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Ancient Dehua porcelain technique of SE China’s Fujian updated for modern times

(People's Daily Online) 16:59, December 06, 2021

The sintering technique of Dehua porcelain, which originated in Dehua county, Quanzhou city, southeast China’s Fujian province, and dates back more than 3,700 years, is undergoing a major revival.

Chen Mingliang, a national inheritor of the Dehua porcelain technique, makes a piece of greenware by hand. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

The ancient porcelain technique goes through three processes - preparing clay, carving, and sintering - and was included on the list of China’s National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016.

In July 2021, the kilns of Dehua were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its importance in medieval maritime trade and the exchange of cultures and ideas around the world. Dehua white porcelain has been one of the important commodities on the ancient Maritime Silk Road since the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Liquid clay is poured into a plaster mold. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Chen Mingliang, a national inheritor of the Dehua porcelain technique, said porcelain carving combines the skills of stone carving, wood carving, and clay sculpture. According to him, craftsmen usually make greenware directly from high-quality kaolin by hand or apply the technique of slip casting, in which liquid clay is poured into plaster molds and allowed to form a layer, the cast, on its inside walls.

Born into a porcelain-making family, Chen learned the craft from his father as a child and from a master when he was 16 years old. Through over 40 years of efforts, Chen has created various delicate white porcelain artworks with new shapes and classic colors of Dehua porcelain made since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), such as ivory white.

Chen Mingliang carves a piece of greenware. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

“To attract more people, it’s necessary to combine traditional techniques with innovation to create porcelain artworks suitable for contemporary tastes,” Chen said.

Currently, Dehua county has three representative porcelain-making families - the Chen family, the Su family, and the Xu family. In addition, the county also encourages masters of the Dehua porcelain technique and those given the title of master of Chinese arts and crafts to train apprentices, so as to ensure the ancient porcelain technique is passed on.

To date, Dehua has over 3,000 ceramic companies and more than 100,000 related employees, with the combined brand value reaching 108.6 billion yuan (about $17.05 billion). The country exports over 80 percent of its ceramic products to over 190 countries and regions worldwide. In 2020, the output value of the ceramic industry in Dehua hit 40.25 billion yuan.