Wuzhouyao Ceramic Firing Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
According to archaeological finds, the Wuzhou kiln was first fired in the Eastern Han, matured in the Six Dynasties, and reached its zenith in the Tang and Song dynasties. It is the general scholarly view that, before the Tang dynasty, the Wuzhou kiln ranked second only to the Yue kiln, and is one of the six great celadon kiln systems of north and south China.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Wuzhou-kiln ceramic firing craft refers to the kiln-system craft of traditional ceramic making and firing produced in ancient Wuzhou (near present-day Jinhua City, Zhejiang), based mainly on the local red argillaceous sandstone clay. The products of the Wuzhou kiln mainly include several dozen glazed-ware types such as underglaze brown-painted ware, slip-coated ware, opalescent-glaze ware, and painted ware. The raw materials for the Wuzhou-kiln ceramic firing craft are taken locally with precise proportions, and its firing process steps are many and intricate. The production flow mainly comprises stages such as raw-material preparation, throwing and trimming the body, decorative carving, and glazing and firing; from batching to firing it strictly follows traditional rules, and every step and process demands rigorous and exacting skill from the artisan, all done by hand from long practical experience, with eye, touch, and insight held in concert. The Wuzhou-kiln firing craft forms a system of its own, developing systematic kiln-system characteristics. The raw material used is the local red argillaceous sandstone clay as the porcelain clay. Underglaze dotted brown mottling, the appliqué (pile-moulding) technique, the decorative technique of applying a slip ground over the body to mask its dark colour, the opalescent-glaze kiln-transformation technique, and so on, are all Wuzhou-kiln originals. The Wuzhou kiln has special raw materials and fine formulae; its craft innovation keeps developing, and its products through the ages were all ordinary folk-use porcelain, directly tied to the daily life of local people, showing distinct kiln-system characteristics in type, shape, and glaze colour. In the Tang and Song dynasties, Wuzhou-kiln porcelain was continually exported, forming a kiln system of enormous scale. The Wuzhou kiln invented underglaze brown-painted porcelain in the Western Jin, the earliest painted porcelain fired in our country; the opalescent-glaze kiln-transformation technique has profound significance for ceramic diversity.
Documented process record
The raw materials for the Wuzhou-kiln ceramic firing craft are taken locally with precise proportions, and its firing process steps are many and intricate. The production flow mainly comprises stages such as raw-material preparation, throwing and trimming the body, decorative carving, and glazing and firing; from batching to firing it strictly follows traditional rules, and every step and process demands rigorous and exacting skill from the artisan, all done by hand from long practical experience, with eye, touch, and insight held in concert.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Historically, the Wuzhou kiln was widely distributed through the Jinhua and Quzhou area in central Zhejiang; the porcelain fired there is collectively called the "Wuzhou kiln." As a folk kiln, the Wuzhou kiln has for over a thousand years been deeply woven into local daily life; it is an important cultural marker of the locality, influencing local people's cultural psychology and living habits, and has important socio-cultural value.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Wuzhouyao Ceramic Firing Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
From the Yuan dynasty the Wuzhou kiln gradually shrank; in recent years, governments at all levels have intensified the restoration and protection of the Wuzhou kiln, gradually forming a stable transmission lineage, and the heritage item has gained new vitality. Chen Xinhua (recorded in the official archives of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in May 1955, a native of Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province. A representative inheritor of the Wuzhou-kiln ceramic firing craft, a project under the fifth national-level batch of the national intangible cultural heritage. A senior arts-and-crafts master, and a Chinese Master of Arts and Crafts. He once served as director of the Jinhua Gufang Art-Pottery Factory. He transmits the traditional Wuzhou-kiln firing craft, carrying on and developing the traditional techniques of comb-patterning (tiaodao) and brown-dot painting; his works have pure, true glaze colour, elegant and refined composition, and archaic, plain substance, embodying both the steady and graceful character of form and the vigorous and majestic momentum. Representative works include the "Wuzhou-kiln Celadon-Glazed Pot Carved with a Treasure-Flower Design," the "Rhyme of the Wuzhou Kiln's Past," and the "Rhyme of Wuzhou-Kiln Wares," among others. In 2004 he founded the Wuzhou Kiln Research Institute, devoted to the restoration, research, and transmission of the Wuzhou-kiln porcelain craft. He cultivates inheritors, having taken on more than thirty apprentices, to carry on the traditional firing craft.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Chen Xinhua 05-2890
- Xu Wenkui
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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