2024-11-3

要說中國白，就得先留一大白。這是中國藝術史上的奇妙之處和做人處事的最高境界。作畫要留白，寫詩要留白，奏樂要留白，立碑要留白，就連衣食住行都要留白。所謂不著一字，盡得風流。

酷似男人陰莖的乾陵無字碑，給三千年男權統治的中國歷史留白

那麼國人最引以為傲的瓷器呢？首先，青花瓷器中的青，是指中國藍或者鈷藍，而其中的花，就是留白。

千百年來大家關注的都是其中的鈷藍，沒人注意其中瓷胎上紅花綠葉相得益彰的白顏色。直到有一天，歐洲人發現並開始競相模仿瓷器上著名的風靡歐洲和全世界的福建德化窯燒制中國白（Blanc de Chine）。

福建德化窯的白瓷犀角杯

福建德化窯的白瓷茶壺（海撈瓷）

• Blanc de Chine, or white from China, is the name given to white porcelains made in Dehua, a town in Fujian province along China's southeast coast. Historically, Dehua potters created a wide range of white wares and other ceramic products of varying quality. In the 18th century, the popularity of blanc de Chine inspired European potters to develop their own hard-paste white porcelain (made from compound minerals and fired at very high temperatures), copying prototypes imported from China. Today, Dehua still thrives as a porcelain town, boasting industrial success as well as artistic creativity. Archaeological evidence shows that Dehua was producing ceramics as early as the 10th century. In the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), Dehua qingbai wares (porcelain with a bluish white glaze) started to enter overseas markets. The first Chinese porcelain to reach Europe – a small jar with a floral design in applied relief and covered in bluish white glaze, now in the St Mark's Basilica in Venice – was made in Dehua and is believed to have been brought back by Marco Polo in 1295. Since the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644), the principle products at the Dehua kilns have been white wares, blue-and-white wares and some enamelled wares.

白釉是瓷器的本色釉，一般的瓷土和釉料，都或多或少含有一些氧化鐵，入窯一色，出窯萬彩，根據窯溫、氧化還原條件、和釉料成分的不同，器物燒出後必然呈現出深淺不同的顏色釉。如果釉料中的鐵元素含量小於0.75%，燒出來的就會是白釉。中國古代白瓷的製作，並不是在釉料中加進白色的呈色劑，而是選擇含鐵量較少的瓷土和釉料加工精製，使含鐵量降低到最少的程度。這樣在潔白的瓷胎上施以純淨的透明釉，就能燒制出白度很高的白瓷，和留白藝術有異曲同工之妙。

德化白釉天下知，世人皆稱中國白。