Porcelain Making — Traditional crafts

The old kilns of Jingdezhen have burned for a thousand years, and the sweat on a kiln worker's brow falls into the clay. The thrower turns his palms and a lump of earth rises into a slender vase; cobalt washes across the biscuit, one colour going in, ten thousand coming out. When the kiln is opened the glaze is warm as jade, as though a whole Jiangnan of mist and rain had been sealed inside the porcelain.

Clay and fire in each other's arms gave China its other name — a celadon calling card handed to the world.

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Why young people fall for it

Traditions, echoed by a new generation

Porcelain gave the country the name the world uses. Hold a blue-and-white cup and you hold a thousand years of taste and of daily life.

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The sky-blue of Ru ware, the deep blue of cobalt, the composure of sacrificial red — colours the Chinese hold in the bone

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Throwing and firing a cup that is only yours — the physical making that digital nomads most envy

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Rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea: the same meal, and everything depends on the bowl it lands in.

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Origins & Practice

History · Customs · Cultural meaning

Porcelain Making · Historical Origins

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Historical Origins

One continuous line · back to the source

China is among the first places in the world to have made ceramics, with a history of more than ten thousand years. Mature celadon was fired in the Eastern Han; by the Tang a pattern had formed of green in the south and white in the north; in the Song the five great kilns — Ru, Guan, Ge, Jun and Ding — carried the art to its height. Blue-and-white appeared in the Yuan, Jingdezhen became the country's porcelain centre under the Ming and Qing, and the word 'china' passed into the world's languages as another name for the country.

Porcelain Making · Customs and Practice

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Customs and Practice

Seasonal rites · everyday life

Traditional porcelain making runs through dozens of steps — washing the clay, throwing, press-moulding, trimming, glazing, firing. Jingdezhen's four famous wares — blue-and-white, famille rose, linglong openwork and colour glaze — each have their own character. Longquan celadon is known as 'green as jade, bright as a mirror, resonant as a chime'; Dehua's white porcelain is called blanc de chine. Folk custom includes sacrifice to the kiln god before a firing, asking for a clean result.

Porcelain Making · Cultural Significance

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Cultural Significance

What the heart turns toward · handed down through generations

Ceramics are one of China's great contributions to world civilisation, carried along the Silk Road and the maritime ceramic road to every continent and standing as a central symbol of Chinese culture. The craft embodies a patient pursuit of the last degree of refinement, and a deep understanding of natural beauty.

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