Coloured Drawings of Jingdezhen

A plain fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl named Xiaoyu was born in a ceramic family in Jingdezhen. The whole story develops through Xiaoyu’s narration， introducing the ceramic civilization and culture of Jingdezhen from three perspectives： the capital of porcelain， ceramics industry， and porcelain.

Coloured Drawings of Jingdezhen

Wang Zuming， Xiao Liang

Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House

April 2016

108.00 （CNY）

Chapter of Porcelain Capital

Wang Zumin

His paintings have won the UNESCO Silver Prize for Illustration of Children’s Books， Bologna Illustration Award in 2016， and China National Book Award. The author has been engaged in children’s illustration， picture books， and painting creation for a long time.

My name is Xiaoyu. I grew up in a ceramic family in Jingdezhen. Jingdezhen is in Jiangxi Province of China. From Poyang lake， the biggest freshwater lake in China in the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River， you can see a beautiful city surrounded by mountains. It is my hometown---the porcelain capital named Jingdezhen.

Because of the abundant raw materials for porcelain-making and convenient water transportation， Jingdezhen began to fire porcelain in the Tang Dynasty. Before that， the rich in China used pottery or metal bowls mostly， while the poor only used bamboo tubes， wooden boxes， and rough pottery. However， the ceramic tableware has improved the level of Chinese dietary hygiene generally.

Jingdezhen has been called Xinping town and then Changnan town. In the Five Dynasties （907–960）， the kiln workers here fired bluish-white porcelain as beautiful as jade and paid tribute to the court in the early Northern Song Dynasty， which received admiration from the emperor. In 1004， Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty granted the reign title of Jingde to the town， so Changnan town was renamed Jingdezhen （Jingde town） since then.

Chinese porcelain originated in the Shang Dynasty （about 16th century BCE–11th century BCE） and became fully mature in the Eastern Han Dynasty （25–220）. There were lots of wars in the North after the Tang Dynasty， and the skillful craftsman ran away to the south and came to Jingdezhen. In 1278， the Yuan government began to set up the Fuliang Porcelain Department in Jingdezhen. The royal of the Ming and Qing dynasties （1368–1912） set up official porcelain kiln factories here （it was called imperial wares in the Ming Dynasty and imperial kiln in the Qing Dynasty） to produce delicate porcelain only for the palace.

In general， there are two kinds of orders which the Emperor gave to the imperial kiln. One is called “porcelain designated by the Emperor” for the Emperor and harem use. The other is called “porcelain designated by the ministry” for the royal court use. The Emperor grants some “porcelain designated by the Emperor” to foreign ambassadors， domestic officials and civilians of merit. The shape， size and decoration of porcelain are decided by the palace and sometimes are examined and approved directly by the Emperor. The artwork and the order are given together and are not allowed any changes.

The high-ranking official who was sent to the imperial kiln in Jingdezhen by the Emperor was called the supervisor of porcelain production. There were bad supervisors， but also some loved by the people in Jingdezhen’s history， for example， a supervisor of porcelain production named Tang Ying in the reign of Emperor Qianlong. Tang Ying lived with craftsmen， and he also worked together with them. He had made an important contribution to the development of the porcelain industry of Jingdezhen， and the porcelains which were supervised by him had become known as “Tang Kiln.”

During the Ming Dynasty， the imperial wares in Jingdezhen implemented a “craftsman register system，” which meant the craftsman must serve the royal all their life if they was recruited to the imperial kiln. The “craftsman register system” was abolished in the Qing Dynasty， and the craftsmen had the freedom to come and go. As a result， more and more talents were attracted to serve the imperial kiln.

In order to accomplish the porcelain task from the court in complete accordance with quantity and quality requirements， the porcelain quality was examined very strictly in Jingdezhen’s imperial wares factories in the Ming Dynasty. Unqualified porcelains with a little flaw， or the qualified ones which exceeded the requirement of the court in number， would be broken up and buried deep in the ground. There was a supervisor of porcelain who requested that the Emperor sell the defectives， so the incomes could supplement the expense of the imperial kiln， but the idea was rejected many times by the Emperor.

Before the Song Dynasty， Jingdezhen porcelain always used a “monophyletic formula，” that is， fetal soil only uses a single material of china stone. The large porcelain would easily warp and deform in shape because of the low firing temperature.

The Yangtze River is Jingdezhen’s mother river. She comes from Qimen of Anhui province and goes to Poyang Lake north of Jiangxi province. The river flows past Jingdezhen. From ancient times she has been the main channel for external transportation of Jingdezhen porcelain. During the Tang and Song dynasties， the Jingdezhen porcelain industry was scattered in upstream mountain areas of Yangtze River’s tributaries and then gathered in urban areas of Jingdezhen gradually， where the river became wider and more convenient because of the blocked water age in the dry season and the attraction of the imperial kilns.

Once upon a time， there was a long pontoon bridge on the Yangtze River. Grandpa said that the dock of imperial kilns was in the upper reaches， while the dock of folk kilns was in the lower reaches. There were many boats freighted with porcelain clay， wood， and other materials gathered and distributed here. Hundreds of boats competed and the ships closed over the sky.

In the Qing Dynasty， porcelain of folk kilns in Jingdezhen was sold not only domestically， but also abroad. They were sold abroad by the official agents named the Thirteenth Firm in Guangzhou. The boats freighted with Jingdezhen porcelain arrived at Poyang Lake and then ascended Gan River， over Meiguan to Beijiang river in Guangdong， and sailed all over the world through Guangzhou—it was the famous Maritime Silk Route. Of course， the most grand event in Jingdezhen was that the porcelain of the imperial kiln got the imperial edict and went to the capital.

Except for the imperial kilns， Jingdezhen has been an open town without enclosing walls since ancient times. According to history， there were many foreigners coming to Jingdezhen to learn porcelain early in the time. They came here mostly as preachers， doctors， and scholars. They came here to study but also brought new glaze and notions of porcelain， such as “Su Ma Li Qing，” and new shaping and decorating methods.

Compared with ancient times， the ceramics industry in Jingdezhen today has changed enormously， as it has basically realized modernization. Except for the population of the local industry， the number of ceramics artists and related people who come from universities， colleges of art and institutes exceeds a hundred thousand. They usually have their own studios in Jingdezhen.

People in Jingdezhen are proud of living in the porcelain capital of the world， and everybody works hard to add glory to the porcelain capital. At the same time， people in Jingdezhen also know how to enjoy their life. Pottery bars for relaxation with an elegant environment are all over the city.