陶瓷之谜第 19 课

His imperial potters created exquisite new colored glazes. 乾隆手下的陶工 创造了精美新颖的釉彩

This piece -- made to hang inside a sedan chair - 这件乾隆挂在轿内的装饰作品
boasts decoration in the style of the ancient bronzes of the Shang dynasty kings. 便是仿自商代 御用青铜器的图案
A poem, composed by the emperor himself, sings the praises of Ru ware, 乾隆还亲自题诗盛赞汝窑之美
which his imperial potters had succeeded in closely copying. 他的御用陶工仿制汝窑 可谓维妙维肖

Once again, porcelain became much more than a copy of more precious materials - 瓷器于是超越了仿制品的地位

it had become the precious material itself. 本身成为珍贵的物品

Monochrome wares were used on imperial altars: 单色釉瓷供皇家祭祀之用
red for the altar of the sun, 红瓷祭日
blue for the moon 青瓷拜月
and yellow for earth. 黄瓷献奉后土

And yet during the Renaissance, 但在文艺复兴时期
European scientists were still baffled by the composition of Chinese porcelain. 欧洲的科学家 仍搞不清楚瓷器的成分

Then in the year 1 709, in the city of Meissen in the kingdom of Saxony, 1709年，萨克森王国的麦森市
an alchemist named Johann Friedrich Bottger was imprisoned in a castle by Augustus the Strong, the ruler of Saxony, 有个名叫柏特格尔的炼金术士 被萨克森统治者 “强者”奥古斯都 软禁在城堡中
for having failed to turn lead into gold. 罪名是未能将铅变成黄金

At the suggestion of the court chemist, Walther von Tschirnhaus, 宫廷化学家冯程豪斯为之求情
Bottger was ordered to discover the next best thing: 柏特格尔奉命退而求其次
the secret of porcelain manufacture. 找出制造瓷器的秘方

For 1 8 months Bottger slaved away. 他埋首研究了18个月后
A sign he placed above the door of his workshop underlined the irony of his situation. 在工坊门楣张帖了一张告示 正好说明他的讽刺处境

God our creator has turned a gold-maker into a potter.'' “造物主让金匠变成了陶工”
Because Bottger was a mineralogist, 由于柏特格尔是矿物学家
he was able to find a large deposit of kaolin clay, used to powder the white wigs worn in Europe at the time.他侦测出大量的高岭土矿而当时欧洲人在配戴的白色假发上撒上高岭土

Using his expertise as an alchemist, 运用他炼金的专业知识
he attained a kiln temperature of 1350 degrees Celsius, 他让窑内的温度 升高到摄氏1350度
a level never before achieved in Europe. 这在欧洲可是空前壮举
And, for the first time... porcelain was fired outside of China. 首度在中国境外 有人成功地烧制瓷器

The secret of porcelain manufacture quickly spread from Saxony to Paris and St. Petersburg, 烧制瓷器的秘密很快由萨克森 传到巴黎和圣彼得堡
and the European ceramics industry was born. 欧洲的陶瓷工业于焉诞生