Pottery Firing Craftsmanship

Ⅷ-98Traditional CraftsmanshipPingding, ShanxiBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The Pingding sandware making technique originated earliest around Dongguan Chongxingpo in Pingding County and is mainly distributed in Pingding County and the Heshun, Shouyang, and Jingxing areas. In the Ming and Qing dynasties Pingding sandware was already famous far and wide, as renowned as Yixing zisha pottery and Guangdong sand-pots, and was historically known as one of the "three top-ranked" wares (san dingjia). The inscription on a stone tablet of the 21st year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty (1756) in Beizhuang Village, Pingding, clearly records the local history of "plowing and pottery-making as occupations".

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Pingding sandware making technique is the traditional craft by which sandware artisans of Pingding, Shanxi, use the local, distinctive quality clay to fire sandware through multiple process steps, including mixing the clay, shaping, glazing, drying, kiln firing, and smoking. Traditional Pingding sandware comes in fine-sand and coarse-sand types. Fine-sand products mainly include ming pots, handled pots, jars, sand hotpots, and sand kettles; coarse-sand products mainly include whole pots, No. 2 to No. 4 pots, sand basins, and sand flowerpots. The Pingding sandware making technique is exacting: from selecting materials to the finished piece's smoked glaze, every process step requires manual skill. The clay must be blue crucible clay and bauxite from 20 meters from the coal seam, and sticky crucible clay from 15 meters, weathered and aged for more than a year before use; the sifted clay must be passed through de-ironing; the clay is trodden with bare feet to increase its stickiness and toughness; firing generally uses a vertical kiln, with the layers of fuel and the position of the blanks exactly right; the smoked glaze, also called "carburizing reduction", hinges on quick, precise movements. Regarding Pingding sandware making, the trade passes down the mnemonic: "first the clay, second the pressing, third the sifting; fourth the treading, fifth the pinching, sixth into the kiln; seventh the fanning, eighth the forking, ninth the smoking; the final quality rests with the kiln master." A characteristic of the Pingding sandware making technique is that, in firing, the number of fire holes in the vertical kiln and the dimensions of the furnace chamber are determined by the quantity of sandware being made and the thickness of the blanks, while temperature and duration rest entirely on the kiln master's experience. The Pingding sandware making technique has a long history, with production as early as the Qin dynasty. The "Products" section of the Qianlong-era Pingding Prefecture Gazetteer records: "Sand is produced in the mountains north of the prefecture." "The sand is white in color and is commonly called 'ganzi'." "The villagers make pottery vessels from it and sell them to other places." "What the capital calls a 'sand diaozi' is precisely the product of this prefecture." Pingding sandware has long been known for its four features: "cooking rice without changing its color, decocting medicine without altering its properties, stewing meat without changing its flavor, and boiling water without scale". Its products are healthy, eco-friendly, practical, and attractive, and display a simple, substantial cultural charm through their distinctive cultural mood and practical functions. The Pingding sandware making technique carries a long history and culture, displays the superb skill and outstanding creativity of ancient craftsmen, and has considerable historical, artistic, and socio-cultural value.

Archival record of process steps

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Pingding sandware making technique is centered on Pingding County, Shanxi Province, and extends to the Taiyuan and Yangquan areas; since the Tang and Song dynasties Pingding has been one of the northern ceramic producing areas, its sandware known for withstanding boiling and lasting use, and sold since the Ming and Qing dynasties throughout Shanxi, Hebei, and Inner Mongolia. The technique is exacting: from selecting materials to the finished piece's smoked glaze, the firing must be adjusted according to the season and the nature of the clay.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Zhang Hongliang (official archival record of an associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born June 1970, from Pingding County, Shanxi Province. Representative inheritor of the pottery firing technique (Pingding sandware making technique), a fifth national-level batch intangible cultural heritage project. Master of Arts and Crafts of Shanxi Province. While strictly following ancient methods, he has boldly improved key stages such as the raw material formula, forming methods, kiln temperature control, and mastery of firing conditions, and beyond traditional sandware has developed new products such as high-end tableware, kitchenware, and tea ware artworks that are practical, green, and eco-friendly. In addition to continually visiting sandware producing areas across the country to learn and exchange experience, he has studied at Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Suzhou University, taking his own tradition as the foundation while drawing widely on other crafts. Over more than thirty years in the craft, he has taken on more than ten apprentices and established a training institute and research institute for the Pingding sandware making technique. Zhang Wenliang (official archival record of an associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born December 1968, from Pingding County, Shanxi Province. Representative inheritor of the pottery firing technique (Pingding black-glaze carved ceramic making technique), a fifth national-level batch intangible cultural heritage project. Arts and Crafts Professional of Shanxi Province. He is skilled in ceramic processes such as throwing, shaping, decoration, and material batching; his works have glazes like congealed fat and simple patterns, strongly preserving the style of Northern Song black-glaze ceramics. In addition, works in kiln-transformation (yaobian) ware, marbled (jiaotai) ware, and cloud-and-water ware express his creativity and pursuit of innovation. For many years he has devoted himself to excavating and organizing the black-glaze carved ceramic making technique, and has edited and published scholarly works such as Pingding Carved Porcelain. He founded Shanxi Shengtao Ceramics Co., Ltd. and has carefully trained two inheritors.

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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