Pottery Firing Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The history of the Li people's clay-slab pottery making can be traced back to prehistoric times; from pottery shards unearthed in Hainan it can be seen that earth-method pottery making already existed here in the early Neolithic. In Zhao Rukuo's Song-dynasty "Zhufanzhi," under the Hainan entry, it is recorded that the Li people "used earth as cauldrons," referring precisely to this kind of vessel built up by clay slabs. This method is earlier than the clay-coil building method; although later replaced by coil building, it never completely disappeared in Li mountain villages and has been passed down through generations to this day. Li villages mostly use bamboo and wood as the frame and thatch as the roof, with a hearth set on the ground inside the house; pottery is mostly made into congee pots, rice bowls, and water jars and pots. The hearth and rice cultivation are indispensable every day, so the clay-slab building craft has never been a dispensable ornament in Li society. Judging from historical sources, this method is closely related to the life of islanders around Hainan Island: where pottery clay is lacking on the island, nearby local red earth is mostly taken; since pounding the clay makes fine coil building inconvenient, slabs are beaten and built up to shape the vessel. This orientation of adapting the craft to the material is precisely where it diverges from the refined mainland pottery art.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Li people's traditional clay-slab pottery craft has a long history. Analysis of pottery shards unearthed in Hainan shows that earth-method pottery making had already appeared in the early Neolithic. Zhao Rukuo's Song-dynasty "Zhufanzhi," in its "Hainan entry," says: "According to the 'Treatise on the Sui,' it is said that (the Li people) are light-hearted and fierce… and used earth as cauldrons." Pottery made by the clay-slab building method has been used by the Li people from generation to generation. Because of the impact of mechanized production implements, handmade pottery has lost its original living status, and its craft has consequently been lost.
Slab building
Paddled clay slabs are pressed onto a core and joined course by course, without a wheel and without coiled ropes.
Paddling slabs and closing the seams
Wooden bats and stone tools beat the slabs home; how hard they strike decides whether the slab bonds or splits.
Firing on the spot
The dried pots are fired on a brushwood pyre, and the scorching and mottling it leaves are deliberately kept.
Seven inheritors at Beibei village
Only seven potters remain at Beibei village, and the shapes they make still hold the aesthetic of ancient Li women.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
This craft is now preserved in Gaoshan Village Committee's Pobei Village area of Yacha Town, Baisha Li Autonomous County. There the Li villages are isolated in transport and have little contact with the outside product market, so handmade pottery has been able to continue. In Li villages, clay-slab building was originally women's everyday work; daily utensils such as mortars, jars, and bowls were taken by their users into the fields and markets. Handmade pottery has lost its original living status and the craft has been lost; now only seven inheritors still practice it, so rescue and protection have become urgent. If other Li townships in the county could follow Yacha's approach and set up a study point, with a few elderly people from Pobei Village leading the work, the kiln smoke and the sound of slapping slabs might remain in the villages a few more years.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
"Clay-slab building pottery appeared before clay-coil building pottery, has a more distant history, and is a relic of prehistoric culture. The clay-slab pottery craft is a living fossil of China's early pottery-making techniques and is of important value to research on the history of human social development and the history of manual-craft development. The modeling art of the pottery manifests the artistic attainment and aesthetic concepts of ancient Li women and still has ornamental and collectible value to this day. At present, only in the remote, hard-to-reach Li village—Pobei Village of Gaojia Village Committee, Yacha Town, Baisha Li Autonomous County—are there still seven inheritors, and their craft urgently needs rescue and protection
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)
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