Pottery Firing Craftsmanship

Ⅷ-98Traditional CraftsmanshipChaozhou, GuangdongBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

In the Song dynasty, the Bijiashan kiln in the Chaozhou region already produced large quantities of pottery. After the Song dynasty, Fengxi became a center of pottery production; the Fengxi hand-pulled red-clay teapot is a representative product of Fengxi ceramics. From the mid-Qing dynasty, the Fengxi red-clay teapot developed a style of its own, was produced and applied widely, and has been passed down from generation to generation to the present day. The several-hundred-year evolution of this craft records the different historical transformations of tea-culture development, corroborates the origins and representative connotations of Chaozhou-Shantou culture, and is endowed with the dual character of a perfect union of craftsmanship and artistic appreciation.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Fengxi hand-pulled red-clay teapot making craft is a traditional pottery-making skill of the Chaozhou region that uses locally mined red clay ore as raw material and forms the teapot by hand-pulling the body. It is mainly distributed in the area centered on the Fengxi District of Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province, and is gradually extending to the Xiangqiao District and the Chao'an District. Common shapes include the pear form, the level form, the flat-lamp form, and the flat-drum form. The hand-pulling craft of the Fengxi red-clay teapot uses hand-pulled body forming and the traditional wheel-throwing pottery technique. The hand-pulled red-clay teapot is made from locally mined red clay, and its production goes through nearly sixty process steps: selecting material, preparing the clay, pulling the body, trimming the body, attaching the spout and handle, air-drying, glazing, loading the kiln, and firing. Its material is carefully chosen, mainly using local clay commonly called 'red clay', processed through special clay preparation. Moreover, this making craft is rather exacting: the traditional wheel-rotation forming method is reflected in aspects such as vessel shaping, teapot decoration, and functional control, manifesting the special form of the red-clay teapot in multiple ways. The Fengxi hand-pulled red-clay teapot making craft has a long history and deep accumulation. The Fengxi hand-pulled red-clay teapot making craft has inherited and absorbed the ancient ceramic-making skills of the Chinese nation, preserving specific elements from different periods, embodying the traditional aesthetic standards of the Chinese nation, and suiting the aesthetic tastes of both the common people and the literati class.

Documented Process Record

The hand-pulled red-clay teapot is made from locally mined red clay, and its production goes through nearly sixty process steps: selecting material, preparing the clay, pulling the body, trimming the body, attaching the spout and handle, air-drying, glazing, loading the kiln, and firing.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Fengxi hand-pulled red-clay teapot has strong local character, with diverse and exquisite types, concise lines, rich and mellow color, and a high degree of smoothness. It contains a relatively high amount of iron oxide, is highly plastic and breathable, and differs from both purple-clay and traditional porcelain clay, yet possesses the basic properties of both.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Xie Hua (as recorded in the official inheritor archive): male, Han ethnicity, born in November 1965, a native of Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item 'Pottery Firing Craft (Fengxi Hand-Pulled Red-Clay Teapot Making Craft)'. A master of Chinese arts and crafts, and an expert enjoying the special government allowance granted by the State Council. A Fengxi hand-pulled red-clay teapot making artisan. His creative philosophy advocates simplicity, freehand suggestion, and smooth naturalness. His works show ingenious and novel themes and graceful overall forms; he excels at combining painting and relief with the teapot body's shape and its practicality, integrating the functions of drinking with visual and tactile experience to reach a superb artistic realm. His works such as 'Gongmen Tiaoliang Teapot' and 'Canghun Teapot' won two national-level gold awards, and many of his works have been collected by the National Museum, the China National Arts and Crafts Museum, and the Ziguangge Pavilion in Zhongnanhai. He himself received the 'Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritor Legacy Award' from the Chinese Academy of Arts (Center for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China), and at the same time is actively devoted to passing on the craft, training successors through personal instruction.

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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