Xing Kiln Ceramic Firing Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The kiln remained prosperous through the Jin and Yuan dynasties, but as porcelain-clay resources gradually dwindled, it began to decline from the Ming and Qing periods onward. In the Tang dynasty, Lu Yu, in his Classic of Tea (Cha Jing), appraised it thus: "Xing ware resembles silver, while Yue ware resembles jade"; "Xing ware resembles snow, while Yue ware resembles ice."
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Xing ware takes its name from its place of production, the ancient Xingzhou (near present-day Xingtai City, Hebei Province). The Xing kiln ceramic firing technique refers to the ceramic craftsmanship that originated, was inherited, and flourished from the Xing kiln. Historically, the Xing kiln ceramic firing technique was practiced in the south-central part of Lincheng County and the north-central part of Neiqiu County in Xingtai City, Hebei Province. In recent years, Neiqiu County and the urban area of Xingtai have also begun firing Xing ware. The Xing kiln firing technique is complex. It encompasses the making of dressed white porcelain and translucent white porcelain, as well as decorative processes such as carved and incised patterns, sculpture, stamped designs, and appliqué, the firing technique for the sancai (three-color) variety, and the saggar-firing technique for porcelain. The Xing kiln firing technique uses a high proportion of hard raw materials (feldspar, quartz, etc.) to reduce the content of the high-alumina kaolin, yielding a reasonably formulated body mix with a low iron content. Porcelain fired with this technical formula has a highly vitrified white body, featuring translucency and a smooth, lustrous glaze. The use of reverse-rotation throwing to shape the body into Xing-ware products with jade-bi feet or jade-ring feet is a distinctive hallmark of Xing kiln porcelain. Glazing by dipping or swirling, together with full-glaze and half-glaze techniques, adds to the beauty of the vessels. The "reduction flame" method used—covering the body with a saggar for reduction-flame firing—produces products that are white tinged with blue-green, with a fine, smooth, and lustrous glaze, thus distinguishing Xing ware from other white porcelains. The Xing kiln mainly produced white porcelain, while also firing yellow-glazed, black-glazed, and sancai wares; its products included everyday utensils, Buddhist implements, and mingqi (tomb figurines). In terms of aesthetic character, the body decoration retains the Tang-era techniques of carved, incised, and colored-glaze ornament, displaying the traits of dignified form, fluid lines, regular trimming, and rounded fullness. The Xing kiln was the earliest kiln in northern China to fire white porcelain. It had already begun producing porcelain in the Northern and Southern Dynasties period; by the Sui dynasty it was firing high-grade white porcelain of exquisite form and strong translucency. Building on Sui development, the Tang-dynasty Xing kiln became a center for the production of fine white porcelain, rivalling the Yue kiln on equal terms. Thus it can be seen that the Xing kiln is an early representative of Chinese white porcelain and a milestone in the history of Chinese ceramics; the further protection and promotion of the Xing kiln ceramic firing technique is of great significance.
White porcelain with a coating slip
A slip coating thickens the body before glazing so the ware reads white, a distinct class within Xing white porcelain.
Light-transmitting white porcelain
Less kaolin and more feldspar and quartz give an iron-poor, highly vitrified body whose finish glows and transmits light.
Saggar reduction firing
Bodies are enclosed in saggars and fired in reduction, giving the ware a white body faintly flushed with green under a fine glaze.
Reverse wheel-throwing for the jade-disc foot
Reverse wheel throwing produces the jade-disc or jade-ring foot peculiar to Xing ware, regular in the turning and full in the form.
Dipping, pouring and half-glazing
Glaze is applied by dipping or pouring, wholly or in part; leaving the rim bare saves glaze and adds contrast.
Tri-colour ware and the decoration processes
Alongside white, the kiln fired yellow-glazed, black-glazed and tri-colour wares, with Tang-style incising, stamping and colour decoration.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Xing kiln sites are concentrated in the south-central part of Lincheng County and the north-central part of Neiqiu County, where the mountain ranges connect and porcelain clay is sourced locally. In recent years the firing area has spread outward, and Neiqiu and the urban area of Xingtai have also lit their kilns.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
By the 1980s, the Xing kiln firing technique had nearly been lost, but after multi-party rescue and excavation efforts, a stable lineage of transmission has now taken shape. The Xing kiln ceramic firing technique holds high scientific-research, historical, and cultural value. Zhang Zhizhong (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): male, Han ethnicity, born in November 1963, from Lincheng County, Hebei Province. Representative inheritor of the Xing kiln ceramic firing technique, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project of the fifth batch. He has been engaged in Xing-ware research and firing practice for nearly forty years. In 1980 he participated in the revival firing of the Xing kiln and was later appointed head of the Xing-ware trial-production group. In 1987, six pieces of Xing-kiln-imitation works that he threw and fired passed provincial and ministerial-level technical appraisal. He comprehensively and systematically restored the ancient ceramic firing methods and mastered a complete set of Xing-ware raw-material preparation, forming, firing, and traditional throwing and finishing techniques. His works are vivid in spirit, dignified and generous, and of distinctive style; he has won more than ten national-level ceramic competition awards, and his works have been collected by institutions such as the China National Arts and Crafts Museum. He has published five monographs including Research on the Xing Kiln and China's Xing Kiln, and authored more than thirty professional papers. He was awarded the Contribution Award for the Restoration and Development of China's Famous Historical Kilns by the China Ceramic Industry Association.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhang Zhizhong 05-2889
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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