To be honest, the fact that Ru Kiln became famous all over the world is really legendary, and it has a lot to do with Sima Guang, a famous person in the Song Dynasty.

Sima Guang was a minister in the court at that time. He was very upright and knowledgeable.

One year, the treacherous ministers in the court framed Sima Guang, and the emperor demoted Sima Guang to Yangluo to write a book.

Sima Guang rode a small donkey and went from Bianjing to Yangluo.

On that day, Sima Guang missed the accommodation place and came to a small town in the middle of the night in Jienanshan, Ruzhou.

Sima Guang entered the town and asked if there were any inns available in the town.

The villagers said that there were no inns in the town, and there was a porcelain burning man named Yan He, who was near the river in the south of the village. He often lived in his family, and there might be a place to stay.

Sima Guang led the donkey and found Yan He's home.

Yan He was very happy when he saw that he was a scholar who came to stay at a guest room, so he warmly welcomed Sima Guang.

During the meal, Sima Guangjianyan and the tableware used by the house were very exquisite, with bean-green glaze and sky-green glaze, and the glaze surface was as gentle as jade.

The more Sima Guang looked at him, the more he liked him, he asked Yan He, "Is this Ru Ci?"

Yan He said: "That's right, my town is called Yanjiadian, and only the ancestors of the villains have fired Ru porcelain, and my name is Yan He."

Sima Guang asked again: "How many years have the ancestors of Zhangguin Yan fired Ru porcelain?"

Yan He said: "It has been at least two hundred years since it was passed down to the generation of villains."

That night, Sima Guang lived at Yan He's house.

The next morning, after dinner, Sima Guang suddenly said to Yan He: "Shopkeeper Yan, I want to go to your kiln to have a look."

Yan He was naturally very happy when he saw that this scholar liked the porcelain he had burned so much, so he led Sima Guang to visit the workshop and the kiln, and finally led him to the hall where exquisite porcelain was placed in his home.

As soon as Sima Guang entered the hall, he saw several porcelain racks filled with various colors of porcelain, including lotus leaf bottles, Bagua tripods, plates, and bowls.

Sima Guang saw so many good things and couldn't help but praise: "It's natural and has the style of a great man, and it can be called a treasure in porcelain."

When Yan He saw that Sima Guang liked his own porcelain, he gave Sima Guang a set of Ru porcelain stationery before leaving, including a pen holder, a pen holder, and a washing machine.

Sima Guang was very happy to pick up this set of Ru porcelain stationery.

He thought to himself: If you recommend this Ru porcelain to the court, the royal family will definitely like it.

But at that time he was rejected by the court. Although he had thoughts in his heart, he left Ruzhou and went to Yangluo without saying it.

Sima Guang lived in Yangluo for more than ten years. Later, the old emperor died and the new emperor ascended the throne.

The new emperor knew that Sima Guang was a loyal minister, so he issued an imperial edict and appointed Sima Guang to serve as prime minister in the court.

When Sima Guang took over the power of the court, he remembered Ru Ci and immediately submitted a memorial to the emperor, asking that all Ru Ci be used in the palace be replaced.

At the same time, he also sent people to Ruzhou and selected a batch of Ru porcelain to Bianjing for the emperor to inspect.

Who knew that after more than ten years, Yan He fired Ru porcelain better.

He went to the mountain to collect agate stones and mixed them into the glaze. The gems of Ru porcelain fired are green and green, which are very pure.

The original glaze color was bright, but very dazzling. The subsequent glaze color was bright as before, but it was very soft, not dazzling, and it looked very smooth.

When the emperor saw Ru porcelain, it was indeed much better than the utensils used in the palace.

So he immediately issued an imperial edict, ordering Ru porcelain to be the imperial porcelain of the palace, and also sent a supervisor in Ruzhou to specialize in the construction of Ru porcelain.

At that time, it was stipulated that after Ru porcelain was fired, the palace would first select and select the remaining ones in the palace before the people could use it.

Later, it became more and more strict, and the emperor specially built an imperial kiln in Ruzhou.

The porcelain that was burned out later, the court transferred all the useful porcelains, and those that were not available were broken and buried on the spot. Ru porcelain was not seen on the market.

So why did there be very few Ru porcelains passed down from generation to generation after they were lost? It is because of this.

"Folk legends are indeed unreliable. When did Yan He's daughter die in the kiln?"

"Also, the sky blue color is probably not what Song Huizong dreamed of!"

Chen Wenzhe was still very happy to see a secret and learn the truth of history.

Of course, at this time he was even more interested in Yan He's porcelain making technology.

He has been passed down from his ancestral skills for more than two hundred years. As long as he can learn a little, he can completely inherit the complete firing process of Ru porcelain in the Northern Song Dynasty.

After carefully checking the book, even compiling it, Chen Wenzhe slowly read it.

Because he is familiar with the production process of porcelain, Yan He described the entire process of porcelain from the preparation of soil to the firing of soil in his book.

He comprehensively summarized the development of the porcelain industry before the Northern Song Dynasty and recorded the raw materials and firing technology in detail.

The book divides the porcelain making process into fourteen steps: soil extraction, mud training, box plating, mold repair, material washing, blank making, blank printing, blank drawing, glaze swing, full kiln, kiln opening, color utensil, and firing furnace. It can be said that it is quite complete.

Among them, there are many related to the porcelain making process of Ru kiln official kilns, such as the composition and firing process of Ru kiln glaze medicine.

The most important ones are the traces of nails, flowing glaze, piled glaze, and opening slicing on Ru porcelain.

Among them, it is clearly recorded how to use agate.

"The Ru kiln is forbidden to burn in the palace, and there is agate powder as glaze inside. It is only allowed to be sold for the imperial examination and withdrawal. It is even rarer to find it nearby."

This book records in detail the glaze making details of Ru kiln's "agate into glaze".

There are many records in many documents after the Song Dynasty about the glaze making process of agate into glaze.

For example, in the Ming Dynasty, Li Rihua recorded in "Purple Taoxuan Rejuvenation" that "Ru Kiln used agate powder as glaze, and it was only for offering sacrifices to the emperor at that time, which was rare."

In the "Ru Kiln" in the "Academic Kiln of Ancient Kilns", Liang Tong of the Qing Dynasty recorded that "the shaved agate is glaze, like a brother, but with a slightly yellowish texture, and it looks like an egg white, which is really the so-called light blue color."

Although these later documents mention agate into glaze, few people have explained clearly how to use glaze and what effect can be achieved.

Agate is a translucent chalcedony, a gem of the subspecies of cryptocrystalline quartz, with birefringent (bright) properties.

The glaze of porcelain is also considered glass. Glass and chalcedony are very similar in appearance and physical properties. Both are made of silica and have a glass luster.

Therefore, it is also very reasonable to add agate to the glaze.

In fact, both are silica, different conditions will produce different crystallized gems during the formation of rocks.

When the crystallization of silica is perfect, it is crystal; if the crystallization is imperfect, it is quartz:

After silica gelation and dehydration, it becomes agate; after silica water-containing colloid solidifies, it becomes opal;

When the silicon dioxide grains are less than a few microns, they form chalcedony, flint, and secondary quartzite.

There is a very popular view among some experts nowadays.

They believe that "agate is more precious than quartz. Using it as glaze reflects the honor of royal status, indicating that royal products are spared no effort, and agate will not have much impact on the properties and color of glaze."

Therefore, authentic Ru porcelain does not depend on whether agate is added to the glaze.
Chapter completed!