Incense ash glaze: the thousand-year spirit of nirvana in the fire

A furnace of incense ashes, all kinds of creation. When the incense smoke of rituals curls away, the remaining ashes are transformed into another kind of immortality in the hands of craftsmen - this is the legend of incense ash glaze. This ancient technique, which is a perfect fusion of ritual culture and aesthetics, is now enjoying a marvelous vitality.

Incense ash is the crystallization of the wisdom of the Chinese people to "respect heaven and ancestral law". Craftsmen understand the ancient philosophy of "making the best use of things", and regard the ashes after sacrifices as a spiritual medium connecting heaven and man. These ashes, which carry prayers, are perfectly fused with quartz sand to complete the sacred transformation at a high temperature of 1,400 degrees Celsius. The Ming Dynasty's "Heavenly Works" has recorded: "Liuli, stone as the quality, nitrate and the ash to seep the..." The key role of ash in the production of glaze.

"Overhand seventy-two, square grams into a vessel." From the ingredients to the molding, the ash glaze needs to go through more than ten complicated procedures such as material selection, grinding, melting, blowing, etc. The craftsmen blow by mouth and heart. The craftsmen blow with their mouths, hearts, and hands with their full attention, so that each piece of work carries a unique rhythm of life. When the light penetrates the slightly turbid glazed body, it reflects the Chinese aesthetic pursuit of "robustness on the outside and warmth on the inside".

In Suzhou Museum, an incense ash glazed antique ware quietly displayed, its glaze in the hidden gray flakes, just like the dispersal of cigarettes frozen in time. This kind of "imperfect perfection" is precisely the highest state of the Oriental aesthetics, which is "to see the cleverness in the clumsiness". Contemporary designers are combining ash glaze with modern craftsmanship to create both ancient and new tea and incense utensils, allowing traditional skills to truly "live" in the present.

The revival of ash glaze is a cultural dialog across thousands of years. When we hold up a piece of ash glazed ware, what we touch is not only the warmth of the material itself, but also the reverence and wisdom of our ancestors for all things in heaven and earth. This unique way of transforming spiritual beliefs into material inheritance is precisely the code for the continuity of Chinese civilization.