China News Service, Hangzhou, March 15th (Cao Dan) "During the Southern Song Dynasty, in order to meet the needs of national ceremonies and palace life such as sacrifices and furnishings, official kilns were built in Fenghuang Mountain and Wugui Mountain in Hangzhou, and the firing was exclusively for the palace. The celadon is known as the 'Southern Song Dynasty official kiln' in history." On the 15th, Ye Jiaxing, the intangible inheritor of the "Southern Song Dynasty official kiln porcelain production skills", introduced in an interview.

　　Recently, at an open class at the CPPCC Practice Center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Southern Song Dynasty official kiln works such as bamboo hats, plum blossom cups, and tea cups handmade by Ye Jiaxing and his father Ye Guozhen were displayed, allowing the public to experience the charm of the Song Dynasty up close. The unique charm of culture.

A Southern Song Dynasty official kiln work handmade by Ye Jiaxing and his father Ye Guozhen.

Photo by Cao Dan

　　What is the official kiln of the Southern Song Dynasty?

In the Song Dynasty of China, there were five famous kilns: Guan, Ge, Ru, Ding and Jun.

More than 800 years ago, Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty and Zhao Gou established their capital in Lin'an (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang).

In order to meet the needs of the palace for porcelain, the Southern Song Dynasty court gathered the best porcelain-making craftsmen at that time to make Southern Song official kilns, and kept the porcelain-making technology secret, and the formula technology was not allowed to flow into the private sector.

After the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, the porcelain-making skills of the official kilns of the Southern Song Dynasty were lost. There are less than a hundred treasures handed down from generation to generation, and most of them are scattered around the world.

　　The characteristics of the Southern Song Dynasty official kiln works are described in historical documents as: "Purple mouth iron feet, pink cyan glaze color, ice cracked pieces, thin body and thick glaze".

　　"My father Ye Guozhen is a returned overseas Chinese from Singapore. In 1969, he began to work on the restoration and imitation of Southern Song Dynasty official kilns. He searched for raw materials for Southern Song Dynasty official kilns in the mountains near Hangzhou and conducted 2,000 research on more than 20 kinds of porcelain raw materials. After many formula firing experiments." Ye Jiaxing recalled, "In 1978, my father finally succeeded in making the Southern Song Dynasty official kiln porcelain that had been lost for nearly 800 years. The work was recognized by domestic and foreign experts as the Southern Song Dynasty official kiln porcelain. The craftsmanship of the production is recreated.”

　　Influenced by his father, Ye Jiaxing has been involved in ceramic art production since junior high school. For more than 20 years, he has been deeply involved in the "azure color" of the official kilns of the Southern Song Dynasty that has the unique charm of Hangzhou.

　　Material selection, mud refining, casting, glazing... 17 raw material formulas, 72 processes, more than 4 times of glazing, and 3 times of firing at a high temperature of 1300 degrees Celsius. There is no room for error.

　　As an artist who "keeps" the "Southern Song Dynasty official kiln porcelain production skills", Ye Jiaxing has his own opinions on the Southern Song Dynasty official kiln: the Southern Song Dynasty official kiln, a skill that originally belonged to the court, must take the initiative to approach people at home and abroad, especially young people, and The official kilns of the Southern Song Dynasty "flyed into the homes of ordinary people".

　　In 2005, Ye Jiaxing established the Hangzhou Xiaoshan Southern Song Dynasty Official Kiln Art Museum, which displays nearly a hundred replicas of Southern Song Dynasty official kiln works and other original works that exist around the world, and is open to the public free of charge.

At the same time, Ye Jiaxing founded the Porcelain Art Experience Center in the art museum, creating a participation and experience space for young people and tourists at home and abroad, attracting more people to participate in the protection and inheritance of China's excellent porcelain culture.

　　Last year, Ye Jiaxing and his father’s Southern Song Dynasty official kiln works were unveiled at the United Nations special exhibition “What is Civilization” and went on a global tour; in the same year, during the Hangzhou Asian Games, Ye Jiaxing and his father exhibited Southern Song Dynasty official kiln works in the Asian Games Village and launched porcelain art The experience project allows guests at home and abroad to have close contact with the soil and feel the beauty of Chinese culture with their fingertips.

　　"This year, we are planning to use the characters of the Song Dynasty to create the animation IP of the 'Southern Song Dynasty Official Kiln', and plan to develop blind boxes, etc. to make the Southern Song Dynasty Official Kiln 'alive' among young people," said Ye Jiaxing.

　　China has rich intangible cultural heritage projects and resources.

According to statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism, as of December 2023, China has more than 100,000 representative intangible cultural heritage items at all levels. At the same time, a total of 43 items are included in the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list and register.

　　In recent years, with the emergence of the "second generation" and "third generation" of intangible cultural heritage, young inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, while maintaining their skills, have also given new vitality to intangible cultural heritage through openness and innovation, making intangible cultural heritage "younger" "international".

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