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Photography Notes of Yohen Tenmoku
浏览次数:1879次 更新时间:2019-06-21

Written and photographed by Ma Li

 

April 30th, Sunny, Beijing-Tianjin-Tokyo

  I learned from the internet that the only three Yohen Tenmoku tea bowls were going to be displayed separately at Tokyo Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Shiga-ken Miho Museum and Nara National Museum from April 13th to May 19th, so I went to Japan during Labour Day to see the real faces of Yohen Tenmoku with my own eyes. In the wee hours of May 1st, I checked in the Futako Tamagawa Excel Hotel successfully. The room was small, Japanese style, but the plus side was that it was only ten minutesdrive from the Seikado Bunko Art Museum.

 

May 1st, Sunny, TokyoKyoto

  The breakfast restaurant of this hotel was on the 30th floor, which had a great view. I could see Fuji Mountain. I did not have time caring for delicious food and a beautiful view, and I went straight to the Seikado Bunko Art Museum after finishing breakfast. About 20 people were waiting in line, my first stop of Yohen Tenmoku trip started when I stand at the end of the line. Only three and a half bowls f Yohen Tenmoku are left in the world, and Zhejiang Guyue Guild Hall collects the half one ( according to rumor, it was kept in a banks safe by its owner and never shown to others) , the three complete bowls are in Japan which are the national treasures of Japan. The national treasure is defined as very rare and valuable treasures from the world cultural viewpoint, and Agency for Culture Affairs designated them. Fujians Jian-Yao kilns made these three bowls at China during the Song Dynasty. Seikado Bunko Art Museum was founded by the Iwasaki family, who also founded a Japanese financial magnate——Mitsubishi Group, and you could see how powerful the family was. The Yohen Tenmoku that is housed at Seikado Bunko Art Museum is also called Inaba Tenmoku, and according to the record, Iwasaki family used the money equal to 125 kilograms of gold to purchase this bowl at 1924. Seikado Bunko Art Museum exhibited the best bowl in the worldat the exhibition area with natural light. The black-based body has silver and blue pattern like the infinite cosmos, and the well-arranged spots on the inside wall are like meteor craters. The spots have blue radiation, and the color changes when you change your direction and when the light changes, the bowl has an iridescent glow which is terrific and various. There were not many people, so I got to observe this bowl of Southern Song Dynasty. After touring for an hour, we left the Seikado Bunko Art Museum and went straight to Shinkansens Tokyo Station.

  Shinkansen and G-series high-speed train each have their strength, but I appreciate the smoking room of Shinkansen. In Japanese, no only Shinkansen, public places like hotels, cafes, restaurants have smoking rooms, and this shows humanization, and we should applaud for this ( personal view). May 1st was the first day of Reiwa era after the Heisei era end, and this was very important to Japan, which is the only country with royals that has never been overthrown. You could find celebrating slogans with the wordReiwaon them, and looking forward to a new beautiful and harmony era. It was a ten-day vacation, so there were many more people on the road but in order. The non-reserved seat on Shinkansen was packed from Tokyo to Kyoto, so we had to stand for two and a half hours for the first time.

  We stayed at Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto, and this hotel was built surround Shakusui-en which is an 800-year-old Japanese garden. It was the beginning of summer, and everywhere was green and full of life. We dined at this hotels Michelin one-star restaurant Sushi Wakon, the service was as excellent as the food, the materials were fresh, and the chef was kind too. The waiters and head chef helped us(the only two foreign guests that night) to understand the culture of Sushi, explained where the freshness of the fishes came from, and how to match the food with wines, etc.. The perfect dining experience was with the just right amount cleared the tiredness of coming to Kyoto from Tokyo.












May 2nd, cloudy to sunny, Kyoto-Shiga-Kyoto

    After breakfast, I went to the Miho Museum by JR and then an hour of special line bus. Miho Museum is the proudest work in the late years of Mr. I.M. Pei, who was a master of modern architecture. The museum is inside the deep mountains of Shiga-ken and an hour drive from central Kyoto, it is the best mixture of architecture and nature. The combination of glass and stone, the application of triangle and geometry, and the perfect setting of light showed distinct characteristics of Mr. I.M. Pei. Miho Museum is honored as the modern Peach Garden, even it didn’t show the pink color of cheery blossom due to the season, when I walked through the tunnel of the museum, the glimmer of early summer was captured flawlessly, and the green reflection showed the great vitality of summer. The front door was an irimoya-zukur style which is an ancient Chinese architecture to blend the building in nature better and to make it feels like an ancient temple hiding in the mountains. The countless triangular rooftops and fences let more natural light leak inside; the yard of light allowed the audiences to have better experiences. The idea of greeting pines on the entrance came from Mount Huangshan, and it means that a gentleman welcomes guests from everywhere with manner. The Grammy winner Paul Winter Consort wrote an album especially for Miho Museum and Mr. I.M. Pei. Now the song Remembering starts to play in my car every morning to remember Mr. I.M. Pei.

The Yohen Tenmoku was displayed in Daitoku-Ji Temple, Kyoto during the special Spring exhibition which was rare. Because Daitoku-Ji Temple isn’t open to the public, and the bowl is sacred to the monks, even the Japanese NHK couldn’t borrow the real bowl for the documentary. This bowl is especially mysterious to Japanese. Different from Seikado, Miho chose to place the Tenmoku in a dark solitary room and shoot the light straight inside the bowl. I waited for almost an hour in the line. When I saw it, I could sense the history behind it. It was sparkling like the galaxy with an extraordinary beauty of quietness and it was like waves with the reflection of the starry sky which was intoxicating. Miho Museum offered Japanese, Chinese, and English voice guide, listening to the Chinese explanation and Paul Winter’s song for Miho while waiting in the line was enjoyable as well. And the cultural and creative products of this unique exhibition was exquisite and adorable, and they are suitable to be souvenirs.








May 3rd, sunny to cloudy Kyoto-Nara-Kyoto

   Today’s destination was Nara National Museum, the Yohen Tenmoku which was housed at Fujita Museum was displaying there. The Fujita Museum is located in Osaka, which is a private museum with most culture heritages in Japan. This Yohen Tenmoku was outflow to the auction house from Tokugawa in 1918, and the Fujita Group bought it with 40 kilograms of gold back then. I waited for the longest time among the three bowls, and I had to circle in the hall. Unlike the first two, Fujita one is the only one with iridescent patterns on both inside and outside, so it was displayed in a dark room with three streams of light from above and both sides for people to observe it. This bowl has fewer patterns on the inner side, but the glow is visible, and the most glamorous one among the three bowls. It has silver linings which are as thin as rabbit hair, and it makes the bowl has more layers. If you can turn the bowl, it will be like a meteor shower. The blue iridescent patterns on the outside were barely visible; the outside of the bowl was like the starry night; it was delicate and elegant.

  I also had an unexpected windfall in Nara. There is a café shop with dozens of diffident and lovable owls called Wata Wata Owl Café, and it made up my regret of unable to take photos in the three museums.










May 4th, overcast and rainy, Kyoto-Osaka

  Today I went to Sanzen-in Temple to see the tiny Jizo Bosatsues hiding among the moss in the early summer. The cherry blossoms are gone in May, but the day is not too hot. There is a garden called Shuheki-en which has winding streams with koi fishes inside. It was a perfect day. Cute Jizo Bosatsues hid among the moss inside Yusei-en which is life’s luckiest small things.

  When I arrived at Swisshotel Nankai Osaka, it was almost evening. The breathtaking sunset glow reminded me of the mysterious radiance of the three Yohen Tenmoku. Over 4,000 factories are trying to make Tianmu cups in mainland China nowadays, the modern technology, temperature control, and raw material ratio have been refined largely since Song Dynasty, but we still can’t make a Yohen Tenmoku. These three could not be made if the material was less or more and the temperature was higher or lower. They were made due to complete coincidence. I don’t know when that the origin of Yohen Tenmoku can have a whole Yohen Tenmoku to be passed on. I believe this day will come eventually.

 

 








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