Ancient morality
The bottle shape created by Longquan kiln at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty looks like a gourd, hence the name. The small mouth, the short neck and the bottle body are bonded by two pieces. The name is homophonic with "Fulu", and its shape is like the word "Ji", so it is also called "Daji Bottle", which means good luck. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, both Longquan Kiln and Jingdezhen Kiln were produced.
Since the Yuan Dynasty, there have been many kinds of gourds, including upper round gourds and lower round gourds, and also flat-bellied gourds. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, gourd bottles were burned in large quantities, and their shapes also changed greatly, such as square, round, with the meaning of a round place on the top and a round place on the bottom, and polygon. Among them, there are other proper names, such as "Holding the Moon Bottle", which is a flat-bellied ribbon gourd bottle fired by Yongle and Xuande in the Ming Dynasty. By the time of Kangxi, there were already three or four gourd bottles. Since Yongzheng, gourds with holes began to appear, which changed a lot. Among them, those who are introverted, lying on their feet and decorated with symmetrical wishful belts have evolved into "ruyi Zun".
Gourd, as a mascot and ornamental, has a long history in China, and even a culture of "gourd worship" has emerged. The Book of Songs says: "People are born full of melons"-the ancients thought that before Genesis, the chaotic universe was like a gourd in the state of unity of heaven and earth. The creation process of the world is vividly understood by them as that the gourd is cut from the center, from then on, heaven and earth are cut, and yin and yang are separated. Because the ancients regarded the gourd as the carrier of the integration of yin and yang, there was a "marriage" at the ancient wedding: cut a gourd into spoons, and the bride and groom each held a spoonful to rinse their mouths for each other. This symbol of "harmony" behavior is "marriage", therefore, the original auspicious meaning of gourd is that husband and wife are harmonious and happy. In addition, the gourd has many children, so it has the symbolic meaning of a house full of children and grandchildren. And if it is a gourd pattern with branches and vines, it also symbolizes endless life and prosperity from generation to generation. This is because "rattan" is homophonic with "ten thousand" and "rattan belt" is homophonic with "ten thousand generations".
Modern implication
In modern times, many people regard the gourd as a commonly used feng shui prop. Because the mouth is small and the belly is big, it can take the good gas field as its own, and it can also absorb the bad gas field without causing harm. It is a prop to assist feng shui layout and strengthen induction. As a special shape, gourd bottle is very popular in the collection market. Collectors generally believe that from Xuande to Qianlong, gourd bottles are tasteful, varied and graded. Moreover, gourd bottles are more difficult to make than other bottles and cans. The key is that there is a waist in the middle of the bottle, which bulges up and down. The overall shape also requires vividness, naturalness and fluency. After the dragon is dried, the gourd bottle is much inferior.