Gao Shuiwang

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Gao Shuiwang, Male, Unspecified, from Luoyang, Henan, is a third-batch national representative bearer of Tang Sancai Firing Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-94). The tradition is documented in Luoyang, Henan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Tang Sancai Firing Craftsmanship in Luoyang, Henan: The body material of Tangsancai consists mainly of locally produced white kaolin. Tang tri-color glazed pottery (Tangsancai) is a distinctly styled ceramic that flourished in the Tang dynasty and has a history of over thirteen hundred years to this day. Beginning in the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty, the Gao family of Mengjin fired Tangsancai in small kilns, passing the craft from men to men and not to women, so that the skill was transmitted without interruption.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in September 1958 in Mengjin County, Henan Province. Representative bearer of Tang Sancai Firing Craftsmanship, a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. A Tang Sancai firing technician. He was fascinated from childhood by the restoration and making of Tang Sancai. Building on inherited traditional techniques, he devoted himself to the pottery craft of the Han and Tang dynasties, systematically drawing on and absorbing the artistic essence of Han and Tang painted pottery in painting, stone carving, sculpture, stamping, appliqué and glazing, and succeeded in developing a purely handcrafted process for high-quality reproduction Tang Sancai. The modelling, body quality, glaze colour, fine crackle (the 'dragonfly wing' effect) and artificial ageing of his works are comparable to genuine antiquities. He has held numerous training courses, passing on the insights and experience of many years and attaching importance to strengthening the ranks of transmitters of the traditional Tang Sancai craft. Within the documented technical tradition of Tang Sancai Firing Craftsmanship in Luoyang, Henan: The so-called "three colors" refers to applying mainly yellow, green, and white glazes over a white clay body to convey a sense of polychrome. Because large numbers of precious Tangsancai pieces were unearthed in Luoyang, it is also called "Luoyang Tangsancai." In firing, a twice-fired method is used: first the sculpted body is shaped and dried, then placed in the kiln and bisque-fired at a temperature above 1000°C; afterward various glazes are applied and the piece is glaze-fired in the kiln at a firing temperature of around 900°C. Tangsancai glaze is a low-temperature transparent glaze; during firing, the molten glaze naturally flows downward and blurs into neighboring colors, producing a unique artistic effect. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Gao Songmao of the Gao family contributed the Tangsancai firing craft without reservation, ushering Tangsancai into a new period of development. Originally, Luoyang Tangsancai could only simply imitate horse and camel shapes; now its product types have been greatly enriched, and figures, animals, vessels, and birds and beasts can all be rendered in Tangsancai. The glaze colors of Tangsancai are not pre-mixed but are the result of mutual infiltration inside the kiln. The yellow, green, and white glazes are dabbed on according to the parts of the object; when heated, the glaze layers melt and slowly flow down along the body, and neighboring bands naturally diffuse, forming a mottled effect difficult to reproduce in later ages. Sufficient drying time must be allowed between the two firings of bisque and glaze; if the body's moisture content is too high it will crack during glaze firing. Today's antique-style works in Luoyang still take local white kaolin as the body material; to produce on the finished pieces the dragonfly-wing-like fine crackle and signs of age, the works must be artificially aged after firing by brushing and wiping. This step has changed from a master-to-apprentice, word-of-mouth manual skill into a craft indicator that can be checked item by item. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The plain firing": The dried body is fired above 1000 degrees so the clay becomes a solid carrier for the glaze. "Applying the glazes": Yellow, green and white glazes are dabbed on by area; too much runs, too little dulls the colour. "The glaze firing": The second firing runs cooler, about 900 degrees, so the low-temperature glaze flows and mingles without clouding. "Crazing and ageing": Fine dragonfly-wing crazing forms as the body cools, and replicas are then washed and rubbed to look aged.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

He has consistently emphasized the training of younger successors, paying particular attention to building a graduated, tiered structure within the production workforce.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Gao Shuiwang · National Representative Bearer Archive