Pottery Firing Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
It is said that the Nangqian Tibetan black pottery craft was introduced to the local area when Princess Wencheng of the Tang dynasty entered Tibet for a marriage alliance and passed through the Yushu region; from this perspective, it is the crystallization of the fusion of Tibetan and Han cultures.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Tibetan black pottery firing craft has a long history and distinctive features. It is mainly distributed in Tibetan-inhabited areas such as Tangdui Village, Nixi Township, Shangri-La County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province; Axi Village, Chitu Township, Daocheng County, Sichuan Province; and Nangqian County in the Yushu region of Qinghai Province. The black pottery firing technique of Tangdui Village uses highly adhesive, highly plastic white and red clay, combined with stone powder ground from weathered sandstone, mixed to form the raw material for shaping the body. Its making tools consist mainly of wooden paddles, wooden scrapers, wooden pads, and wooden mallets, extremely primitive and simple. By contrast, the firing process is quite sophisticated. Firing black pottery must go through twelve process steps in sequence: clay selection, clay tempering, body shaping, porcelain inlay, polishing, decoration, shade-drying, firing, carbon infiltration, and crack prevention. Shaping the pottery body uses the coil-building method, which requires a high level of skill. First, take well-kneaded and mixed clay, beat it into strips with a wooden paddle and place it on a base, then, according to the shape of the desired vessel, pinch out the outline by hand, then polish the inner and outer walls and the rim, then inlay white porcelain shards and dot on animal and geometric patterns, and finally fire at high temperature for about one hour to produce the finished piece. The Tibetan black pottery handicraft products of Tangdui Village can be roughly divided into two major categories: daily household items and religious implements. They come in a complete range with wide uses; all kinds of tableware, cooking utensils, tea sets, wine vessels, drinking vessels, as well as incense burners and butter lamps used by the Tibetan people, are fully supplied. This kind of pottery integrates utility, aesthetics, and craftsmanship, fully demonstrating the creativity and expressive power of Tibetan folk pottery art. Axi Village, Chitu Township, Daocheng County, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, fires Tibetan black pottery. Axi black pottery uses local earth mixed with two other kinds of earth as raw material, then is shaped through manual techniques such as pinching, hammering, tapping, and beating, and then decorated with patterns using porcelain fragments. After these steps are completed, pine firewood is stacked and lit for firing, and the yellowish-brown clay turns black in the process. The fired pottery pots, jars, basins, kettles, and bottles are all indispensable household utensils for the Tibetan people. Nangqian County, Qinghai Province, is the birthplace of Yushu civilization, with a long history and brilliant culture. Nangqian Tibetan black pottery is a traditional handicraft of the Nangqian area, mainly produced in Shanrong Village, Nangqian County. Nangqian Tibetan black pottery is made by primitive manual methods, with careful material selection, using locally pure and fine red loam and clay as raw materials. Through manual crushing, screening, throwing the body, airing, trimming, burnishing, and painting, the body is formed, sealed in a large pottery jar, and then fired using the unique method of sealing the jar and smoking it to infiltrate carbon. During firing, the temperature and humidity are strictly controlled so that carbon particles infiltrate the pottery body during the smoking process, finally becoming black pottery that is 'black as carbon and hard as porcelain.'
Mixing clay with stone powder
White and red clays are mixed with powdered weathered stone so the wall holds its shape without cracking.
Beating clay into ropes
Clay is beaten with a wooden paddle into ropes and coiled up; the simple wooden tools decide whether the wall is even.
Inlaying white porcelain
White porcelain fragments are set into the polished surface as animal and geometric motifs, turning plain black pottery into an art object.
The twelve stages
Twelve stages run in fixed order from clay selection to carbonisation and crack-proofing; none can be swapped.
Firing black over pinewood
Pinewood is burnt for about an hour and the yellow-brown clay turns black; the fuel and heat decide how even the black is.
Domestic and ritual wares
Tableware and cooking pots sit alongside censers and butter lamps, joining utility, ornament and handwork in one repertory.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
At first, Tibetans exchanged pottery pots and the like for grain and other goods; now Axi black pottery has entered the market and become a handcraft with distinctive local characteristics.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Pottery Firing Craftsmanship · Pottery Firing Craftsmanship · Pottery Firing Craftsmanship · Pottery Firing Craftsmanship · Pottery Firing Craftsmanship · Pottery Firing Craftsmanship · Pottery Firing Craftsmanship · Pottery Firing Craftsmanship · Pottery Firing Craftsmanship · Pottery Firing Craftsmanship · Pottery Firing Craftsmanship · Pottery Firing Craftsmanship · Pottery Firing Craftsmanship · Pottery Firing Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Villagers of Tangdui Village, Nixi Township, Shangri-La County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, have the traditional handicraft of firing black pottery. The transmission of this craft locally has a long history and high research value. In recent years, in the context of cultural tourism development, the primitive pottery industry of Tangdui Village has developed. Nangqian Tibetan black pottery products currently mainly include jars, pots, incense burners, butter lamps, and religious articles, among which the religious articles and tribute items are the most exquisite. The Nangqian Tibetan black pottery firing technique has high academic value in the study of the development history of Tibetan culture and the history of Tibetan-Han cultural exchange.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Li Renping 03-1355
- Sun Nuoqilin 03-1356
- Baimaqunjia 04-1877
- Zhang Hongliang 05-2785
- Zhang Wenliang 05-2786
- Li Shoucai 05-2787
- Xie Hua 05-2788
- Lu Jingping 05-2789
- Liang Xiancai 05-2790
- Luo Tianxi 05-2791
- Zhang Luqi 05-2792
- Dangzhenpichu 05-2793
- Chen Shaokang 05-2794
- Geli
- Cengqinghong
- Zhang Yancheng
- Liu Yuhua
- Xiao Wenhuan
- Yuan Yingde
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。