Chapter 508: The Best Example

The venue was exceptionally quiet; apart from breathing, there was no other sound.

Several experts had a belly full of questions, but they did not know which one to ask first.

Every December, the National Cultural Heritage Administration evaluates major archaeological discoveries from various provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, then issues a report to cultural relic archaeology and research units nationwide, known in the industry as the *Archaeological Annual Report*.

Last year, the most eye-catching ones were the Hejin Kiln and Huo Prefecture Kiln in Shanxi. They even surpassed the Gaoqing Chenzhuang Western Zhou City Site in Shandong and the Henan Xinmi Lijiagou Paleolithic-to-Neolithic transition site discovered in the previous two years.

The reason is simple: these two kiln sites rewrote the record that porcelain making in Shanxi began in the Jin Dynasty, and they also rewrote the history that Shanxi had no famous porcelain or tribute porcelain. Based on these two points alone, they deserved to be ranked first.

Therefore, the significance was profound, causing unprecedented sensation in the industry, with influence that could not be added to.

As authoritative experts in cultural relics and archaeological research, they could not fail to read the annual *Archaeological Annual Report*. At the time, they were a bit puzzled: although the professionalism of several archaeological units in SX Province was relatively weak, this excavation was presided over by the National Cultural Heritage Administration. With the support of the Ministry, the technical strength was more than sufficient. Why were there several Shaanxi archaeological units among the excavation units?

Furthermore, in subsequent excavations, the papers published in top archaeological journals such as *Archaeology*, *Archaeology*, and *Cultural Relics* were also mostly from Shaanxi archaeological units?

Now they knew why.

Because all the preliminary exploration work was completed independently by the Shaanxi archaeological units.

This was no longer just a question of "who discovers, who explores, who excavates, who leads the research," but that all the first-hand data was in the hands of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology and the Shaanxi Provincial Museum.

This was like a race; when you stepped onto the starting line, the other party had already run over a hundred meters. The key was that the other party's physical fitness was better than yours, and they ran faster than you.

How could you catch up?

Compared to this, what surprised the experts even more was the statement Lin Sicheng made: "I led the team and completed all the exploration work." But no one asked why, why it was always him leading the team.

Because in the beginning, Shanxi did not value it at all.

By the time they realized something was wrong and wanted to pay attention, Lin Sicheng had already self-funded and taken the Shaanxi Archaeology Team to explore three kilns.

The Lao Yaotou Village Ming-Qing Porcelain Kiln, the Beiwuqin Village Tang Dynasty Kiln Site, and the Ganjian Cun Neolithic Pottery Site.

In total, there were five kiln sites; he discovered the latest one, then the earliest one, and even the most significant one in the middle. As for the remaining two, finding them was only a matter of time.

It was equivalent to drawing a straight line; Lin Sicheng determined the coordinates at both ends and selected the anchor point in the middle. For the rest, even a fool could draw it. How thick-skinned and how strong-willed must Shanxi be to come out and pick the peaches at this time?

But what the experts could not figure out was how he persuaded the Shaanxi cultural relics department at the very beginning to coordinate for him and organize the archaeology team for him?

What they could not figure out even more was: how did Lin Sicheng find these five kilns?

The professionalism of the Shanxi archaeological units was only relatively weak, not non-existent. They had explored for decades without finding a single one; why did he only take a few months?

If it were any other place or any other occasion, they would have stood up long ago: "Young man, you have to have a limit to your bragging."

The problem was that the leaders of the Cultural Relics Bureau were sitting at the top, and even more experts from the Cultural Relics Bureau were sitting below. Let alone bragging, if there had been even a hint of falsehood in Lin Sicheng's words, the venue would have exploded long ago.

For a moment, several experts looked at each other, feeling their heads were full of question marks.

However, no one was willing to ask.

Look at the venue, look at the expressions of those experts from the Cultural Relics Bureau waiting to eat melons and watch the show; it was almost overflowing from their faces. Were they not stupid?

Knowing that they would be laughed at, who would be willing to stick their face out to be slapped?

But just because the experts did not ask did not mean others would not.

Wei Ziyu pointed at the microphone: "Student Lin, what does what you said have to do with today's cross-examination?"

Lin Sicheng really wanted to applaud: Division Chief Wei, you asked exactly the right question.

He adjusted the microphone and was just about to speak when Wei Ziyu reacted a step earlier: the expressions of the several experts did not seem quite right?

Then, he suddenly realized: it was these experts who forced the question. It was they who repeatedly requested Lin Sicheng to provide the qualifications of the research center he represented. "However, what you mentioned is only archaeological qualification, not research qualification?"

"Yes, Division Chief Wei: what I mentioned earlier is just the premise. Regarding the research, I will talk about it next..."

After a slight pause, Lin Sicheng smiled, "If I don't go off-topic, it will actually be very quick, and I can finish in a few minutes."

"Boom~" The people below laughed again.

The expressions of the several experts became even more unnatural.

Wei Ziyu was about to ask something else, but meeting Chen Feng's gaze, he changed his tone: "Alright, then you speak!"

"Thank you, Division Chief Wei!"

Lin Sicheng thanked him and scrolled the mouse again:

"In early March, while the archaeology team started the exploration work, the Northwest University Intangible Cultural Heritage Center, the SX Province Archaeological Institute, and the Provincial Museum jointly established a research group to study the samples of Carved Flower Porcelain, Fine White Porcelain, and Celadon-White Porcelain discovered successively in Yuncheng..."

"In early July, the exploration work was initially completed and handed over to the SX Province archaeological department. At the same time, the research work also made a leap forward: through the Hejin Kiln and Huo Prefecture Kiln, we determined the inheritance lineage and chain of the Song Dynasty Hutian Kiln Shadow Blue Porcelain craftsmanship..."

"At the same time, the Artifact Restoration Center transferred personnel to deduce the craftsmanship and technology of porcelain from various periods and kilns based on the data provided by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Center.

In early July, we successfully restored the craftsmanship of classic vessel shapes from several kilns. Namely, Song Dynasty Shadow Blue Glaze, Yuan Dynasty Egg White Glaze, Ming Dynasty Yongle Sweet White Glaze, Chenghua Eggshell Cup, Doucai Glaze, Blue and White Glaze Red..."

As he spoke, several deduction diagrams and photos of porcelain appeared on the screen:

Evolution of the Official Kiln system: Song Dynasty Jingdezhen Hutian Kiln Shadow Blue Porcelain (Luan Bai Yu Ci) — Yuan Dynasty Egg White Glaze (Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln), Ming Dynasty Yongle Sweet White Glaze (Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln) — Chenghua Eggshell Ware (Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln) — Chenghua Doucai (Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln) — Blue and White Glaze Red (Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln) — Qing Dynasty Devitrified Porcelain.

Folk Kiln system: 1. Song Dynasty Hutian Kiln Shadow Blue Porcelain — Song-end Jin-Dynasty Hejin Kiln Fine White Porcelain. Coverage era: Jin Dynasty. Distribution range: Southern Shanxi. 2. Song Dynasty Hutian Kiln Shadow Blue Porcelain — Jin Dynasty Huo Prefecture Kiln Thin-body Porcelain — Yuan Dynasty Thin-body Porcelain (Tribute Porcelain) — Ming Dynasty Wangfu Carved Flower Porcelain. Coverage era: Jin, Yuan, Ming. Distribution range: Shanxi and Northwest.

3. Ming Dynasty Yongle Sweet White Glaze — Dehua Kiln White Porcelain. Coverage era: Ming, Qing. Distribution range: Nationwide, Asia, Europe...

"Hum," the fragmented sounds suddenly gathered, making people's eardrums itch.

The experts from the Cultural Relics Bureau all knew that the craftsmanship source of the four kilns Lin Sicheng explored all pointed to Hubei Shadow Blue Porcelain.

They also knew that the Palace Porcelain project that Lin Sicheng and Director Lu cooperated on was based on Hutian Kiln Shadow Blue Porcelain craftsmanship.

But they did not know that the correlation was so strong, and there were so many famous porcelains?

Yuan Dynasty Egg White Glaze, Yongle Sweet White Glaze — Chenghua Eggshell Cup — Doucai — Blue and White Glaze Red...

There is no need to mention the Yuan Dynasty; it existed for a short time, and the craftsmanship technology degraded severely, so it can be ignored.

The key is the Ming Dynasty.

There were many types of porcelain in the Ming Dynasty, and most of the folk kilns inherited them, so the craftsmanship was relatively complete.

Most of the lost ones were the imperial tribute porcelains with extremely complex craftsmanship and very low finished product probability, which is what we often call famous porcelain.

But there were not many, about ten types. And how many were on this chart of Lin Sicheng's?

Five types.

But this was not the most critical point; it was: he had just found the kiln, and he determined the inheritance lineage and chain of the craftsmanship, and restored the craftsmanship? And at this time, the National Cultural Heritage Administration was still making plans, and the excavation work had not even started yet.

This is like saying, before the parents have even appeared, a child has been born out of thin air?

To use another analogy: the experts are still designing the blueprints and don't even know how the production line should be planned, yet the manufacturer has already produced the eighth-generation machine. Come on, who can wrap their head around this?

What shocked the experts even more was: from start to finish, Lin Sicheng only used three or four months.

Simultaneously surveying the kiln sites.

Simultaneously researching the composition of the body and glaze, and analyzing the data.

Simultaneously clarifying the inheritance lineage and deducing the craft chains.

Simultaneously restoring lost crafts.

Following normal procedures, even if given to the National Cultural Heritage Administration's Archaeological Institute or the Cultural Relics Research Institute, each of these steps would take at least two to three years to complete. How much does that add up to? About ten years.

Department Head Chen's expression stiffened, and the muscles at the corners of his mouth twitched a few times: Three months... isn't this more like a joke than a joke?

But looking at those few porcelain cups on the big screen, and then looking at the calm and composed expressions of Department Head Wu and Department Head Xiao, it showed that what Lin Sicheng said was all fact. Subconsciously, Department Head Chen recalled last summer, when Jingdezhen was like it had been hit by an earthquake, and the city leaders were running to the province every day. Afterward, the provincial leaders took the Jingdezhen city leaders and the Archaeological Institute leaders and ran to Beijing.

A month later, the Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau suddenly notified: the research projects for Hutian Yingqing Porcelain and Ming Dynasty Palace Porcelain were all stopped.

Among them were his two projects: Ming Dynasty Thin-body Porcelain and eggshell porcelain.

At the time, the research funds had already been allocated to the Archaeological Institute's account, and they were suddenly taken back.

He was anxious and angry, pulling strings everywhere, and only after exhausting all methods did he find out: in Beijing, they had already completely restored the crafts for Yingqing Porcelain, Ming Dynasty Thin-body Porcelain, and eggshell porcelain.

Since others had already restored them, what need was there for you to research them?

Even if you researched them, what would be the point?

It is no exaggeration at all: Department Head Chen cursed for three whole months, but he didn't know who he was cursing.

Now he knew; he was cursing Lin Sicheng.

Staring straight at the photos of the porcelain on the screen, Department Head Chen stood up directly.

He knew very well that he might be laughed at and that it was best not to ask here, but he couldn't help it.

"Student Lin, excuse me, I have to interrupt for a moment, I have a question I'd like to ask for advice on!"

This time he was much more polite, apologizing first and using the word "ask for advice."

Lin Sicheng did not refuse: "Department Head Chen, please go ahead!"

"The kiln site hasn't been excavated yet, so where did you get the sample porcelain, and where did you get the research materials?"

"Department Head Chen, don't be angry when I say this!" Lin Sicheng paused, "In the middle, we went to Hutian and collected some Yingqing Porcelain shards and relatively complete vessels... Of course, it wasn't cheap; we traded them for a piece of porcelain worth several million that the JX Provincial Museum was in urgent need of..."

Department Head Chen was stunned, his eyes turning red.

He really wanted to curse: not at Lin Sicheng, but at the provincial cultural relics department.

There were many Yingqing Porcelain shards discovered at the Hutian Kiln, dug out by the ton. But even if there were many, you can't sell them, can you?

If someone is willing to spend millions to buy a pile of broken porcelain from you, do you think they took them home to use as decorations?

No wonder, after the provincial leaders returned from Beijing, several leaders of the Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau were transferred?

You deserve it, damn it...

He suppressed his anger: "What about the others? Sweet White Glaze, Thin-body Porcelain, Doucai Glaze—where did you find the materials for those?"

For these types of porcelain, a thumb-sized shard could cost ten thousand; where would there be any materials?

Lin Sicheng paused: "Department Head Chen, you might not believe it: we deduced them based on the crafts of Song Dynasty Shadow Blue Porcelain and Yuan Dynasty Egg White Glaze!" "Besides these two, there was also Tang Dynasty Egg White Jade, the Jin and Yuan period Huo Prefecture Kiln White Jade Porcelain, and the Song Dynasty Hejin Kiln Fine White Porcelain craft used for corroboration... To put it plainly, these types of crafts are all different branches of the Song Dynasty Shadow Blue Porcelain that flowed outward. The craft differences between them and Sweet White Glaze, Thin-body Porcelain, and Doucai Glaze are not very large."

"So, we analyzed them comprehensively and tried to deduce them... Of course, we were also lucky..."

Hearing the last sentence, Department Head Chen was so angry he laughed: if they were that easy to deduce, the lost crafts of ancient times would have all been restored long ago.

If it were really that easy, why would the Ministry of Culture go to such great lengths, spending both time and money, to conduct a World Heritage Application?

Why would the leaders of each province rack their brains and try every possible way to encourage relevant units to engage in intangible cultural heritage projects?

Not to mention those, just take himself: he had researched Ming Dynasty Thin-body Porcelain for sixteen whole years.

And the result?

With a bitter smile, Department Head Chen said thank you and sat down, looking dejected.

The other three didn't know how to comfort him.

Working hard for more than ten years, not knowing how much energy was consumed or how much effort was put in, and only then finally achieving a little success.

But before he could even be happy, he suddenly discovered that his ten-plus years of hard work and effort didn't even amount to a fraction of someone else's three months of research results. Who could accept that?

If it were them, they might have had an even bigger breakdown.

The problem is, how was it done?

But no one asked.

They were afraid that if they asked, they would end up like Department Head Chen.

It was too demoralizing...

Looking at that face on the screen again, everything had an answer.

No wonder Northwest University agreed to establish a research center named after him and gave him such a large building?

No wonder the Xijing City Government was so supportive?

Even less wonder that Lin Sicheng's center, despite having no fame, could cooperate with top-tier institutions like the Forbidden City Ceramic Research Institute?

And even less wonder that Director Lu felt honored by it?

Because he had picked up a huge bargain, the kind that would make you wake up laughing in your dreams.

If you don't believe it, go ask: don't even talk about three months, and don't even need to survey or find a kiln; if you provide enough materials and give them another three years, how many places could restore the porcelain cups in the photos?

Department Head Chen is sitting right here; he is the best example...