Pottery Firing Craftsmanship

Ⅷ-98Traditional CraftsmanshipJianshui, YunnanBatch 2 (2008)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

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 · Core Techniques & Process

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.

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 · Regional Records & Related Items

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.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Chen Shaokang (per the official archive of the related inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in June 1939, a native of Jianshui County, Yunnan Province. Representative inheritor of the pottery firing craft (Jianshui zitao firing craft), a national-level intangible cultural heritage item (fifth batch). Born into a pottery-making family. In 1955 he joined the Jianshui Arts and Crafts Pottery Factory and once served as its deputy technical director. During more than sixty years of practice, he innovated the one-step residual-paste decoration technique, innovated and promoted the fixed trimming knife, and innovatively designed teapot spouts whose outflow and speed reach first-class level. He once attended the Second National Congress of Arts-and-Crafts Artisans, the Third National Congress of Creative Design Personnel, and the Fourth National Congress of Outstanding Workers' Representatives. He was awarded the title of Outstanding Arts-and-Crafts Professional Technician. From 1979 to 1991, he was successively received by Party and state leaders such as Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Li Peng

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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