Photo shows an ancient ceramic kiln formore than 1,000 years. (By Chen Ziyi)
As a city dependent on a single handicraft trade that has prospered for some 1,000 years, Jingdezhen has never been short of skilled craftsmen. From the 19th-generation Wu Hao to the "Eight Friends of Zhushan (Pearl Hill)", from Tang Ying to Wang Bu to contemporary artists and craftsmen such as Wang Xiliang, Qin Xilin, and Zhang Songmao, the city has continuously produced famous artisans as well as those less famous ones who have handed down their consummate skills to future generations. For millennia, craftsmen have created countless "clay and fire" legends with their hands. While techniques may have evolved over time, the people-oriented craftsmanship spirit remains very much the tradition and soul of this trade and city.
Perfection
Since ancient times, Jingdezhen's handmade porcelain ware has renowned worldwide for its "perfect craft, unique techniques and rare materials". From clay to artwork, a piece of porcelain undergoes 72 work processes. Perfecting any craft requires long periods of experiments, exploration and perception.
Take the key work process of firing for example. Mastering the temperature of the traditional firewood kiln is no mean feat. It depends solely on the ability of the kiln director to master the temperature inside the kiln when the ceramic ware is being fired. It is said that a highly-experienced kiln director can determine the temperature inside the kiln by spitting a few mouthfuls into the kiln and watching how quickly the spit dries up; it's almost as accurate as a thermometer. Still, such mastery cannot be achieved overnight. Repeated training is required before one can grasp with ease the relationship between fire, clay body and glaze, hence the saying within the trade, "Three years a top scholar make, 10 years a kiln director".
Decorating the ceramic ware is an unfathomable craft as well. Ethereal flowers and birds, craggy mountain ranges and vividly drawn characters... By the hand of the painter, these daily sights become representations on the surface of ceramic ware.
"Any unique technique is a profound world. Only by entering it can you appreciate its knowledge and depth." 62-year-old Li Wenyue is the representative inheritor of the State-level intangible cultural heritage, Jingdezhen handmade famille rose porcelain technique. Born into a famille rose porcelain family, he started to learn the technique at the age of 15.
Two art pieces stand out when you enter this master's house: The first is a huge 1.35-meter-in-diameter brush pot named A Thriving Scene of Jingdezhen's Qing-dynasty Imperial Kilns as delicate as the painting of Along the River During the Qingming Festival, a masterpiece of ancient Chinese painting. The second is a large dragon jar named Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu that he has painted with utmost care for years, which is still in the process of meticulous polishing; the mouth of the 73-centimeter-tall jar measures 90 centimeters in diameter.
An artisan, as if in a state of meditation, can devote his entire life to perfecting a particular work process. Craftsmanship is more than a means of earning a living; it is the perseverance and persistence that flow in their blood.
An Integrated Craft
If each artisan is a "spark" that lights up Jingdezhen, the combination of each work process and the joint efforts of countless craftsmen is the fuel that fans the flames of Jingdezhen's kilns to roaring success.
Xu, who has been involved in painting porcelain ware for more than two decades, owns a shop in Taoxichuan that deals primarily in blue-and-white porcelain. "Like life, porcelain undergoes many 'tough' stages, from inception to very gradual growth and finally, maturity. Any tiny misstep, and all will be lost."
An experienced master who has been in the trade for years, Xu truly appreciates the difficulty of successfully firing a piece of porcelain, and the ingenuity and painstaking efforts behind each piece. That is why he never talks about the aesthetics of porcelain as a painter but only from the perspective of art.
"Ceramics is an integrated art. Highlighting the individual alone won't work." He would tap a porcelain ware to let a visitor listen to the sound in its bones, or talk about the amount of efforts required in making a prototype or glazing.
There's a rolling "people wall" at Jingdezhen Heritage of Ceramic Industry Museum that displays hundreds of black-and-white photos of craftsmen. Like the artisans, they have put their heart and soul into the reign mark at the bottom of each ceramic ware. They remain anonymous, so are their lives and works.
At the other side of the museum stands a gigantic hand. Towering over 10 meters in height, it is made up of more than 1,000 tiny ceramic hands, silently telling each visitor that Jingdezhen's world-renowned ceramics is not the effort of any single individual but that of thousands upon thousands of pairs of hands. It is precisely the ordinariness of these ordinary craftsmen that has turnedJingdezhen's ceramics industry extraordinary.
Inheritance and Succession
Rapid urban development has hastened the progress of Jingdezhen. When the temptation to make "fast money" is magnified, and when contemporary academic oriented education replaces the "apprenticeship" training method, some are concerned that these may cause the millennia kiln fires of Jingdezhen to waver; but will they? Upon entering this city built on ceramics and experiencing its cultural landscape, one's confidence is bolstered.
"Jingdezhen would not be able to develop if it remained static," said Zhou Wenlu, a student majoring in ceramics design at Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, who helps mind her senior's stall in her spare time. Coasters made of ceramics and wood are one of the bestsellers at this stall.
Yet to start work formally, Zhou nonetheless feels that the city can only sustain its vitality if the younger generation seeks to innovate traditional techniques and experienced artisans pass on all their skills without reservation to the next generation.
Zhou Wenlu typifies the younger generation of Jingdezhen. Here, aspiring young craftsmen are undoubtedly a fortunate bunch. Benefiting from the profound cultural intension of millennia-old ceramics, they can absorb adequate nutrition and have abundant opportunities to explore endless possibilities. They have a vast stage to present and carry out exchanges, and in the process of sharing and exchanging, different inspirations will develop, which will contribute to the realization of self-worth.
So, why have the fires of the kilns of Jingdezhen continue to burn unabated for more than 1,000 years?
This may be attributable to the clay and water conducive for making ceramics, or long periods of fairly stable social status as well as a relatively well-developed ceramic industry system. The key factor, however, is human power.
This power embodies a lifetime of dedication and persistence in perfecting one technique; this power is inclusive and embraces diversity, and never hesitates to offer kind advice; this power is rooted in reverence and passion for culture and wares; and this power does not weaken because of the changing times. It drove the past and directs the present of this city, and will guide this city toward its future direction.
The Retrospective Show of Porcelain Works of Ten MajorPorcelain Factories in Jingdezhen is unveiled at TaoxichuanCeramic Art Avenue in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, Oct.18, 2016. In picture is the dynamic photos of the workers ofporcelain factories. (Xinhua)
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