Ru Porcelain Firing Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The Ru-ware firing craft has a long and distant history, stretching back more than one thousand years. In the Southern Song there was the lament that Ru ware had 'recently become especially hard to obtain,' and very few pieces survive. Its firing craft spread to folk porcelain workshops and has been passed down through the generations to the present day.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Ru ware stands at the head of the five famous kilns of China's Song dynasty; its firing craft includes the skills of body-making, glaze-formulating, firing, and crackle-pattern forming, among others. Ruzhou has long been known as the 'hundred-li coal sea'; this place abounds in porcelain raw materials such as kaolin, agate, and clay, providing uniquely favorable natural conditions for the birth, development, maturation, and flourishing of the Ru-ware firing craft. The traditional Ru-ware firing craft requires the use of agate in the glaze; the glaze color is serene and elegant, with the typical features of being 'blue as the sky, smooth as jade, textured as milk, and resonant as a chime stone.' The firing is extremely difficult, the yield of finished pieces is low, and fine works are very rare; it especially won the favor of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song, becoming imperial porcelain made exclusively for the court. Later, when the Jin troops invaded the Central Plains and the Song court moved south, the imperial Ru ware vanished from the world. The Ru-ware firing process is highly technical and difficult, with many intricate steps. It employs the stacking-firing technique of one vessel per saggar supported on spur marks; the main stages include material selection, clay refining, body forming, bisque firing, glaze preparation, glaze application, and firing. The firing of Ruzhou Ru ware must choose the season and observe the weather; autumn is the best season for firing Ru ware. During firing, how one grasps the viscosity and fluidity of the glaze, the firing melt temperature, and the crystallization process of holding heat then gradually cooling, directly affects the formation of the milky droplets in Ru-ware celadon and the coloration of the celadon glaze. This unique firing craft has no concrete physicochemical indicators; it relies entirely on the technician's comprehension, visual observation, and the feel of the hand—an experience passed from master to apprentice orally and through demonstration in the course of production, transmitted through the generations.
Archival Record of Process Steps
The Ru-ware firing process is highly technical and difficult, with many intricate steps. It employs the stacking-firing technique of one vessel per saggar supported on spur marks; the main stages include material selection, clay refining, body forming, bisque firing, glaze preparation, glaze application, and firing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Ru-ware firing in Henan is centered in two places, Ruzhou and Baofeng. Ruzhou, relying on the kaolin, agate, and clay of the 'hundred-li coal sea,' forms its kilns mainly with agate in the glaze, spur-mark-supported firing, and one vessel per saggar. The Baofeng branch excels in the glaze formulas handed down by old Ruzhou craftsmen, with its own distinct body-to-glaze ratios and crackle density. Zhu Wenli originally worked on the Ruzhou side, learning the craft from Lei Yuzhai, and in 1987 re-established the formulation and firing of the sky-blue glaze of Ru official ware.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Ru Porcelain Firing Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Zhu Wenli (per the official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in September 1950, a native of Ruzhou City, Henan Province. A representative inheritor of the fourth batch of the national-level intangible cultural heritage item 'Ru-Ware Firing Craft.' A Ru-ware firing technician, and an expert receiving the special government allowance of the State Council. He learned the Ru-ware firing craft from Lei Yuzhai, and later, through continuous study, in 1987 successfully researched the glaze formulation and firing craft of the sky-blue glaze of Ru official ware. Over the years, building on the continuous absorption of predecessors' experience, he conducted detailed research and analysis into glaze-material analysis, glaze-color variation, vessel-form characteristics, firing timing, the scientific control of temperature, and the styles and artistic features of Ru ware in each period after the Song, thereby mastering all the essentials of the Ru-ware firing craft. His works have soft and fluent lines, and simple yet grand forms. During his time at the Ru-ware factory, he successively trained more than seven hundred workers, and closely mentored more than thirty apprentices. Disciples he trained—such as Zhu Yufeng, Zhou Xiaoheng, Zhu Ninghua, and Fu Zhaohui—have also become noted masters in the Ru-ware firing field. Meng Yusong (per the official archive record of the associated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in January 1942, a native of Ruzhou City, Henan Province. A representative inheritor of the fourth batch of the national-level intangible cultural heritage item 'Ru-Ware Firing Craft.' An expert receiving the special government allowance of the State Council. Since entering the field, she has always been engaged in the restoration research and innovative development of Ru-ware production craft, and is especially skilled in the study of Ru-ware silicate theory and technology. She mastered techniques such as the optimal glaze formula for Ru-ware glaze coloration, the reasonable heating curve of the firing process, the control of oxidizing and reducing atmospheres inside the kiln, and the most appropriate cooling rate. She wrote these up in articles such as 'A Preliminary Discussion on the Sky-Blue Glaze of Ru Kiln' and 'An Analysis of the Mechanism of Opacification of the Ru-Ware Sky-Blue Glaze,' published as papers in professional journals or presented at national ceramics annual conferences. Her works are regular, unadorned, and elegant in form, with glaze colors that are moist and full, and have won many domestic and international awards. She attaches great importance to training successor talent; several of her disciples have become experts in the field of Ru-ware firing.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhu Wenli 04-1919
- Meng Yusong 04-1920
- Li Tinghuai 05-2877
- Wang Junzi 05-2878
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。