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"In the museum, I learn about history, the competition between official and private kilns, and how this small city became a porcelain capital. I admire different porcelains at the market stalls. Although it's tiring, every day is a joy. I never know what stories will happen, who I will meet, and what kind of porcelain I will see. Being in a foreign land, my five senses are surprisingly enriched."
Hello everyone, I am Youhun Xiaoliu, and I am also the promotion ambassador of cultural travel.
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year this year, my mother and I went to the ancient city of Huizhou and Jingdezhen. This was also the first time I traveled with her as an adult.
We took the high-speed train from Shaoxing North Station to Hangzhou, and then to Huangshan North Station. We visited Huizhou Prefecture, saw the Zhanqi Fish Lantern, and finally went to Jingdezhen, where we learned about [what Chinese porcelain is] in this thousand-year-old porcelain capital.
Many days after returning from the trip, my mother suddenly recalled the stories that happened in Jingdezhen, and sat on the sofa and sighed: What a wonderful journey!
Therefore, I want to combine "Jingdezhen" and "porcelain" to write down the experience of this unforgettable journey and tell it to you. Together we can travel through the torrent of time and turn our attention to specific people to listen to their stories about creation and annihilation on this land.
š»Itinerary
Day 1: Check in to Taoxichuan Hotel - China Ceramics Museum - Taoyangli - Imperial Kiln Museum - Taoxichuan Night Market
Day 2: Early Morning: Jingdezhen Ghost Market - Ceramics and Antiques City - Sculpture Porcelain Factory - Sanbao Village - Taoyang New Village
āØChangnan has been known as the Porcelain County since ancient times, and is well-known both at home and abroad.
š: China Ceramics Museum, Imperial Kiln Museum
After checking in at the hotel, the first day of the trip started at the China Ceramics Museum. The catalogue about ceramics also started here.
šøXinping pottery production began in the Han Dynasty, but archaeological data show that Jingdezhen began making pottery as early as the Neolithic Age. The world's earliest pottery fragments were unearthed in Wannian Xianren Cave in Jiangxi Province, marking the beginning of a civilization.
During the Five Dynasties period, white porcelain with pure white glaze and celadon porcelain with a luster as fine as jade were first produced, making it the first city in the Jiangnan region to produce white porcelain and one of the first regions in China to produce celadon porcelain.
During the Tang Dynasty, porcelain from Jingdezhen was sold to Guanzhong and was called "fake jade" because its blue-white porcelain was crystal clear and resembled jade, and was also offered as tribute to the court.
During the Song Dynasty, famous kilns flourished, and many famous porcelains were produced. Jingdezhen's crystal-clear blue-and-white porcelain, with exquisite artistry, reached the pinnacle of Song Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain production, earning widespread acclaim. In the first year of the Jingde reign (1004 AD), Emperor Zhenzong bestowed the reign title "Jingde" upon Jingdezhen, separating the porcelain industry from agriculture and becoming the city's economic pillar and foundation.
Literary Gathering by Emperor Huizong of Song
During the Yuan Dynasty, the Fuliang Porcelain Bureau was established in Jingdezhen, marking the beginning of the official kiln system in Jingdezhen. Advances in techniques such as the "two-component formula" for porcelain body production and the use of Persian cobalt to produce blue and white porcelain laid a solid foundation for the prosperity of Jingdezhen's porcelain industry during the Ming and Qing dynasties, establishing it as the capital of porcelain.
In the Ming Dynasty, the Imperial Kiln was established on the basis of the Fuliang Porcelain Bureau. It became an official institution specializing in the management and organization of the firing of imperial porcelain. When the firing tasks were heavy and the difficulty of firing increased, the Jiajing official kiln delegated the production tasks to the private kilns. From then on, the official kilns and private kilns promoted each other and flourished.
During the Qing Dynasty, Jingdezhen was transformed into an imperial kiln. During the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong reigns, Jingdezhen continued to develop and innovate. Overglaze porcelain was expanded to include richly colored enamels and softly colored pastels. Hand-kneading evolved into various molding techniques, including round carving, pile carving, hollow carving, and relief carving. Jingdezhen served the imperial court for over 600 years. Due to the high regard and direct involvement of the central government, Jingdezhen became the nation's most skilled kiln.
During the Republic of China (R.O.C.), internal and external troubles ravaged the Jingdezhen porcelain industry, which fell into decline. However, amidst these challenging circumstances, the Eight Friends of Zhushan, a group of new pastel painters, led by Wang Qi and Wang Dafan, emerged in Jingdezhen. They established the China Ceramics School, making significant contributions to promoting the transition from traditional porcelain production to modernity and fostering reforms in ceramic art. To this day, Jingdezhen continues to radiate its boundless charm, blending artistic styles from across China and around the world, making it a dream city for countless ceramic artists.
šJingdezhen, a city that has been supported by a single ceramic industry for more than a thousand years, is unique in China and even in the world.
Here we see the unique advantages of Jingdezhen's soil and water suitable for pottery, glimpse the prosperous scene of "kilns in every village and pottery in every household" in ancient times, and witness the blue-and-white porcelain step by step to the top of the aesthetic pyramid.
Repeated changes in kiln shape and advancements in firing technology have promoted the vigorous development of Jingdezhen's ceramics industry.
When Emperor Zhenzong of Song bestowed the reign title of "Jingde" on this small town, I wonder if he would have thought that this city, relying on a single ceramic industry as its mainstay, has survived the ups and downs of more than a thousand years and has even recently become an Internet celebrity city.
Craftsmen from around the world gather here, and young artists also see it as a utopia. If the historical exhibition area outlines the roots of Jingdezhen, then the sea of āāpeople in front of the Silent Buddha on the sixth floor represents a long-standing accumulation of knowledge, and more people will come here in the future.
After leaving the museum, I planned to take the bus to Taoyangli, the Imperial Kiln Museum, but the bus never showed up, and it started raining again. After a long walk, I finally found a shared electric bike. Through the azure mist, I drove with my mother to the Imperial Kiln Factory. The drizzle brushed my face, and the night rain fell. She said from behind me, "Perhaps it's these unforgettable experiences that make travel meaningful."
Then we rode to the Taoyangli Historical and Cultural District, where we saw the Youtao Shrine and the Wind and Fire Immortal Master Tong Bin, the man who became a god with his craftsmanship; we also saw the Longzhu Pavilion, which was once the tallest building in Jingdezhen. At the foot of the Longzhu Pavilion is the Imperial Kiln Museum, which was the place where Jingdezhen made porcelain for the royal family in ancient times.
Wind and Fire Immortal Master Tong Bin
Dragon Ball Pavilion
We also visited the Imperial Kiln Museum and viewed the ceramic artifact restoration exhibition. Countless craftsmen from the Ming and Qing dynasties worked here. Most of them are nameless, and the only traces of their existence are the broken, repaired, and exquisite official kiln porcelains in the museum.
āØNo waste in porcelain painting, the kiln fire refines the sincerity
š: Taoxichuan Night Market, Jingdezhen Ghost Market, Pottery Antique City, Sculpture Porcelain Factory, Sanbao Village, Taoyang New Village
In ancient times, craftsmen would worship the kiln god before firing the kiln, praying for smooth operation. This ritual has been passed down to this day, with the kilns burning endlessly, stirring up a collision between the old and the new.
This city is built by countless craftsmen, and behind every piece of porcelain is actually a person.
The difference between traditional porcelain and creative porcelain is actually a contest between people's different ideas.
Traditional porcelain starts from the craftsmanship itself, from the ancient kiln firing method to the blue and white painting, each move and each step represents time and inheritance.
Deep in the alley of the sculpture porcelain factory, in a pottery shop, a potter was listening to the news on the radio, while another was concentrating on gazing at the shape of the pottery in front of him. Trams sped past, raising white dust in the street, but the two masters did not look up or speak, their hands busy all the time.
In the quieter Laochang Village, only the biscuit shops remained open during the Lunar New Year holiday. Artisans worked at home, setting up family workshops, painting fruits, vegetables, flowers, and birds with such concentration that it was hard to disturb them.
It was the Lotte Pottery Workshop that brought the new business model to Jingdezhen.
Young artists tend to conceive works and products based on their own experiences and emotions, and then combine them with the townās technical conditions to achieve their goals. Their own subjective wishes are the origin of their creation and design.
We visited Taoxichuan at night and the ghost market in the morning. We admired the types, shapes, kilns and craftsmanship of porcelain in front of each stall, chatted with the stall owners about porcelain, and found many good things.
We also rode our bikes to Sanbao Village to visit the creative shops. Seeing everyone checking in in front of the "Lying Down to Win" and "The Punching Bottle", I suddenly felt that Jingdezhen is really a city suitable for long-term residence. It not only brings endless relaxation to people, but also allows them to meet like-minded people here.
āØA song of mud and fire, the ultimate vitality
Before we set off, my mother was actually not interested in Jingdezhen. She liked the big rivers, mountains, lakes and seas, and the magnificent scenery of "the endless fallen leaves rustling under the water, and the endless Yangtze River rolling in", rather than the history behind the city.
But itās strange that ever since my mother came back from her trip to Jingdezhen, no matter who she talks to, she can always successfully turn the topic to Jingdezhen after a few words.
Even when talking about an everyday topic like weather changes, she could turn to the misty rain in Jingdezhen and finally return to that unforgettable journey.
Porcelain Palace
I recalled the days in Jingdezhen, when she was throwing pottery in the ceramic workshop, bargaining at the night market, and chatting with locals. These were the real moments that happened between her and me in Jingdezhen.
We feel the cultural heritage of Jingdezhen with our eyes and through conversation. After thousands of years of accumulation, the city's style remains timeless.
In porcelain, there's a term called "kiln change," which describes a state of almost uncontrolled color, achieved in a climax. From ancient times to the present, the porcelain craftsmanship of Jingdezhen has strived to reach its pinnacle, requiring countless fragments and reshapes for a one-in-a-million chance of success. In my opinion, kiln change even has a philosophical undertone, a kind of fate breaking through a wall.
The kiln fires are still burning, and Jingdezhen still has the most complete handmade porcelain-making system in the world, and still has a large number of skilled porcelain-making craftsmen. If we squeeze time and shrink it, we will see a declining fate. However, being in it may be like standing on a snowy mountain kettle porcelain from the Republic of China, on a pedestrian bridge, with the mountain you have climbed behind you and a shadowy road in front of you. As long as the craftsmen's ingenuity is still there, and they continue to use the clay in their hands to shape new stories, they still have opportunities and a future.
This is roughly the meaning of travel: to explore the spiritual epitome of a foreign city and feel the power of the present moment.
šš»ćHuifeng Porcelain Charmć
šš»ćWuyuan+Jingdezhenć
šš»ćTourists Study in Jingdezhen, the Porcelain Capitalć
šš»ćParent-child trip to Meilu, Jiangxić
