黄舒伟

Mastering an ancient art

汝窑，因窑址位于宋时河南汝州境内而得名，今河南省汝州市张公巷和宝丰县大营镇清凉寺村均发现有汝窑烧造。汝窑位居宋代“汝、官、哥、钧、定”五大名窑之首，中国陶瓷史上也素有“汝窑为魁”的说法。

1 The Ru porcelain kiln（窑） is one of the top five kilns in China. It gets its name from the location in which it has been made： Ruzhou in Henan.

2 Wang Junzi， who is in his 60s， spends most of his time around the kiln and is teaching his apprentices to grasp the finesse required to produce perfect porcelain works so they can carry forward the Ru porcelain firing craft， which was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2011.

3 In 1987， porcelain experts from the Shanghai Museum confirmed Qingliang Temple as home to the official Ru porcelain kiln. Wang was on the scene， when the big ancient kiln site was unearthed and was stunned by the large quantity of porcelain pieces. Driven by his fascination with porcelain， he viewed the archaeologists as teachers and voluntarily helped with their work.

4 In the same year， Wang began learning the art of porcelain?making from experienced artisans at the countys purple clay factory， which was helpful for his craftsmanship before he got started on learning to make Ru porcelain.

5 “I believed that since the Ru Porcelain Kiln Site sits at Qingliang Temple， most of the raw materials must be nearby. So， I rode my motorcycle， with plenty of food packed， to search everywhere， and I traveled across mountains in a radius of about 200 kilometers，” he says. Wang climbed the mountains to collect the materials， even injuring his waist and legs in the process. The raw materials for firing Ru porcelain were all sourced from these trips to the local mountains. After collecting enough information， Wang started to try his hand at firing Ru porcelain in his homebuilt kiln in 1998.

6 In recent years， Wang has finished Ru porcelain works in more than 50 classic forms.His works have made their way to various exhibitions at home and abroad， such as the Traditional Chinese Craft Invitational Exhibition held by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Shanghai government last year. It didnt take long before his products were being sought after. Wang Junzi was named an inheritor of national intangible cultural heritage for his skill in firing Ru porcelain by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2018.

Ⅰ. 日积月累

porcelain n. 瓷器

grasp v. 抓住；掌握

unearth v. 挖掘

drive v. 迫使；驱使

carry forward 继承；发扬光大

on the scene 在现场

view...as... 把……视为……

make ones way to 前往

seek after 寻求；追求

It didnt take long before... 没过多久就……

Ⅱ. 单句填空

1. He                  （grasp） my hand and shook it warmly.

2. They were dying to drink some water， which                  （drive） them to look for water sources crazily.

3. We must                  （carry） forward our achievements and correct our mistakes.

4. Will you be able to                  （make） your own way to the airport？

5. When the car was first built， the design was viewed                  highly original.

6. It didnt take long                  the fire was put out.