Li Youyu 65438-0954 was born in a scholarly family in Yueyang County, Hunan Province. This is a land of geomantic omen, which is closely related to ceramics. As early as the Tang Dynasty, Yueyang was famous for its ceramics made in Yue Zhouyao. When the "750 1" Chairman Porcelain was developed, the products of Liling in Hunan, like Jingdezhen, reached a high standard. Li Youyu began to practice calligraphy and painting. His father was his first teacher and he studied in a private school. Recalling the cause of his love for art, Li Youyu said, "At that time, I liked painting, and instinctively liked painting landscapes and lotus flowers." In junior high school, 12-year-old Li Youyu was called a little painter by the villagers. 1973 By the time he graduated from high school, the little painter had already become famous in the local area. Li Youyu became the cultural stationmaster of Xushi town, helped farmers to paint and participated in various farmers' art exhibitions in the county, which further increased his sense of identity with painters.
At this time, Li Youyu was deeply influenced by Yueyang's culture of "worrying about the world first, and enjoying the world later". Because of Qu Yuan and Fan Zhongyan, Yueyang culture has a feeling of searching up and down and worrying about the country and the people. Several years later, when Li Youyu stood up to defend the shame of China ceramics, he said that it was this cultural gene that played a role.
The way of learning
From 65438 to 0975, Li Youyu was recommended to the arts and crafts major of Hunan Institute of Light Industry (now Hunan University of Technology) and began formal art study. During this period, he began to learn Chinese painting from Li Tianyu and Tian Shiguang, masters of Chinese painting, and laid a solid foundation for fine arts. From 65438 to 0977, Li Youyu was admitted to the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts with excellent results and studied in the Department of Ceramics. Therefore, he can learn from the most famous artists in arts and crafts circles in China and China-Wu Guanzhong, Yu Zhizhen, Bai Xueshi, Pang Xunqin and so on. In the basic course stage, Li Youyu's goal is still to become a master of Chinese painting. He devoted himself to painting day and night as if he were possessed. On holidays, he copied famous paintings or went out to sketch in the Forbidden City and other places.
One thing happened during his study at the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, which changed Li Youyu's life. 1978 Winter, Dongshan Kayi, known as the Japanese master of painting, held an exhibition of paintings in China Art Museum. Because of his superb painting skills, it caused great repercussions, and the students were even more impressed. At that time, Zhang Ding, the old president of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, said to his classmates, "Kaii Higashiyama's paintings are very good. He absorbed many essences of our China traditional Chinese painting. However, you can't get down, you have to stand up and watch, you are confident to surpass him in the future! "
The old dean's remarks had a great shock to Li Youyu, and have been buried deep in my heart. Therefore, he formed a firm belief: learning from the predecessors, but not superstitious about authority; Inherit the tradition, but not be burdened by it; Absorb foreign cultures, but never simply imitate them-confidence in yourself is more important than anything else.
In the third year of college, ceramic specialty courses began. This is the beginning of Li Youyu's contact with ceramics. Before that, ceramics were just pots and pans for him, and there was no feeling. Fortunately, when he first came into contact with ceramics, he was lucky enough to become a disciple of a group of leading figures in China ceramics. Modeling master Yang Yongshan, decoration master Chen Ruoju, design master Zhang Shouzhi, ceramic history master Ye Zhemin and other most authoritative ceramic masters in China have all become his first teachers. At that time, it was these masters who laid a solid foundation for ceramic education in China.
Ceramic class is the beginning of Li Youyu's dream of becoming a ceramic master. Porcelain is a unique invention of China with a glorious history of 3000 years. As the mainstream porcelain, white porcelain has also developed for 1500 years. In the field of porcelain, our ancestors burned countless exquisite porcelain with creative wisdom, advanced consciousness, leading technology and unparalleled skills, which influenced the whole world.
Li Youyu feels the charm of ceramics more and more. He began to fall in love with ceramics. A new dream began to grow quietly in his heart-to become a ceramic master and carry forward our ceramic cause. He gradually devoted himself to the ceramic industry.
Ten years casting ceramic soul.
198 1 year, Li Youyu, who graduated from the Ceramic Department of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, was assigned to the head office of the People's Bank of China for RMB design because of his outstanding academic performance. During this period, Li Youyu copied the patterns and reliefs of advanced coins from France, Russia and other countries, which laid the foundation for his relief art. At the end of 1983, Li Youyu finally embarked on the journey of ceramic art again as he wished. He came to Shanghai to prepare for the establishment of the Ceramic Department and the Ceramic Research Institute of the Academy of Fine Arts of Shanghai University, and served as the executive deputy director of the Ceramic Research Institute.
Ceramics is the organic combination of science and art, and the crystallization of image thinking and aesthetic sublimation, including dozens of processes such as design, material selection, technology and firing. The development of porcelain-making technology from low level to high level depends on the combination of science and technology and creative art. In jargon, ceramics have to go through 72 passes, which is the crystallization of collective wisdom and the result of cooperation of a group of people. To master ceramics, you must master the arts of design, modeling, painting and decoration, as well as the techniques and techniques of materials, molding and firing. As the academic leader, Li Youyu led everyone to start the road of combining Industry-University-Research.
To master and understand the essence of ceramics, in addition to talent, we need tenacious perseverance and hard-working spirit. From 1983 to 1993, Li Youyu made a comprehensive and systematic study on the craft and technology of official kilns in the history of China, and practiced every detail of ceramic making countless times. Li Youyu found the teacher's lecture notes and all the information about ceramics that could be collected at that time, and chewed slowly.
At this point, Li Youyu has begun to worry about China ceramics. Although kiln fires in China have lasted for thousands of years, China is still a big country of ceramics today, and two-thirds of the world's ceramics are produced in China. However, in the last hundred years, China's ceramics have been declining and getting worse. Rough production, blindly antique, lack of creativity, although the output has developed at an alarming rate, it has been excluded from the world's ceramic power. However, some foreign royal porcelain factories are still learning the traditional manual operation methods of China ceramics, but their products have become world-famous brands.
With the deepening of the research, the technical level and production skills of Li Youyu's team have also improved rapidly. The ceramic products they produce are very popular in the market, and the institute earns more than 6.5438+million yuan for the school every year.
From 65438 to 0989, Li Youyu was sent to Osaka University of the Arts as an exchange professor to teach China ceramics. After two classes a week, he will continue to study and visit when he has time. He visited all the ceramic producing areas in Japan. Influenced by China ceramics, ancient Japan has fully inherited China's traditional porcelain-making technology, and now it has completely formed its own Yamato national characteristics, and has squeezed into the ranks of ceramic powers in the modern world.
As a young scholar majoring in ceramics in China, he is respected by his Japanese counterparts everywhere. When he talked about the glorious history of China ceramics, he was also passionate and full of confidence; But when it comes to modern ceramics, he can't help but feel fear and deep shame. So far, the porcelain auctions of the world's major auction houses have all set record prices, and they are all China porcelain. In Japan, he also saw the "Yaobian Tianmu", which is regarded as a national treasure by Japan and only publicly exhibited for a few days every year. This porcelain bowl, produced by Jizhou kiln in Song Dynasty, can shine faintly. Why light is produced is still an unsolved mystery. But at the same time, during his visit to China, he saw the gap between Japanese contemporary ceramics. Contemporary world-class famous brand porcelain is no longer produced in China, but in Germany, Britain and Japan. Chinese porcelain can only be sold cheaply in ordinary shopping malls, supermarkets and even stalls abroad, and most of them are branded products.
Studying in Japan
During his lecture in Japan, something happened that deeply shocked and stimulated Li Youyu.
At that time, in order to study Japanese ceramics, Li Youyu visited the authorities of Japanese ceramics. After a short visit to Teng Gang, a Japanese ceramic archaeologist, Li Youyu saluted the elder with Japanese etiquette, but the master was expressionless and motionless. Then, he told Li Youyu in a very arrogant tone: "The history of Chinese ceramics you mentioned was first written by us Japanese."
This made Li Youyu feel very ashamed and shocked on the spot. Although deeply shocked, Li Youyu told Teng Gang calmly: "Great changes have taken place in the research of China ceramics, and the history of China ceramics has been rewritten. You will see a history of Chinese ceramics written by China people themselves. "
When Li Youyu visited Hirohiro Yamada, the originator of modern Japanese ceramics, he encountered even more embarrassing problems. Yamada asked Li Youyu, "Your ceramics in China are very brilliant in history, but why are your modern ceramics getting worse?" This is a question that makes Li Youyu suffocate. Holding back his inner sadness, he replied firmly: "There are many historical reasons, but the tradition of China ceramic culture is very deep, and the traditional craft of ceramics is still there. China's ceramics have ushered in the best period of development, and we will make China's ceramics prosper again. "
What happened next, although embarrassing to Li Youyu, made him see the defects of our ceramic education. One day, Li Youyu, who was giving a class to the students, was asked by the students to demonstrate Chinese painting on the spot. At that time, Li Youyu saw that the students could play well and knew that their skills were not as good as others, so he found various reasons to refuse. But the students just dragged him to pull. Unable to refuse, he showed his classmates how to make a teapot by hand, which was his strong point, and finally he held back. Afterwards, he said to his classmates: "Drawing board is a job done by workers in China, and professors don't draw board." Japanese students are strange. In Japan, teaching blank is first-rate. Li Youyu realized that this is the defect of our ceramic education, and the education method must be changed. Later, he developed a set of ceramic handicrafts by himself. He said that this should be the most basic requirement for a ceramic artist, but we ignored it.
All this in Japan deeply touched the heart of a China ceramic man. Li Youyu began to think deeply about the revitalization of China ceramics. His heart was like an erupting volcano, and he was accumulating huge energy.
Li Youyu recalled that mental journey and said, "I am from Hunan. I have a characteristic in my personality, that is, I don't admit defeat and have a stubborn mule spirit. What I want is to surpass you and not be looked down upon by you. We must work hard and make a difference. "
After the lecture, the Japanese tried their best to keep him with a high salary, but Li Youyu was unmoved. After returning home, he revisited several major producing areas in China, such as Liling, Jingdezhen, Yixing, Shiwan and Chaozhou. After re-examining and investigating the current situation of China ceramics, he made a decision that shocked others.
1In August 1993, Li Youyu resigned as a professor at Shanghai University and began his unremitting pursuit of revitalizing China ceramics.
Spanning three thousand years.
Li Youyu gathered a group of like-minded people and founded the first private ceramic research institute in China-Shanghai Hanguang Ceramic Research Institute, which erected the banner of "Hanguang" to revitalize China ceramics. "Han" refers to China, and China porcelain was born in the Han Dynasty. "Light" means to revive the glory, carry forward and shine all over the world. He decided to spend the rest of his life to achieve this goal.
Li Youyu analyzed that the backwardness of China ceramics in modern times was temporary, and world-famous brands, such as German Mei Sen and Rosenthal, did not actually catch up with the ceramic technology in China's history. China's fine porcelain tradition still exists. In terms of handcraft technology, China is still the first in the world, and what is backward is only the ceramic products derived from concepts and backward concepts.
After deep thinking, Li Youyu thinks that what we can do is to go beyond it fundamentally. He wants to create a fine product that is different from China porcelain in history in terms of technology, materials, raw materials, modeling and decorative style. He said that those quantifiable standards must be unprecedented. His followers said that we all believe in his unique potential and dreams, his amazing artistic creativity, and his tenacious drive unique to Hunan people.
1In the autumn of 993, Li Youyu rented a bungalow in a middle school in Longhua, a suburb of Shanghai, and made two kilns for burning ceramics. He and his companions, like a group of devout alchemists, started countless experiments with two stoves.
Without funds and equipment, Li Youyu can only choose R&D with the lowest cost. But money is still a problem for Li Youyu. Before the establishment of the institute, in order to solve the funding problem, he silently worked as a consultant for Yixing Zisha Factory for two years and accumulated a little money, but it was used up in less than one year. In order to research funds, Li Youyu had to consult, lecture and design for others while developing Hanguang porcelain.
In order to stand on the shoulders of predecessors, Li Youyu once again returned to the major ceramic producing areas, interpreted the official kilns of past dynasties, visited folk artists and excavated the essence of porcelain art.
Li Youyu and his creative team took "750 1" Chairman Porcelain as the blueprint for research transcendence. It is said that "750 1" is not an official kiln, but it is better than the official kiln and is the top level of porcelain making technology in China. He believes that "750 1" became a classic because it broke the historical conventions and was original, and the way out for China ceramics lies in surpassing its predecessors. Li Youyu got the fragments and historical materials of "750 1" from the Ceramic Research Institute of the Ministry of Light Industry. Management analysis shows that the cold thermal expansion coefficient of "750 1" porcelain is defective. Li Youyu tried to surpass "750 1" in material, technology, modeling, decoration and design.
On the other hand, in order to surpass the world's top brands, Li Youyu traveled all over the prestigious royal porcelain factories and ceramic producing areas abroad, devoted himself to studying their strengths, and bought their porcelain for dissection to find a breakthrough.
Materials are the foundation of porcelain. In order to find high-quality kaolin, he and all the researchers scattered around the country looking for minerals. After investigating hundreds of mining areas in China, it took three years to finally develop the best quality raw materials and original 6 yuan formula.
From 65438 to 0995, Li Youyu and his companions founded Shanghai Hanguang Ceramics Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and acquired a ceramic factory abandoned by township enterprises. This ceramic factory is located in Wuqiao Town, 50 kilometers from Shanghai. Although the traffic here is inconvenient, its greatest advantage is very quiet. The development of Hanguang porcelain was moved to this place without any interference, which started a protracted war.
Subsequently, Li Youyu set up an elite production team, designed the unique technological process of Hanguang Porcelain, and concentrated a group of the best skilled workers in the same industry who had been working for 10 years or more in each main process. These people are very skilled and have become experts in their work. However, in order to achieve transcendence, Li Youyu asked them to strengthen the training of process technology, list each process as a research topic separately, explore various methods, and exhaust the ultimate possibility of each process.
Li Youyu emphasized: "My principle is to do everything to the extreme. I will do whatever it takes for quality. Mining, material selection, iron removal, mud making, blank drawing, blank making, molding and painting are all done by hand. To achieve the ultimate, I can't do better at cost. "
After five years of painstaking research and development, Li Youyu unveiled the veil of Hanguang porcelain until he confirmed that all indicators and processes were ahead of the world ceramics. During these five years, Li Youyu didn't sell a piece of porcelain.
Where there is a will, there is a way. 1999 March, demanding every link, after thousands of experiments, Li Youyu finally "refined" into "Hanguang Porcelain" which was considered by domestic grandfathers to surpass all previous official kilns and world top brands in one fell swoop.
At this point, the master came out of the mountain and made waves on the shore, spanning three thousand years in one step, and Hanguang porcelain was born with wonderful craftsmanship.