Chapter 422: Fate is Fickle, Possessed by Those with Virtue

Who is Li Canping?

A famous Joseon potter from the end of the 16th century.

Historical records state that in 1592 (the 20th year of the Wanli reign of Ming China), Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched an invasion of Joseon, and Li Canping was captured by the Nabeshima army of the Saga Domain and taken to Japan.

There are also unofficial records stating that he was a traitor to Joseon, had long been in collusion with the lord of the Saga Domain, and was a guide for the Japanese army. After the war broke out, he was hunted by the Joseon people and fled to Japan with his whole family.

But regardless of which version is true, Li Canping arrived at the Saga Domain in Japan around 1595. After arriving, the lord of the Saga Domain appointed him as a pottery official, responsible for ceramic production within the domain, and led the survey of ceramic clay mines within the domain.

Afterwards, he discovered a porcelain stone mine in the upper reaches of the Aritagawa in Saga Prefecture, then test-fired porcelain, beginning the history of Japanese porcelain manufacturing.

And the Japanese Porcelain Saint, the first-generation Sakaida Kakiemon and his father Yuanxi, were Li Canping's subordinates and apprentices.

It can be said that because of Li Canping, there was the industrial budding of Japanese porcelain, and it was because of him that the Sakaida father and son inherited his skills and his will, thereby laying the industrial foundation for Japanese porcelain to be sold far to Europe. Therefore, in terms of influence and representativeness, Li Canping's is even higher than that of the Sakaida father and son.

Then, returning to this bowl: Japanese history clearly records that after Li Canping discovered the porcelain stone mine at Aritagawa, the first things he test-fired were white porcelain and blue and white.

"Hizen Pottery Old Records" (Hizen is Saga): Lord Nabeshima (the surname of the Saga Domain lord is Nabeshima) bestowed the name (Li Canping) Kin-e Sanbei, and the first kiln fired pure white porcelain————

"Arita Township Account" (Saga Prefecture archives): Joseon potter Li Sanping, dug stone at Izumiyama and knelt in prayer for three days————in the tenth month, the kiln fire produced blue and white with iron spots like a ghost's face————

The so-called blue and white with iron spots like a ghost's face in the historical materials is exactly what this bowl looks like:

Why was it fired so poorly?

Because before shaping the body, Li Canping didn't refine the clay at all, let alone let it weather.

Since it was neither refined nor weathered, the impurities in the fetal clay were naturally high, and among them, the one with the greatest impact on the finished porcelain was iron.

Just like this bowl, those patches of black spots were caused by iron sand. The glaring, brick-like volcanic red circle on the bottom of the bowl, as well as the continuous rust lines on the bowl wall, were also caused by iron impurities.

And the defects are not just this much:

Under high temperature, the divalent iron in the impurities reduces, which will cause the glaze's glass phase to become turbid; that is why the glaze of this bowl is so gray and appears atomized.

This also includes the scattered iron sand spots: after Fe2O3 crystallizes, the pressure will break the glaze layer, causing the iron spots to burst and splatter.

Likewise, the many pits on the bowl surface were also caused by this: the expansion coefficient of iron crystals is greater than that of the glaze glass, leading to the peeling of the glaze surface.

Furthermore, FeO will lower the glaze melting temperature, leading to an imbalance in the flow of the glaze layer. Secondly, the chain hydrolysis reaction of iron impurities leads to the collective disintegration of the fetal glaze; that is why the blue and white glaze of this bowl is so pale and thin.

It is so thin that not a trace of blue and white coloring can be seen; it is more like ink that was mixed extremely thin, casually painted with a few strokes, and then the problem arises, just as Senior Brother Zhao said: since he is honored by Japan as the "Ancestor of Porcelain," how could Li Canping's craftsmanship be so poor?

The reason is simple: this is a test-fired product.

In ancient times, no matter how rich a potter's experience was or how superb their craftsmanship was, they had no way to judge with the naked eye whether this type of ceramic clay was suitable for firing porcelain, and if it was suitable, what impurities were inside and how they should be removed.

They could only first use raw ceramic clay to test-fire finished porcelain, and through the fetal bone and glaze phase, judge whether there was more aluminum or calcium, more silicon or iron, and what other impurities were affecting the kiln yield.

Therefore, it is not that Li Canping's craftsmanship was poor, but that the characteristics of the materials led to the extremely poor quality of this bowl. And on the contrary, precisely because this bowl was fired so poorly, it just happens to prove: this is one of the earliest test-fired products from when Li Canping found the porcelain stone mine in Saga.

Secondly, this hidden mark on the bottom of the bowl: Rain.

Lin Sicheng does not know why Li Canping would use this mark, and the Japanese do not know either. Some say it is "Sanping" combined into one, which is the character for rain, and others say it is a mark bestowed by the lord of the Saga Domain. But regardless of which one it is, in Japanese history, this "Rain" character hidden mark was only used by Li Canping.

As far as Lin Sicheng knows, there are only two pieces of porcelain with this mark in Japan: one is a red-painted five-color plate, collected at the Tokyo National Museum. The other is a cloudy white glazed bowl, collected in Saga Prefecture.

But regardless of which one it is, they are both national treasure-level cultural relics of Japan.

Then returning to this piece: at first glance, it is fired so poorly, has no technical content or craftsmanship, and cannot even be considered a semi-finished product?

But sometimes, things like cultural relics are not defined by whether they look good, how high the level of craftsmanship is, or whether the condition is complete. One must look at the era and look at the representativeness.

For example: the first bronze ding cast by the ancestors of the Shang Dynasty for sacrificial purposes.

What, is that setting the bar too high, it's just a porcelain bowl from the early 17th century, only four hundred years old?

But for this four hundred years, you have to look at where it is placed. In terms of Japanese history and the history of industrial development: the significance and value of this type of cultural relic might be even higher than the Shang ding in the hearts of the Chinese people.

Come, let me ask, how much could this bowl be worth?

Thinking about how much of a sensation it would cause in Japan once the news of the discovery of this bowl spread, Lin Sicheng wanted to give himself a thumbs up: without the cause, where would the effect come from?

As long as this group of scammers still held even a shred of wariness toward him, this thing could never have ended up in his hands————

Amidst his reflections, he gave a rough explanation, and Zhao Xiuneng was shocked to the point of being dazed, his eyes widening more and more, wishing he could pop his eyeballs out and drop them on the ground.

If Lin Sicheng didn't guess wrong, if this thing couldn't fetch tens of millions or even a hundred million, he would dare to cut his head off.

And compared to this, what made him most suspicious and amazed was Lin Sicheng's foresight, which was just like being able to tell fortunes: if he hadn't given that extra three or four million, would this group of people have given him this thing for free?

Because even a fool could infer: since the brush washer was so expensive, and the blue and white bowl had a background not much different from the brush washer, did it also have some story to it?

The so-called returning a peach for a plum, if you respect me by a foot, I will respect you by a yard————

He was both moved and admiring, and a bit suspicious: "Junior Brother, how did you know that this group of scammers likely had such things hidden in their hands?"

"Because of the era! This one is the earliest, late Ming and early Qing. This one, early Qing Kangxi, this one, Qianlong.

This one, roughly Daoguang, this one, Xianfeng————"

Lin Sicheng pointed at the several brush washers: "Since the eras of the kiln firing are so different, why is the soil encrustation basically no different?"

Zhao Xiuneng suddenly realized: it was dug from a tomb, and it was definitely the kind of large family tomb.

Then calculating the time: the era ranges from the early Qing to the late Qing, at least eight, nine, or ten generations were dug up. If one generation only dug one tomb, this is at least ten tombs.

Looking at the quality of those brush washers, one knows that even if this family wasn't a wealthy and powerful clan, they definitely had nothing to do with commoners. In such a tomb, it is impossible that only this one thing was buried.

The so-called thieves don't leave empty-handed; since they were reduced to the point of grave-robbing, regardless of whether it was valuable or not, they would dig it all out and take it away first.

That is why Lin Sicheng inferred that there must be more such things. The only difference is: are they in the hands of this group of scammers?

It doesn't matter if they aren't; sooner or later, he would have to check the origin of these brush washers, and he would definitely have to find the previous seller. As long as his luck wasn't too bad, he would sooner or later be able to find a few pieces.

It's just that he didn't expect Lin Sicheng's luck to be so explosive that before he even looked, the high-end goods were delivered to his door?

It is no exaggeration: Zhao Xiuneng admired him to the point of prostration, completely convinced.

How did that saying of the ancestors go: Fate is fickle, and it is possessed by those with virtue.

If it were him: even if he didn't squeeze this group of scammers to the point of sucking their blood and marrow, he would have to make them suffer a major blow. Let alone eight million, if he could give two million, that would be his Master Zhao raising his hand in mercy and showing great compassion.

And then————what else is there to say?

So, character determines destiny, and bearing determines the scope, it really wasn't wrong————

Secretly sighing, Zhao Xiuneng stared at the brush washer and the blue and white bowl again: "Junior Brother, if we infer according to what you said, whose tomb was robbed? Sakaida Kakiemon's?"

"It's possible!" Lin Sicheng thought for a moment, "It's also possible that what was robbed was a shrine of the Nabeshima Clan!"

Zhao Xiuneng looked bewildered: he knew what a shrine was, similar to a temple in China, and in Japan since the Edo period (1603

year), it was mandatory for the whole population, and tombstones were concentrated in temple graveyards.

But the Nabeshima Clan?

"Junior Brother, who is that?"

"The feudal lord of the Saga Domain, ruling Saga from 1584 all the way until 1871—"

"According to that, they were equivalent to feudal lords in ancient Japan?"

Lin Sicheng nodded: "That's not wrong!"

Suddenly, Zhao Xiuneng's eyes lit up again: since it was a feudal lord's tomb that was robbed, and at least a dozen generations of graves were looted, how many things must have been dug up?

Seeing what he was thinking, Lin Sicheng shook his head: "Senior Brother, don't be in such a rush; let's first confirm the origin and attributes of these few items before we say anything else."

Zhao Xiuneng nodded vigorously: "Oh, right, right, right—"

Up until now, it was only Lin Sicheng's speculation; relying solely on his own appraisal conclusion, no matter how accurate the appraisal was, it was useless.

Whether these brush washers were ancient Japanese Arita Ware, and whether they came from the hands of the generations of Sakaida Kakiemon.

And whether this Blue and White Bowl was the handiwork of the ancestor of Japanese porcelain, Li Canping, all needed to be verified one by one.

It even had to be determined first whether these were Japanese porcelain at all.

With these thoughts, Lin Sicheng took out his mobile phone and dialed; Zhao Xiuneng glanced at it, and the screen displayed three characters: Director Lu.

Subsequently, the call connected: "Director Lu, this is Lin Sicheng. I need to ask you for a favor: there are a few items I would like you to take a look at—"

"Oh, just a few pieces of Japanese imitation porcelain, imitating Song Dynasty Ru ware—that's fine, any day is okay. See when you are free, and I will bring the items over—"

"Ah, you are attending a meeting at the Cultural Relics Research Institute these few days and are not at the Forbidden City? Fine, then at Baishan Studio; after you finish your meeting, I will have someone come to pick you up—"

After saying a few words, Lin Sicheng hung up and gave instructions to Zhao Da: "Boheng, go to the Wenbo Building tomorrow afternoon to pick someone up!"

"

Zhao Xiuneng rested his chin in his hand: "Junior Brother, is just Director Lu alone a bit too few?"

Lin Sicheng shook his head and picked up his phone again: "Rest assured, it won't be too few. Director Lu said that several experts from the Forbidden City are all with him—"

Zhao Xiuneng felt relieved: "That's good!"

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