Liang Xiancai

01 · Lineage & Regional School

From childhood he learned pottery making from his father Liang Wanqing, and later worked as a pottery artisan in a village-run pottery factory. Within the regional tradition and school record of Pottery Firing Craftsmanship in Rongchang, Chongqing: Rongchang pottery making is centered on the area of Anfu Subdistrict, Rongchang County, Chongqing Municipality, with the Yayu Mountain pottery clay as its main raw-material source. Rongchang has since ancient times been a transportation hub in western Chongqing and a pottery distribution center in the western Sichuan basin; its pottery was transported overland to Sichuan–Shaanxi and northern Guizhou, and also shipped out through the gorges via the Yangtze River, so in old times Rongchang pottery sold in several provinces. Rongchang's daily-use wares are mainly jars, bowls, vats, and pots, mostly unglazed, for the sake of durability and low price; the arts-and-crafts pottery is mostly glazed or colored, for display and export. In old times the pottery of the Anfu area was transported overland to Sichuan–Shaanxi and northern Guizhou, and also shipped out through the gorges via the Yangtze, so to this day there is locally the name 'Rongchang Pottery Street,' with workshops each guarding their own wares by household. The main raw material of the body is the locally unique Jurassic sedimentary clay shale, in two kinds, red and white; after firing the body shows a reddish-brown or ivory-white color, light and thin yet hard in texture, comparable to porcelain, represented by the 'fine-clay ware' (unglazed) and the 'glazed ware.' Rongchang's pottery industry rose in the Song dynasty and has a history of over eight hundred years to this day.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in December 1950, a native of Chongqing. National representative bearer of pottery firing craftsmanship (Rongchang pottery making techniques), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. Master of Arts and Crafts of Chongqing. He has mastered such traditional processes as carving, hand throwing and crackle glazing, and has accumulated rich experience. He is skilled in formulating various glazes and in hand carving, and can also design and build kilns himself. His hand-thrown wares are handsome and generous in form, of superior quality, simple and elegant, with a fine body. He currently serves as vice president of the Chongqing Arts and Crafts Association. Within the documented technical tradition of Pottery Firing Craftsmanship in Rongchang, Chongqing: Rongchang pottery consists of vessels and utensils fired from the Yayu Mountain pottery clay by the people around the Anfu Subdistrict, Rongchang County, Chongqing Municipality. The main raw material of the Rongchang pottery body is the locally unique Jurassic sedimentary clay shale, in two kinds, red and white. After firing, the body shows a reddish-brown or ivory-white color; the body is light and thin yet hard in texture, comparable to porcelain. Represented by the 'fine-clay ware' (unglazed) and the 'glazed ware,' the pottery produced includes four major categories: daily-use pottery, packaging pottery, arts-and-crafts pottery, and garden-architecture pottery. Its production process comprises more than twenty steps, including selecting the clay, sunning the clay, crushing the clay, mixing the clay, screening the slurry, treading the clay, kneading the clay, forming the body, airing the body, polishing, carving decoration, glazing, polishing, loading the kiln, lighting the kiln, smoking the kiln, firing the kiln, observing the kiln, sealing the kiln, unloading the kiln, and inspecting. Rongchang pottery has long enjoyed the reputation of 'light and thin body, bright glaze, and crisp sound,' and is one of China's four great famous potteries. The 'fine-clay ware' has a natural, beautiful luster, simple and elegant; the 'glazed ware' is decorated with various colored glazes, with a sleek, moist glaze, plain, steady, and simple yet generous. Its underglaze decoration is rich in the freehand brushwork of Chinese painting and possesses a strong national character. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Archival Account of Craft Procedures": Its production process comprises more than twenty steps, including selecting the clay, sunning the clay, crushing the clay, mixing the clay, screening the slurry, treading the clay, kneading the clay, forming the body, airing the body, polishing, carving decoration, glazing, polishing, loading the kiln, lighting the kiln, smoking the kiln, firing the kiln, observing the kiln, sealing the kiln, unloading the kiln, and inspecting.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 1992 he founded Yayu Pottery Co., Ltd. and began training pottery talent. His pottery work Jin Ma Ping (Golden Horse Vase) won a gold award at the Exhibition of Fine Works of Chinese Traditional Arts and Crafts held by the Chinese Academy of Arts.

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. Liang Xiancai · National Representative Bearer Archive