Yuan Yingde

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Yuan Yingde, Male, Han, from Jianshui, Yunnan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Pottery Firing Craftsmanship (Ⅷ-98). The tradition is documented in Jianshui, Yunnan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Pottery Firing Craftsmanship in Jianshui, Yunnan: The Jianshui zitao firing craft centers on Wanyao Village, Jianshui County, Yunnan Province. The village is named for firing pottery, and now nearly three thousand people are engaged in pottery production; Jianshui County lies in southern Yunnan, and the Jianshui pottery, honored as a famous Chinese pottery, is produced in Wanyao Village of that county. Jianshui zitao is mostly sold to southern Yunnan and Guangdong-Guangxi; in the old days it was also shipped out via the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway and the Red River navigation, and since the Republic of China era specialized shops have been set up in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. The pottery households around Wanyao Village in Jianshui mostly make pottery by household; of the village's more than three thousand people, almost every family has a kiln and a workbench. Large pieces mostly hire labor, while small pieces are made by the family itself, so capable people emerge in succession in the village, and each sells outside under its own shop name. The forming of zitao must be decorated while the body is wet; when the body is wet the patterns are easy to carve in, and once dry it hardens, so the carver and the thrower are often the same person, making manual skill especially important. The craft of firing Jianshui zitao (purple pottery) in Wanyao Village began in the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty, but earlier, in the Song and Yuan eras, Wanyao Village could already fire ordinary pottery; the Yuan-dynasty dragon kiln and pottery shards surviving to this day are proof of this.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Yuan Yingde is anchored in the documented technical standards of Pottery Firing Craftsmanship in Jianshui, Yunnan. Within the documented technical tradition of Pottery Firing Craftsmanship in Jianshui, Yunnan: Jianshui County lies in southern Yunnan Province; the Jianshui pottery, honored as a famous Chinese pottery, is produced in Wanyao Village of that county. Wanyao Village is named for firing pottery, and now nearly three thousand people are engaged in pottery production. The Jianshui pottery firing craft consists of processes such as clay preparation, hand throwing, wet-body decoration, carving and clay filling, high-temperature firing, and unglazed polishing. The clay used for Jianshui pottery is purple in color, hence it is also called "purple pottery" (zitao). The finished ware is lead-free and non-toxic, with good breathability; its quality is as bright and clear as a mirror, and it rings crisp like a chime stone when struck. Jianshui pottery is mostly decorated with traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting, in a simple, elegant style full of literary spirit. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Six stages of Jianshui purple pottery": From clay to throwing, wet decoration, carving and filling, firing, and finally polishing with no glaze at all — the last stage giving the sheen. "Purple clay": The iron-rich clay fires purple-red or liver-coloured, the same hue as the local wine jars it was named after. "A treasure of ceramic art": Lead-free, non-toxic and breathable, it travels by river and by the old Yunnan–Vietnam railway, earning its name as a treasure of the craft.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Yuan Yingde was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Pottery Firing Craftsmanship, with Jianshui, Yunnan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Pottery Firing Craftsmanship in Jianshui, Yunnan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Jianshui, Yunnan as its declared area, and Jianshui County Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Center as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

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. Yuanyingde (Jianshui, Yunnan) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Yuanyingde · China ICH Official Archive