Sun Zhenhua

i try to use this saying “Porcelain of literati” to describe my feeling when i watched the latest porcelain works from Zuo Zhengyao. obviously Zuo’s “Porcelain of literati” and the traditional “Painting of literati” are two different concepts. “Painting of literati” is the cultural heritage left from the ancient literati, while “Porcelain of literati” is a new form created by the modern literati with the base on the traditional ceramic skill.

The “underglaze” from Zuo reflects the basic feature of “Porcelain of literati”: it is extremely ancient and extremely novel.

it is ancient for it inheriting the complicated process of ceramics. The procedure is so difficult and the skill is so complicated, even trivial. only rich training and technique have been possessed, can one wade into this field. Therefore when a modern scholar has worked hard on this field, he should be saluted. We know that the exquisite porcelains in history gain applause and praise. That is why we could not give them up or neglect them.  

it is novel for a comparison with the tradition: we could not stand still and follow the tradition. We must bring innovation so that it could live forever.  imitation of the tradition and the follow is a dead tradition. and through innovation the tradition is brought to the future. That is a life tradition. Therefore “Porcelain of literati” is no more just a product from the ancient craftsmen.  it adds the concept form painting and pattern into the old ceramics and makes sublimation through time, bringing a fresh look. We are glad that “Porcelain of literati” has brought a new look and pattern to the old porcelain, carrying the ceramics forward. once it has combined with the contemporary art, it gains a new possibility for development. 

As watching Zuo’s works we could discover that “Porcelain of literati” has on one hand inherited the skill and aesthesis of the ancient porcelain, and on the other hand it has surpassed the special aesthetics from the ancient porcelain.  it has gained a trait of painting and time. This is another important feature of “Porcelain of literati”. This means that it has surpassed the traditional aesthetics and become a part of the contemporary visual culture.   

The forming of this feature is for the creator a high requirement: first he needs the knowledge and techniques of traditional ceramics. he needs to gain an ability to seize and feel the beauty of porcelain in the old days. Meanwhile he must find a way for innovation, transforming the images, utilizing the figures and landscapes that are rich in temperament of contemporary ink to replace the figures, landscapes, flowers and birds in ancient porcelain. in other words, “Porcelain of literati” requires the artist to be an outstanding contemporary ink painter. only then its contemporaneity could be realized, fulfilling the combination of the ancient and present.   

it is worth reminding too that there are paintings in ancient porcelains, but such paintings are only a diversion from the image patterns from the literati or craftsmen. such paintings are decorations of the porcelain. But the patterns of paintings from Zuo’s “Porcelain of literati” hold a strong feature of originality and spiritual personality.  it sets a foothold in the contemporary ink painting, which has differed itself from the ancient porcelain.

another feature of “Porcelain of  literati” is this: it diversifies in aesthetic taste.  it is multiple, no matter in shape or image.  it has its lineage of the tradition, and the same time it gains innovation, shaping a new artistic taste that is totally different from the ancient porcelain.

The traditional focuses on expressing a visual effect of elegance, morbidezza, smoothness and softness. But such a taste of beauty in “Porcelain of literati” has changed a lot as the contemporary image invades. Through elegance shows clumsiness, through morbidezza finds rough, through smoothness discovers crude, through softness reflects odd, together forming a multiple and complicated feeling of beauty.

The patterns in “Porcelain of literati” are odd and clumsy. The lines are direct and rakish. The expression is free from all styles. To some extent it has found a new medium for the contemporary ink painting, extending the strength of expression from ink and rice paper to the hard and eternal material.  it has strengthened the power of the expression of ink painting. From the perspective of ceramics, it has also found a new way for the traditional ceramic technology. That is exactly the value of Zuo’s “Porcelain of literati”.