidery industry still maintained its development momentum. In the embroidery exhibition competition of four provinces and cities held in Guangzhou in the Republic of China 18, Guang embroidery was awarded as one of the four famous embroideries in China with its works such as Peacock Peony, Fan Shi and Snow Scene.

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Guangzhou enamel

Guang Cai is the abbreviation of glazed porcelain art in Guangzhou, which is characterized by compact composition, rich colors and dazzling. It is like a white jade woven with thousands of strands of gold, also called Guangzhou Zhijin colored porcelain. It began in Guangzhou tricolor in Ming Dynasty, developed into multicolored in Qing Dynasty, and gradually formed a unique artistic style during Qianlong period. It has a history of more than 300 years. The full name of Guang Cai is Guangzhou Zhijin Colored Porcelain. The production of Guang Cai began in the Kangxi period of Qing Dynasty, and it has a history of more than 300 years. At that time, Guangzhou artisans borrowed the technology of "golden tire burning enamel" from the west and created "copper tire burning enamel" with imported materials. Later, this method was applied to white porcelain tires and became a famous enamel color, which was the bud of Guangzhou colored porcelain.

As the name implies, the so-called woven gold colored porcelain is to draw gold patterns on the glaze of various white-tire porcelain, as if brocade were embroidered with colorful and elegant gold threads and then fired at low temperature. As the initial product of Guangzhou colored porcelain, enamel is deeply loved by rich and noble people at home and abroad because of its noble and gorgeous characteristics. The Qing court listed it as a tribute, and some foreign royal officials of optimates made a special trip to Guangzhou to buy it. Later, European businessmen brought painted porcelain patterns, which were made by China businessmen according to their export needs. At that time, Guangdong businessmen shipped porcelain blanks from Jingdezhen, painted them with Jiangxi pastel techniques imitating western color paintings, and then fired them. Later, Guang Cai artists inherited the artistic characteristics of colored porcelain in the Ming Dynasty, absorbed western painting methods, drew patterns with local characteristics of Lingnan, gradually formed a unique Lingnan artistic style, and fixed many patterns to become traditional flowers in Guang Cai, such as flower baskets, dragons and phoenixes, butterflies, goldfish and costume figures. The most commonly used composition is to enclose several spaces with different shapes with lace patterns, and draw flowers, things and people in the spaces. There are also paintings full of flowers but without a circle, showing a colorful and blooming scene.

From the middle of18th century to the beginning of19th century, China porcelain sold well in the world, and the export volume of wide-colored porcelain was also expanding, and the production developed rapidly. Guang Cai porcelain was gradually separated from the firing of copper tire enamel and became an independent industry. In the forty-third year of Qianlong (1778), the guild organization-Lingsitang was established. Guang Cai products are also divided into two categories: artistic porcelain and daily-use porcelain. The painting techniques of appreciating art porcelain are mainly Chinese painting, with exquisite techniques and delicate brushwork. Most of the contents are figures and flowers, as well as stories about western scenery, figures and foreign oil paintings. Household porcelain includes bowls, plates, pots, cups, etc. The coloring method is simple, bold and full of folk decorative flavor.

The historical conditions and age of Guang Cai.

(A) the historical conditions for the emergence of Guang Cai

After a series of great struggles against foreign aggression and internal separatist forces, the Qing Dynasty established an unprecedented unified and consolidated multi-ethnic country, carried out a series of reform measures, quickly restored and developed the social economy and entered a prosperous period. China's ceramic production also reached its historical peak in this period and entered the golden age of porcelain. This has created favorable conditions for the export of ceramics. According to the History of Chinese Ceramics, "From the second half of17th century to the early Qing Dynasty18th century, China porcelain was loved by customers all over the world, especially in Europe. High-quality China porcelain has always been used as a means of boasting wealth among nobles. During the period of 17 13- 1740, the Prussian emperor chose a queen and exchanged 600 Saxon dragoons and neighboring monarchs for a batch of porcelain to add color to his wedding. " After the Qing government eliminated the coastal anti-Qing forces, in the 23rd year of Kangxi (1684), it opened the maritime ban and expanded foreign trade and exchanges. Many European countries are allowed to set up trade institutions in Guangzhou. The British East India Company (/KOOC-0/7/KOOC-0/5), France/KOOC-0/728, Netherlands/KOOC-0/729, Denmark/KOOC-0/73/KOOC-0/,Sweden/KOOC-0/729 were the first to obtain this right. With the development of porcelain trade in China, apart from ordinary porcelain originally produced for the needs of the domestic market, a considerable part is specially produced according to the order contract and the needs of foreign businessmen. Guangzhou was the largest foreign trade port at that time, with many foreign businessmen, and some firms could directly accept orders from foreign businessmen, which created conditions for the emergence and development of Guang Cai.

The Age of Guang Cai's Birth

About the age of Guang Cai porcelain, we should discuss it from the following aspects:

1, found in the literature are:

(1) During the Jiaqing period, Lan Pu wrote "Lu Tao in Jingdezhen" and said: "Guang Kiln was first built in Yangjiang County, Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, and its cover was imitated by foreign porcelain. Therefore, the porcelain produced in Yangjiang County of Zhiyun belongs to the common stoves, bottles, dishes, bowls, plates and boxes, which are colorful, but not as exquisite and elegant as porcelain, so it is a bit embarrassing. (2) According to Lu Tao, Yangjiang Kiln, Shiwan Kiln and Guang Cai are obviously mixed. " Covered with imitation foreign porcelain are common stoves, bottles, dishes, bowls, plates, pots and boxes, which are colorful. "Its characteristics should refer to Guang Cai porcelain," but not as exquisite and elegant as porcelain ",and it should refer to Shiwan pottery, because Guang Cai itself is porcelain, and it is plain white porcelain in Jingdezhen, so it doesn't matter if it is not as elegant as porcelain. (2) In the Guangxu period, there was a poem "Tao Ya" in Jiyuan, saying: "The wide kiln is like Jingdezhen, and there are thirteen lines between Jia and Dao. At the beginning, a hibiscus pavilion was built, and its tea bowls were painted white, thin and incoherent, and many circles of paintings could be divided into shades. " He also said, "The Jiadaojian Opium Smoking Museum was first set up in the Guangdong Pavilion, and the tea sets used were all painted in foreign colors and exquisitely made. There is an inscription on the bowl that reads:' Thirteen Rows of the Capital of East Guangdong', and the door reads' Jingyuan' and the inscription reads' Haizhu in East Guangdong'. There are five words in every ten, and the inscription on the lid of the bowl reads' Food attracts foreign guests from the cloud'. Or Yue Guang kiln, not Jingdezhen. According to this paragraph, the author recently saw a bowl with thirteen lines of color pictures in The Spectator, but the cover was missing (4). Our museum has also been recognized by Suzhou Museum, and the attached photos of bowls (Figure 1) show that the Guangyao porcelain described in Taoya is Guang Cai porcelain. (3) In the early years of the Republic of China, Liu Zifen wrote "On Bamboo Garden Pottery": "Tao Ya" said that the porcelain of Guangdong-Daoguang Kiln was slightly white like Jingdezhen, meaning that Cantonese people called it Henan Color or Guang Cai. The cover was purchased from Jingdezhen, and the painting was processed by Henan Factory in Guangdong, so it was named as Henan Color and Guang Cai. This kind of porcelain originated from Jiadao, Qianlong, Yu Province. " (4) 1936, Wu and Xin anchao wrote "History of Chinese Ceramics", saying: "Guangdong Guangyao imitates foreign porcelain, which is very colorful. Ganlong Tang kiln once imitated it and tasted it in Jingdezhen to sell porcelain in Guangdong and add colorful paintings. Unique workmanship and can be sold abroad. " (5) 1955, Shuye Tong's "Guangdong Kiln Porcelain" said: "There is also a kind of porcelain called Guanghui, which was sold by Guangdong merchants from Jiangxi to Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, and painted with western paintings in Guangdong. It is different from the so-called "Guangyao" porcelain. Guang Cai only existed during the Qianlong period. As for the "glory" of copying foreign porcelain, (6) the section on the export of porcelain in the Qing Dynasty in the History of Chinese Ceramics edited by Feng Xianchromium and others. It is said that American traveler William Hecky 1786 (thirty-four years of Qianlong) visited Guang Cai's processing workshop on the south bank of the Pearl River in Guangzhou, and described: "In a long hall, about 200 people are busy drawing patterns and decorating various decorations on porcelain, including the elderly and child workers aged six or seven. "At that time, there were more than one hundred such workshops, which also showed the large number of exported porcelain. (7) Jingdezhen Ceramic Research Institute 1963 Edition of "China's Porcelain" contains: In France,1In the late 7th century, King Louis XIV of France ordered his prime minister Mazarin to establish a porcelain company and sent people to Guangdong, China to order porcelain with French armor.

To sum up, Lu Tao, Taoya and Old History of Ceramics all refer to Guang Cai as a "shining" device, but the decorative features mentioned above refer to Guang Cai porcelain. Although the production time of Guang Cai was not explicitly mentioned, both Lu Tao and Old History of Ceramics said that the Tang kiln was copied during the Qianlong period, while Tao Ya called it Jia Daojian. At least, Guang Cai was born in Gan's family. "Bamboo Garden Pottery Theory" clearly says: "Guang Cai began in Qianlong." The History of Chinese Ceramics, edited by Feng Xianchromium and others, is quoted from a foreign language. More precisely, American travelers were busy describing porcelain in 1769 (that is, thirty-four years of Qianlong) and went to visit the Guang Cai processing factory on the south bank of the Pearl River in Guangzhou. This shows that the production of Guang Cai porcelain has been quite prosperous at this time. On "China's Porcelain" As early as1the Kangxi period in the late 7th century, the French went to Guangdong to order porcelain, which is the earliest record of Guang Cai's production date.

2. The color photos recorded in the catalogue include:

(1) In the book "China Ancient Exported Ceramics Left over from Nanyang", there were "Peony Catharanthus Medium Plate", "Peony Wide Color Plate" and "Di Chin Window Opening Second Medium Plate" in Yongzheng period, and Guo Hua Second Medium Plate (6) in Qianlong period. (2) 1948(7) The "colorful pots" and "colorful bowls" in the first volume of Guangdong Cultural Relics compiled by Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau. (3) Kangxi Guangcai Huapan (Attached Figure 2) and Ganlong Guangcai Huapan (Attached Figure 3) in Folk Treasures (8). As for Kangxi Disc, the editor-in-chief of the disc, Mr. Zhao, said that it was set a little high at that time. Judging from the types and ornamentation of dishes, the Yongzheng period seems to be more accurate.

3. From the collection of more than 80 pieces of old Guangcai porcelain in Guangdong Provincial Museum (9), it was the Yongzheng period at the earliest, with 5 pieces of * * *. Among them, the bottle in Guang Cai Kaiguang Map is a white sand bottom, which is a typical shape in Yongzheng period (Figure 4). Thirteen pieces belong to the Qianlong period, and the hemp woven gold landscape plate (Figure 5) and paddle tire trophy bottle (Figure 6) are its representatives. 15 colorful flower-and-bird money-carrying plates (Figure 7) in Jiadao period are the representatives of this period, and 50 pieces belong to the period from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China.

Judging from the above-mentioned documents, photos and physical materials, there is no objection to the existence of Guang Cai production during the Qianlong period. Not only the literature records are mostly about Qianlong, but also the objects are quite rich, which shows that Guang Cai porcelain has become famous all over the world in Qianlong period, and has created its own unique style, which has been recognized by the society, and has been recorded as the basic feature of "shining like foreign porcelain, very colorful" in some ceramic works. Master Zhao of Guangzhou Zhijin Painted Porcelain Factory, a three-generation artist, also mentioned that during the Reform Movement of 1898, Guangzhou Painted Porcelain Artists also established the Workers' Guild "Lingsitang" (10), which was located in Lane 3 of Yuguifang, Wenchang Road, Guangzhou, and was not demolished until War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Up to now, there are still many old residents of Guang Cai workers nearby, who still keep their ancestral businesses. This can also prove that Guang Cai porcelain also developed quite well during the Qianlong period. Everything develops from low level to high level, from quantitative change to qualitative change, and Guang Cai porcelain is no exception. Guang Cai, a colored porcelain with unique artistic features, will not suddenly emerge and be recognized by the society. It is also certain that Guang Cai porcelain was produced earlier than Qianlong, because it has been proved in kind and recorded in the document. Some Guang Cai porcelains survived during the Yongzheng period and began to show colorful faces. It is recorded that the French came to Guangzhou to order colored porcelain during the reign of Kangxi. Old workers and technicians of Guang Cai Porcelain Factory, Zhao and Situ Ning, also provided early information. They said: According to legend, Guang Cai started production during the Kangxi period, but the early workers, pigments and plain porcelain all came from Jingdezhen. The first artists who came to Guangzhou were Yang Kuai and Cao Kun. They were apprentices in Guangzhou, teaching colored porcelain skills and developing colored porcelain. Later, people honored Yang Guifei as the ancestor of Guang Cai, and designated the fourth day of the eighth lunar month as the birthday of the master. It has become a routine for artists in Guang Cai to choose this day to pay tribute to their teachers. It was not until after liberation that this provision was abolished. According to this inference, the porcelain painted in Guangzhou should be similar to the colorful, enamel and pastel in Jingdezhen, and those painted in Guangzhou are difficult to identify. So Kangxi multicolored porcelain is rarely handed down from generation to generation, which may be the reason. It is only after a period of development, such as external processing, that workers gradually understand what outsiders like and absorb their artistic characteristics. After a long time in Guangzhou, plus it is spring in Guangdong all year round, the patterns of flowers, birds, insects and fish will also be reflected in porcelain paintings, and the colors of the decorative patterns will of course change constantly until new color varieties are created, which is different from the colored porcelain in Jingdezhen. In this way, Yungang's colorful style was gradually formed. Therefore, Guang Cai porcelain began in Kangxi, and Yongzheng was colorful and matured in Qianlong.

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ivory carving

China ivory carving has a long history, which began in the Neolithic Age. An ivory comb was found in the tomb of the Warring States period unearthed in Huangtupo, Beijing. Emperors in Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties all used ivory as imperial offerings. Orchard factories in the Ming Dynasty and workshops in the Qing Dynasty both had workshops for making ivory products for the court, and the most representative one was "Yueman Qingyou".

After thousands of years of development, China ivory carving gradually formed several relatively concentrated production centers in the middle of Qing Dynasty, mainly represented by Guangzhou, Suzhou and Beijing. The central producing areas not only maintain the local style and characteristics in theme and form, but also penetrate each other and have technical exchanges. After 1970s, with the convenience of transportation and the development of information technology, tooth carving artists from all over the world frequently exchanged ideas to learn from each other. On the one hand, the colors of local tooth carvings have increased, forming four regions: Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Nanjing, and others include Tianjin, Fuzhou and Yueqing. On the other hand, their style is gradually fading, which is an inevitable trend. Fine, neat and exquisite Guangzhou tooth carving is represented by Guangzhou, so it is called Guangzhou tooth carving. Beijing tooth carving has the characteristics of elegant court art.

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