The Journey of a Jar

The Journey of a Jar

In the eyes of Shaoxing craftsmen, every Huadiao jar has a story, and the old wine in every jar has life.

Text & Photos by Wang Yuanchang & Yuan Yun Translation by Sonia

坛内乾坤

在绍兴匠人眼中，每一个花雕坛背后都有故事，每一坛的老酒都在呼吸。

Huadiao by Jars

At the south of the Yangtze River and among the Chinese communities around the world, there is the custom of giving away Huadiao Rice Wine on special occasions such as weddings, having newborns, moving to new houses, celebrating the seniors' birthdays, worshipping the gods, praying for blessings, and so on. After the wine is flnished, the jars are kept as decorations in the house. As time passes, there is faint aroma of wine which fllls the whole room.

To this day, the name “Huadiao” represents more than a rice wine or a jar – it is a folk culture and an art.

I got to know Wang Yuelong, the inheritor of the Intangible Cultural Heritage“Shaoxing Huadiao,” through The Orchid Pavilion, masterpiece of famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi (303-361) on the wine jar. Wang Yuelong was the head of the Designing Offlce of winemaker Gu Yue Long Shan. It took him two months to realise the concept of demonstrating the art of Chinese calligraphy through Huadiao jars.

The raw material of Huadiao craftsmanship is from various minerals. Selfformulated clay is used to create a handmade sculpture on the surface of the jar. Artistic relief is made, followed by painting, depicting, and colour matching. Every Huadiao jar is completely handmade from the pottery coming freshly out of the oven to the flnished item. There are 6 major stages and over 20 steps, including sanding, base coating, powder sieving, sculpting, reflning, colouring, etc.

According to Wang Yuelong, patterns like the character “fu” (blessing), the hundred forms of “shou” (longevity), and the four blessings “fu shou xi lu”are the most popular on Huadiao jars during the holidays or on celebrating the birthdays of the elders. When it comes to being the “national gift” given away to other countries, the patterns adopted are mainly traditional Chinese attractions like the Great Wall, the four representing plants (plum blossoms, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum), and so on. The Huadiao jars he exclusively designed for state banquets take the cloisonné element: the four representing plants are created on the base colour of blue.

“The colour of pottery jars is the same originally. However, the sculptures vary because the devoted sculptors have different characteristics. Thus, every Huadiao jar is one of a kind,” says Wang Yuelong.

花雕论“坛”

中国江南乃至世界华人地区，结婚、生子、乔迁、拜寿、祭祀、祈福等都有送花雕酒坛的习俗。酒喝完，酒坛却保存下来，作为装饰摆放于屋中。久而久之，酒香便时常若有若无地飘散在整个房间。

时至今日，花雕已不仅仅是酒名、酒坛名，更是一种民俗文化和艺术珍品。

与非物质文化遗产“绍兴花雕”项目代表性传承人王岳龙结识，是缘自王羲之的《兰亭序》。时任古越龙山绍兴酒花雕厂设计室主任的王岳龙，当时历经两个月，实现了用花雕酒和花雕坛来展现中国书法艺术的构想。

花雕工艺原料取于矿物质，用自行配制的油泥作为堆塑的原料，在酒坛上进行手工堆塑雕刻，形成立体型高浮雕艺术风格，然后进行漆色描绘配色。每个花雕坛，从一个刚刚出炉的裸陶坛到最终成型，都是百分之百手工制作，并经过打磨、上色、沥粉、堆塑、精雕、彩绘等六大步骤20多道工序。

据王岳龙讲，逢年节、祝寿，花雕酒坛上多描绘“福” “百寿图” “福寿喜禄”等图案，再刻上祝福的话；而作为“国礼”用于国家之间的礼仪往来时，图案则主要以中国传统名胜如长城、传统名花如梅兰竹菊等为主要元素。在他设计的专供钓鱼台的花雕黄酒中，就融合了景泰蓝的元素，以蓝色为底色，创作出梅、兰、竹、菊四君子的图案。

“陶坛的颜色原本是一样的，但全身心投入创作的花雕师性格的不同，所雕出来的图案也不尽相同。……