Junci is a geographical indication protected product. Junci is a geographical indication certification trademark.

Jun porcelain is one of the four famous porcelains in China. It is produced in Shenhou Town, Yuzhou City, Xuchang. Yuzhou was called Xia Yu Kingdom in ancient times. The princes were established in "Juntai" and named after "Juntai". The kiln was called "Jun Kiln". Jun porcelain began in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. The Jun porcelain produced looks like a scene when viewed, and like a chime when struck. It is magnificent and dazzling, rich and crystal clear. In addition, due to the difficulty of firing, "nine out of ten kilns will fail". Jun porcelain has become a city-wide treasure, and people rank it alongside jade, gold and silver. The honor is "Jun is as beautiful as jade, Jun is more beautiful than jade", "Gold is valuable, Jun is priceless", and is known as a national treasure. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, through repeated research and scientific experiments, numerous Jun porcelain products were created based on the ancient Jun porcelain craftsmanship. The most outstanding and pleasing colors include cinnabar red, plum green, chicken snow red, carmine red, lilac purple, rose purple, eggplant purple, grape purple, green green, sky blue, moon white, etc., and there is purple in the red, and purple in the purple. There are orchids, the orchid is clear, the blue is red, and the five colors are infiltrated and complement each other. What is even more amazing is that after the "kiln transformation" of Jun porcelain, magical pictures naturally appeared on the surface, some of which were high waterfalls, green bamboos, and fairy towers; some were like morning stars in the sky, fireworks in full bloom, dragons and phoenixes. Fly etc. Among the products, "cloud forests emerge, mountains and waterfalls, rivers and mountains complement each other, and an old man crosses the bridge." The double dragon bottles and double dragon and tiger head bottles with color patterns changed in the kiln are world-renowned treasures. The precious Jun porcelain produced is exported to the United States, Japan, France, and the United Kingdom.

In 2008, Jun porcelain firing techniques were selected into the national intangible cultural heritage list.

The hometown of Jun kiln is in Yuzhou City, Henan Province today. The kiln factories in Shen_ Town under the jurisdiction of the city are the most concentrated and famous. [2] 147 ancient Jun kiln sites have been found in Yuzhou City. Experts have determined that there are more than 260 kilns from different dynasties in history.

The Jun porcelain of Yuzhou is called "national treasure" and "treasure". Jun kiln is one of the five famous kilns in the Song Dynasty in my country. Its main contribution is to fire Jun porcelain with gorgeous red glaze, which pioneered the copper-red glaze and changed the previous high-temperature color glazes in China that only had black glaze and celadon glaze. The situation opened up a new artistic realm. Jun porcelain was named because during the Huizong period of the Song Dynasty, an official kiln was set up near the ancient Juntai in Yuzhou City to specially bake imperial porcelain.

Characteristics of each dynasty

In the history of ceramic firing, the traditional view is that it began in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. Yuzhou Jun porcelain also began in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. This is consistent with historical facts, but celadon started earlier. Because celadon is the predecessor of Hua porcelain and Jun porcelain, Yuzhou can draw a new conclusion based on the unearthed objects: celadon began in the Sui Dynasty and flourished in the Tang Dynasty, while Hua porcelain and Jun porcelain began in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. This conclusion will be more accurate.

In Yuzhou, the cultural relics management office and private collections have a large number of Tang Dynasty flower porcelain. The production of flower porcelain laid the preliminary foundation for the birth of Jun porcelain. Flower porcelain is made by applying some blue, white or brown glaze sporadically on the Tenmoku glaze. When firing in the kiln, these sporadic glazes will cause kiln changes and flow to the bottom of the object, producing some blue, white, yellow or brown spots. , causing the glaze color to change. In fact, these changes have both human traces and natural kiln changes. People call this kind of porcelain evolved from celadon as flower porcelain, and some people call it "Tang Jun". Indeed, this kind of porcelain is the predecessor of Jun porcelain. Without the inspiration of the kiln-changing spots on the flowered porcelain, it would be difficult for the potters to think of the overall kiln-changing porcelain. This is a kind of inspirational effect, so Yuzhou artists made a great and important invention-Jun Porcelain Kiln Transformation. In the Tang Dynasty, Jun glaze was decorated with large blue and white glaze spots on the black glaze, or with large black glaze spots on the blue and white glaze. There were also blue and white glazes all applied on the black glaze. The glaze color varied from black to white and blue to black. Li 1, lively and changeable, mainly using iron as colorant, this kind of glazed porcelain was called "flower porcelain" by the ancients.

In the Song Dynasty, the kiln became a monochromatic glaze. Its glaze color was developed on the basis of Tang Jun. Jun porcelain kiln workers removed the black component in Tang Jun glaze and replaced it with blue and white, pursuing a kind of glaze color. The effect is elegant and jade-like. The basic color of the glaze is azure. The darker one is sky blue and the lighter one is moon white. The kiln-changing glaze is characterized by dotted purple-red patches on the blue glaze surface. After firing, it is as beautiful and brilliant as the colorful clouds appearing in the blue sky.

Most of the Jun glazes in the Yuan Dynasty were kiln-varied colorful glazes, and a few were kiln-varied monochromatic glazes. However, the cyan-blue glaze was not as moist as that of Song Jun. It was relatively rough and slightly fluid. The purple-red patches are not as clear-cut and full of charm as Song Jun's, and are slightly dull. However, due to the harmonious comparison between the blue and red colors, it can be regarded as a highly decorative kiln-turned glaze.

Jun glaze in the Qing Dynasty, due to historical reasons of Crescent White Jun Porcelain

Crescent White Jun Porcelain (2 photos), Jun porcelain had stopped firing in the Ming Dynasty, and Jun porcelain started to burn again in the late Qing Dynasty. Restoration, at that time it was mainly fired in a small blue carbon kiln with bellows, the so-called "furnace jun". Furnace Jun glaze is a special Jun glaze. Compared with the previous generation, the glaze has more solvent components. Therefore, the glaze has greater fluidity at high temperatures and is prone to crystallization when cooled. The resulting kiln transformation effect is very strange, and the glaze color has cinnabar. Red, azure, sky blue with various purples, etc.

How to identify

The identification of ancient Jun kilns is divided into four aspects: one is to determine the authenticity, the other is to determine the era, the third is to determine the entrance of the kiln, and the fourth is to estimate the value.

When identifying ancient Jun kilns, pay attention to the following points:

1. Look at the texture of the body. Jun kilns are fired with reducing flames, so the unglazed surface of the body (mainly It is the foot of the utensil) and is generally in a sauce-yellow color.

2. Looking at the shape, the shape of Jun porcelain was mostly used as daily necessities before the Ming Dynasty and has obvious characteristics of the times.

3. Looking at the craftsmanship, ancient Jun porcelain was made by hand, and the kilns used hand-drawn and printed blanks.

4. Look at the glaze color. Judging from the characteristics of the times, Jun porcelain has different glaze colors in different eras. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, there were black glazes with blue spots, in the Song Dynasty, there were purple-red flower glazes, and in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, there were azure glazes. , sky blue, moon white glaze, etc.

5. Look at the soles. The soles of Guanjun kilns in the Song Dynasty were usually covered with sesame paste glaze or thinner blue and white glaze.

Jun porcelain production has been said to have "seventy-two processes" since ancient times, mainly because of its complicated production process. If divided by modern production processes, the production of Jun porcelain generally requires eight major processes: raw material processing, modeling design, mold making, forming, biscuit firing, glaze firing, and selection.

Jun porcelain has many production processes and is difficult to bake. From the selection of materials to the firing of products, there are dozens of production processes. No matter which process is slightly careless, even a small mistake will cause all previous efforts to be wasted. This is the reason why the rate of Jun porcelain treasures is extremely low. To sum up, the production of Jun porcelain generally requires the following major processes:

Raw material processing

⑴Material selection. Look for raw materials with reliable performance, stable quality, suitable for Jun porcelain kiln transformation in the mining area, and carefully select them.

⑵ Carry out necessary processing of raw materials. Porcelain clay is piled in an open-air material yard and subjected to long-term and continuous cycles of wind, sun, rain, and freezing to weather it, soften it, and improve its performance. The ore material needs to be grinded in a wheel for coarse crushing into sandy or powdery form. Some require shade, rain protection, dust protection, etc.

⑶ Finely grind. Put various raw materials into the ball mill according to the proportion and rotate them to become mud or glaze that meets the quality requirements.

Shape design

The traditional shapes of Jun porcelain are mainly plates, bowls, bowls, stoves, flower pots and other utensils, pursuing a dignified, simple and natural artistic style. On the basis of inheriting the tradition, modern Jun porcelain has carried out bold reforms, added modern aesthetic elements, and created a new expression field of Jun porcelain art. Jun porcelain shapes include traditional utensils, figures, animals, and special-shaped types, forming hundreds of modeling series such as utensil series, animal series, figure series, stationery series, tea set series, bird series, and practical product series. Thousands of varieties.

Mold making

Convert the shaped mold into a model. In ancient times, the model material was clay, which was turned into a mold and then fired into a mold, which can be used for molding. In modern times, it is common to use gypsum powder and water to make a slurry and solidify it to form a mold. Gypsum molds can be used for both grouting and stripping molding. The same thing between the plain-fired clay mold and the plaster mold is that they both have a certain degree of strength and water absorption, and can be used repeatedly. The model is generally an internal hollow type, and the shape of its inner wall is the shape of the blank.

Forming

According to the type of product and different needs, there are generally several forming methods such as slip forming, billet forming, and billet forming.

⑴Group injection molding: Inject the mud into the plaster model. When it reaches a certain thickness, pour out the excess mud. After a while, open the model and take out the formed body.

⑵Bullet forming: Place a ball of mud on the rotating machine and pull it into various round bodies by hand. It is one of the main traditional molding methods.

⑶ Blank forming: Also known as printing blank forming, the mud is beaten into mud pieces, compacted close to the inner wall of the model, and butt-jointed to form. When removing the large bottle, the mud must be rolled into strips and placed in the mold, and beaten into a green body of appropriate thickness. This process must be repeated continuously to gradually expand the green body until the entire large bottle is finally removed.

⑷Freehand molding: refers to the method of molding by hand kneading, sculpture and other techniques. It is generally used for the production of small pieces or special-shaped vessels.

Glazing

⑴ Bisque firing: The formed fine body is fired once without glazing at a temperature of 900°C to 950°C to increase the strength and water absorption of the body. properties, which is beneficial to the glazing operation.

⑵Glazing: Glazing the plain body after bisque firing, using methods such as glaze rinsing, glaze dipping, pouring glaze, brushing glaze, etc., so that a layer of glaze slurry with appropriate thickness is attached to the surface of the plain body. .

Firing

The glazed glaze blank is put into the kiln for firing, which is also called glaze firing. The temperature is generally between 1280℃ and 1300℃. In ancient times, the Jun official kilns of the Song Dynasty used firewood. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, when the production of Jun porcelain was resumed, coal-fired was used. After 1994, gas-fired was generally used. It was not until Ren Xinghang resumed the wood-fired process that the secret of Jun making and firing in the Song Dynasty was solved. Due to the influence of temperature, atmosphere and climate during the firing of Jun porcelain, the fired products have colorful and ever-changing kiln transformation effects.

Out of the kiln

The fired products are inspected and graded according to the standards of Junci technicians. Qualified products generally have several levels: genuine, high-quality, treasure, etc. Genuine products have no defects or minimal defects, and the kiln transformation effect is average; high-quality products have no defects, and have a certain kiln transformation effect; treasures are the best among high-quality products, and the kiln transformation effect is rich and unique. The kiln transformation effect includes the color, spots, texture, opening, natural pictures and artistic conception of the glaze of Jun porcelain products.

Style Characteristics

Wood-fired Jun porcelain wood-fired Jun porcelain kiln, especially the double-emulsion Jun porcelain kiln of the Song Dynasty, has double fires to increase the area of ??the fire grid, and the double fire outlets take turns to add firewood. It is beneficial to the furnace temperature to rise steadily during the firing process. Firewood burns quickly, and the ashes fall into the ash pit after burning, so there is no thick burning layer in the fire. The method of adding firewood frequently, quickly and sparingly also provides favorable conditions for the steady rise of the furnace temperature. When firewood burns, the flame is long and soft, and the carbon monoxide atmosphere produced is of appropriate intensity, creating a good environment for the copper element in the glaze to restore its color. Therefore, the glaze colors of wood kiln products infiltrate and transition naturally, showing a clear, elegant, handsome and elegant artistic style. This is also a firing process that makes the works closest to the artistic effect of Jun porcelain in the Song Dynasty.

Coal-fired Jun porcelain coal-fired Jun porcelain kiln has many types, such as down smoke, straight smoke, flat smoke, etc. The internal structure and firing principle are basically the same, except that the position of the flue outlet is different. . Coal burns for a long time, is not easy to burn out, and easily forms a thick combustion layer. When the slag loosens the combustion layer, the kiln temperature will rise suddenly. The heat generated by coal is relatively large, the fire is fierce, and the concentration of carbon monoxide atmosphere produced at different stages varies greatly. These objective conditions provide prerequisites for the formation of the kiln transformation effect under the control of a reasonable firing system. The flow of glaze juice at high temperatures is restricted by the fluctuations in kiln temperature and the intensity of the carbon monoxide atmosphere, and is prone to curve changes and color blending. Coal kiln products have a warm, unrestrained and vibrant artistic style. The glazed surface is prone to the artistic effect of colorful landscape scenes.

Kilns in the Qing Dynasty used carbon as fuel. The carbon here refers to unburned cinders, commonly known as "blue carbon", so in a broad sense, it also belongs to the category of coal-fired Jun porcelain. The kiln fires one product at a time, adds fuel at a time, and uses bellows to ventilate and control the kiln temperature. This unique firing method and special fuel make the carbon monoxide atmosphere in the furnace relatively light, which is not conducive to the color development of copper elements. Therefore, most of the kiln products are in single colors such as azure and moon white. This also forms a natural, tranquil, simple and unpretentious artistic style.

The liquefied gas or natural gas used in gas-fired Jun porcelain liquefied gas Jun porcelain kilns is pure, has few impurities, and burns completely. The flame is controlled by the flame outlet, and the size of the flame outlet is more or less under the control of the person. It is the easiest Jun porcelain kiln to operate. The purity of the fire and the gentle heating curve provide space for the smooth color development of the glaze. Gas kiln products are generally bright and colorful. Under a reasonable firing system, colorful and elegant artistic effects can be produced.

In short, wood kiln products are fresh, handsome, beautiful and elegant; coal kiln products are passionate and unrestrained, with magnificent pictures; carbon kiln products are simple, natural and unpretentious in quality; gas kiln products have bright glazes, bright and light colors. What is mentioned here is a general phenomenon. Under the adjustment of the firing system, the products of a certain kiln may also appear in other styles due to changes in objective factors.