Chapter 226: Somewhat Familiar

The sky was high and the air crisp; the clouds were thin and the wind gentle.

After leaving the Xipo mine, they followed the gravel road north for half an hour before seeing a pickup truck parked by the roadside.

Beside it stood a stele with two lines of text: Zhangma Village Kiln Site Group, Xiangning County.

Wang Qi Zhi had made arrangements in advance, and the Xiangning County Cultural Bureau had specifically sent a Section Chief to receive them; after mutual introductions and a few pleasantries, the pickup led the way, and the three cars drove onto the country road.

After driving another ten kilometers, the cars stopped.

On the semi-old cement road, weeds stubbornly poked through the cracks, and several mud pits and crushing troughs were left abandoned by the roadside.

The area was simply cordoned off with colored plastic tape; the staff member untied the rope and led them inside.

Built of flagstone, the pits and troughs were square or round, deep or shallow; one could still clearly see the narrow channels used for drainage in the middle.

Lin Sicheng took a rough look and said, "This should be a site from the Qing Dynasty!"

Assuming they had done their research beforehand, the Section Chief nodded: "It is indeed the Qing Dynasty; at the time, they mainly fired Black Porcelain and Purple Clay Ware, which were sold as far as Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Inner Mongolia!"

Lin Sicheng smiled: "Chief, are there any that are earlier?"

"There are, but we have to drive further north!"

They got back in the cars and continued forward, seeing several mud kilns by the road; Ye Anning pointed at them: "Lin Sicheng, what era are these kilns from?"

Lin Sicheng took a look: they were built of mud bricks, most had already collapsed, and at the bottom, the openings used for putting in the mud blanks and removing the finished vessels remained.

"Republic of China, Mantou Kilns imitating those of Cizhou; I reckon they were for firing earthenware jars and vats!"

The Section Chief in the passenger seat gave a thumbs-up.

Driving further in, they saw several color-steel sheds, and Lin Sicheng's spirits lifted: judging by the specifications, they looked like Waste Porcelain Pits.

And there were quite a few, at least five or six.

They drove close and got out of the cars, but before they even reached them, Lin Sicheng paused again: was he happy too soon?

There were many porcelain shards and broken vessels scattered across the bottom of the pits and on the earthen walls. There were basins, bowls, cups, and plates of all kinds; although most were White Porcelain, they were all everyday utensils.

He didn't go down into the pit, just asked for a porcelain shard to look at, and Lin Sicheng sighed:

The items were wrong, and the time was wrong. This was a Ming Kiln, and everything was coarse porcelain.

Although the porcelain clay had been filtered, the iron content was still very high, so they could only use lime and bauxite to whiten it. Because of this, the body would be very thick.

Just like that bowl blank on the pit wall that hadn't made it into the kiln yet, the porcelain body was a full centimeter thick...

"Chief, are there any that are earlier, like the Yuan Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, or even the Northern Song Dynasty?"

"There used to be, but they were all in the Xipo Town area; most were pushed over in the sixties when they opened the pottery clay mine. In the seventies, when they built the ceramics factory, they pushed over the rest..."

"There are some from the Han Dynasty and earlier, like the Yangyun Pottery Kiln in Baishugou, which is about five thousand years old, and the Xiao site (Zaoyuan Culture) is even older, dating back roughly seven thousand years..."

Lin Sicheng nodded: "Thank you, Chief, we won't look at those two places!"

Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng exchanged a glance: Xipo Town, wasn't that the place they had just visited this morning?

The mine leaders and the leaders of the Purple Clay Ware factory had also said that when they first opened the mine, they had dug up many ancient kiln pits and Waste Porcelain Pits, with plenty of shards and broken vessels.

But in the sixties and seventies, people couldn't even fill their stomachs, so how could there be any talk of protection?

Of course, they pushed them flat to start work as soon as possible, so the common people could earn a living.

The two sighed inwardly, and clouds of worry appeared on their brows.

Lin Sicheng took out those few porcelain shards again to show the Section Chief, but both said they had never seen them before.

Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng were even more worried.

That was basically it; there was nothing else worth seeing, so the cars drove to the county seat. Upon arriving at the hotel, Wang Qi Zhi said he had arranged a casual meal, but the Section Chief claimed he had to return to his unit to report.

After expressing their gratitude, Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng personally saw him out of the hotel.

Just as they entered the revolving door, the two paused again: Lin Sicheng was sitting in a sofa, staring at the ceiling, turning that piece of Fine White Porcelain in his hand.

At first glance, his mood seemed quite stable, not like he was very disappointed. But the problem was, even when Lin Sicheng was furious to the extreme and wanted to kill someone, wasn't he the same expression?

The two looked at each other and walked over.

"Don't be discouraged, if it doesn't work out, we'll go back to Xijing!" Wang Qi Zhi sat down opposite him, "Missing one Chengni Inkstone won't cause much trouble!"

Zhao Xiuneng also nodded: "Right, there are so many places with famous porcelain, no need to insist on staying in Shanxi?"

Lin Sicheng was stunned: No... it's only been a few days?

At most, it had barely been a week.

How long was he in Yaozhou last time?

It was almost a month.

Compared to that, here he hadn't been mistreated, nor did he have to watch anyone's expression; he spent his days sightseeing and eating good food, just like a vacation.

Besides, it wasn't as if he didn't know the craft; it was just an excuse for a restoration. If the east isn't bright, the west will be; if he couldn't find the Northern Song Dynasty White Porcelain kiln site, there was still Fahua Ware.

If he couldn't find Fahua Ware either, it was only three months, and it wasn't as if he couldn't afford to wait?

As these thoughts turned, Lin Sicheng laughed: "Teacher, Zhao Shixiong, don't you two be anxious yet!"

Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng shook their heads in unison: "We aren't anxious!"

We are afraid you are anxious.

Lin Sicheng smiled: "Good, then let's wait for General Manager Zhuang to come, wait until we see the old factory director he mentioned, and see those few pieces of White Porcelain before deciding!"

The two didn't say a word.

Even if they were exactly the same as these pieces and were indeed Song Porcelain, the Section Chief had just said it clearly: the kiln sites from the Song and Jin periods had long been pushed flat.

So, what was the point of just finding the porcelain?

Taking a step back, even if they were lucky enough to have one or two kiln sites left, and even if they could find them, could they make the pottery clay mine and the Purple Clay Ware factory shut down entirely?

Both were pillar industries of the county, with thousands or tens of thousands of people relying on them for food.

Wang Qi Zhi sighed despondently: If he had known it would be this unsuccessful, he shouldn't have instigated Lin Sicheng to look for any kiln sites in the first place...

Just as he was thinking this, his phone buzzed, and Lin Sicheng answered it casually.

"General Manager Zhuang, I have to trouble you again... Ah, you've arrived? Sigh, good, we'll be out immediately..."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Sicheng stood up and walked away: "Teacher, Zhao Shixiong, General Manager Zhuang has already arrived, he's taking us there now!"

"Wait... why the rush?"

"They said the old man is getting on in years, and his family is strict; they don't dare let him stay up too late!"

Wang Qi Zhi looked outside: the sun was hanging at a forty-five-degree angle in the sky, still a long way from the mountain peak.

In the moment he was stunned, Lin Sicheng had already reached the doorway, and Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng took off in pursuit.

Fang Jin had gone to call for the luggage cart, and Ye Anning and the Data Clerk Xiao Liu were still at the front desk checking in; by the time the three of them turned around, where was there any sign of anyone in the lobby?

Looking back, the Mercedes-Benz had already driven out of the parking lot...

It wasn't far, just on the edge of the county town, but there were no multi-story buildings or bungalows; instead, there were cave dwellings.

They were built extremely well, like a giant staircase, one layer above another, leaning against the loess plateau.

After getting out of the car and exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhuang Zijing led them toward the house in the middle.

As he walked, he introduced them: "This old factory director is surnamed Wang, and he can be considered a legendary figure: in the fifties, when the county established the Xipo Ceramic Factory, he was originally a manual laborer who mixed mud and didn't even know a few characters. Later, relying solely on self-study, he first transferred to the embryo molding workshop, then to the kiln factory, and afterwards became a Technician, a designer, and a design group leader..."

"In the mid-seventies, the ceramic factory established a purple clay workshop, and he served as the workshop director. Three years later, the purple clay workshop moved into the county town, established the Purple Clay Factory independently, and he served as the first factory director... At that time, the Xipo Purple Clay Factory was the earliest purple clay factory opened in the North China region; there was no experience to follow, so they could only go out to learn. Later, commissioned by the county, the old factory director took key technical personnel and traveled far to Yixing..."

"But let alone learning the techniques, they couldn't even get through the front gate of the Yixing Purple Clay Factory. The old factory director wouldn't give up, so he lived by the factory and pondered every day. Later, he thought of a way, mixed in with the truck delivering raw materials, found the factory's production Section Chief, and then quietly followed him home."

"Boiling water, mopping the floor, picking up the children, cooking, taking care of the elderly—whatever chores there were at home, he helped do them. He ground away for over a month, and in the end, he finally got his wish and entered the gates of the purple clay craft factory. Afterward, he served as an Apprentice for half a year, and he managed to lure away three craftsmen from the Yixing factory..."

At first, the few of them were listening seriously, but when they heard the end, they almost threw their backs out: it turned out this old factory director had no good intentions when he went; he was aiming to poach people.

The Yixing factory didn't let him in, and they certainly didn't stop him wrongly.

"Oh, right, one of them was even the chief instructor of the Purple Clay Technique Training Department in Yixing, named Tan Ganru. After he came, he served as the General Engineer of the Xipo Purple Clay Factory... The old factory director followed him and managed to become a provincial master craftsman and an appraiser..."

Upon hearing the name Tan Ganru, Lin Sicheng had an impression: this man could be considered a famous northern master of purple clay, and his most famous works were the Pine Segment Pots, which were vivid and lifelike.

His attainments in the Appraisal of purple clay ware and porcelain were also very high; the Forbidden City had invited him to conduct exchanges on purple clay ware appraisal, and in his past life, Lin Sicheng had even seen his appraisal notes at the Forbidden City.

It was a pity that he passed away early, gone by '86.

Amidst the sighs, the group entered the courtyard, and hearing the commotion, a man in his fifties came out from the door to greet them.

"You must be introduced by Boss Zhuang from Hejin!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Zhuang Zijing hurried to greet him, "That's my father!"

"Good, please come in!"

The middle-aged man lifted the door curtain, and the group entered the living room.

It was quite spacious and bright, and an electric heater was running, making it warm and cozy.

Sitting on the sofa was an old man with snow-white hair and eyebrows, about eighty years old. His eyes were very bright, and his spirit was quite good.

He stood up subconsciously, but Lin Sicheng signaled slightly, and Zhao Xiuneng took two quick steps to press the old man back down.

"Old Factory Director, please sit, don't get up!"

The old man smiled and sat back down.

Another woman around fifty years old came out, likely the old man's daughter-in-law, and poured tea for each of them.

Since he was getting on in years, it was indeed not good to disturb him too much, so Lin Sicheng got straight to the point and took out a few pieces of porcelain.

"Old Factory Director, please help me take a look and see if you have any impression of this."

"Puzhou (modern-day Yuncheng) Celadon?"

The old man squinted his eyes, "It looks like it's from before the Ming Dynasty... Yuan, Jin, or Song?"

Lin Sicheng smiled: "It should be Song!"

"It does look a bit like it. Looking at this glaze color, only we have it here; it should have been fired in the ancient Xipo kiln!"

Lin Sicheng nodded and pointed to the piece of white porcelain: "Old Factory Director, take a look at this one too."

The old man took it into his hands, glanced at it, and let out an "Eh": "Also Song Porcelain?"

"It should be!"

"This is Puzhou Song White Porcelain!"

The old man adjusted his reading glasses, "When Engineer Tan was still here, several Jin Dynasty tombs were excavated in Yongji, and they invited us to go take a look. At that time, there were several pieces of this Fine White Porcelain. Looking at the vessel shape and the firing technique, it should be from around the Northern Song to the Jin Dynasty... At that time, Engineer Tan said that nine times out of ten, it was fired right here in Xipo..."

Lin Sicheng's spirits lifted: "Old Factory Director, if we look for the kiln site, can we still find it?"

"Difficult! First they opened mines, then they built factories. Regardless of whether it was Song, Yuan, Ming, or Qing, they pushed over everything that got in the way. So even if it exists, it's buried under the mines and factories. It's impossible to stop production to let you search and dig slowly!"

"Anyway, don't even think about the Song Dynasty; I estimate not even a porcelain shard is left. But fortunately, later when they expanded the Purple Clay Factory, two Ming Dynasty porcelain pits were dug up in Xipo. Old Tan and I picked out a few good ones and kept them. If you can use them, take them!"

As he spoke, the old man pointed to his son: "Take out those few pieces I just mentioned!"

It was likely already prepared; the man went into the inner room and brought out a tray.

There were four or five pieces, all damaged: a White Glazed Pure Vase with half the base missing, a raw Plum Vase embryo that hadn't been fired yet, and a White Glazed Bowl with three cracks.

The remaining piece, a Branch Pattern Double-Ear Vase, was pieced together: the white porcelain shards on the bottom half were not from the same vessel as the top half at all.

Looking closely, except for that bowl, they were all fired poorly. Not only was the body coarse, but it was also thick, and the glazing was not done well either.

For example, that Pure Vase—the top half was passable, but the bottom half not only had running glaze but also burst glaze; touching it with your hand, it felt bumpy.

The bowl was okay, with a Printed Peony Pattern, but the body was not shaped well and was asymmetrical.

However, there was one point: the body material was exactly the same as the two porcelain shards he had brought, so it could basically be determined that these pieces all used the same porcelain clay.

On the contrary, it was the last two broken porcelain shards that made Lin Sicheng's eyes light up: White-ground Carving Technique?

He had seen plenty of porcelain with the Carving Out Flowers technique; there was a lot of it from the Cizhou Kiln in Hebei. But most of it was applying other colors of makeup clay, such as Red Soil, brown soil, or Black Soil, onto a plain white body.

Then, following the pattern, the makeup clay was carved away to reveal the plain white body pattern underneath.

But these two pieces were carved on the plain body first, and then black color was filled into the lines?

Then what should this be called—White Ground Carved Black Color Porcelain?

Lin Sicheng looked curious and stared at it for a long time.

Then, he handed it to Zhao Xiuneng: "Zhao Shixiong, have you ever seen this kind?"

Zhao Xiuneng shook his head repeatedly.

Wang Qi Zhi took a glance and also shook his head: "I haven't seen it either!"

The old man chuckled, "Don't say you haven't seen it; even I haven't seen it, and that includes Old Tan who hasn't seen it either..."

He paused for a moment, then said with extreme certainty: "But it was definitely fired right here!"

Of course: the body material was identical, no different from the few shards Lin Sicheng had brought.

But strangely, Lin Sicheng always felt that these two porcelain shards looked somewhat familiar.

He was certain that this craft technique had not appeared in any literature. Yet in his memory, it was as if he had seen the same type of object somewhere before?

Lin Sicheng tried hard to recall, but had no leads. Then, he flipped the porcelain shard over.

It was not thin, and it was pitted and uneven, as if it had been peeled off from some extremely thick piece of porcelain.

Huh, a Porcelain Pillow?

Lin Sicheng was stunned for a moment, his eyes lighting up: where had he seen a Porcelain Pillow?

Haha... the Forbidden City!