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72-year-old porcelain master fires up her kiln
By Wu Huixin |
February 26, 2013, Tuesday
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A 72-year-old master porcelain maker is passing down the art of making celedon, famous for its jade-green glaze, teaching five apprentices in Hangzhou, the home of China's "mother kiln." Wu Huixin reports.
Some of China's greatest green celadons were produced by the Yue Kilns, a collection of around 170 kiln sites in Zhejiang Province. The Yue Kilns were known as the "mother kiln" of Chinese porcelain.
The kilns were famous for their range of "jade" shades from pale to dark green glazes, produced from the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220) to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Celadon was also produced in other colors, including blues, grays, yellows and whites, depending on the mineral content of glaze and clay.
The works from these kilns were renowned for their delicacy, translucent glazes and craftsmanship. They are described in historic documents.
In Zhejiang Province today, only one person is recognized as a national master of the Yue Kilns craftsmanship - 72-year-old Ji Xigui.
Ji learned about porcelain when she was a child growing up in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, considered to be one of China's centers of porcelain making.
In 1951, Ji enrolled in Jingdezhen Porcelain and Ceramic Art School, where she met her husband Guo Linshan, who died years ago.
Both were awarded the title of National Craft and Art Master.
In 1981 they settled in Hangzhou.
She and her husband cooperated, Guo as sculptor who was responsible for shaping the porcelain.
In addition to celadon, Ji also creates blue and white porcelain and underglaze porcelain.
"In my mind, a real pottery master should be able to produce all kinds of porcelain and ceramics," Ji says.
Over her career of 50 years, she even made a set of tableware for Chairman Mao Zedong. She received the commission in 1975, but was only told it was for a central Party leader. It was only in 1976, when Mao died, that she learned the identity.
She and her colleagues designed a complete set with 73 pieces. Each plate and bowl for serving, and dining was made with a lid to retain warmth, "in case Chairman Mao had to stop eating and rush to deal with national affairs," Ji recalls.
Producing porcelain requires 72 steps and in Ji's view, the firing process is the most difficult and crucial. As the kiln heats, she notes the temperature, air pressure, color and chemical changes in the clay and glaze, noting changes every 15 minutes.
The firing process generally lasts nine hours, and throughout that time she is focused on the kiln.
Keeping precise notes is essential, so that the process can be repeated or corrected as necessary, she says.
"If the first batch is flawed, we can adjust settings next time," she says.
She compares firing and removing the finished work to giving birth to a baby.
Sometimes the efforts fail, when the porcelain is cracked, the painting or glaze come out all wrong.
"Creating porcelain is time-consuming and it doesn't pay well," says Ji, who only makes two or three works a year.
"Nowadays, fewer and fewer young women are willing to devote themselves to this craft, so I worry about the future of porcelain making."
The Zhejiang Province authorities are trying to preserve and promote the art of porcelain making, especially celadon.
The government of Hangzhou, capital of the province, has given Ji a rent-free studio in the Xixi National Wetland Park. It contains a two-story building and bungalow.
Ji invested 800,000 yuan (US$128,318) to turn the larger building into an exhibition hall, with traditional Chinese-style design. The smaller building is her studio and kiln, which she calls Guishan Kiln.
The government helps subsidize the operations and encourages young people to become apprentices to Ji. In the second half of 2012, five people became apprentices after taking a series of exams, then began their five-year study of porcelain making.
Some of the apprentices, who come from other provinces, live rent-free in Ji's house in Xihu District.
Her training program is strict, involving tests and evaluations. Those who don't measure up are dropped.
"Five years is too short for them to learn all the techniques and craft of making porcelain. The art takes a lifetime and I am still learning," Ju says.
Ji's eldest daughter, Guo Yi, was an apprentice and has been honored as Zhejiang Province Craft and Art Master.
Since 2013 is the Year of the Snake, the mother and daughter worked together to create a serpent-shaped piece of celadon to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year.
Some of China's greatest green celadons were produced by the Yue Kilns, a collection of around 170 kiln sites in Zhejiang Province. The Yue Kilns were known as the "mother kiln" of Chinese porcelain.
The kilns were famous for their range of "jade" shades from pale to dark green glazes, produced from the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220) to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Celadon was also produced in other colors, including blues, grays, yellows and whites, depending on the mineral content of glaze and clay.
The works from these kilns were renowned for their delicacy, translucent glazes and craftsmanship. They are described in historic documents.
In Zhejiang Province today, only one person is recognized as a national master of the Yue Kilns craftsmanship - 72-year-old Ji Xigui.
Ji learned about porcelain when she was a child growing up in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, considered to be one of China's centers of porcelain making.
In 1951, Ji enrolled in Jingdezhen Porcelain and Ceramic Art School, where she met her husband Guo Linshan, who died years ago.
Both were awarded the title of National Craft and Art Master.
In 1981 they settled in Hangzhou.
She and her husband cooperated, Guo as sculptor who was responsible for shaping the porcelain.
In addition to celadon, Ji also creates blue and white porcelain and underglaze porcelain.
"In my mind, a real pottery master should be able to produce all kinds of porcelain and ceramics," Ji says.
Over her career of 50 years, she even made a set of tableware for Chairman Mao Zedong. She received the commission in 1975, but was only told it was for a central Party leader. It was only in 1976, when Mao died, that she learned the identity.
She and her colleagues designed a complete set with 73 pieces. Each plate and bowl for serving, and dining was made with a lid to retain warmth, "in case Chairman Mao had to stop eating and rush to deal with national affairs," Ji recalls.
Producing porcelain requires 72 steps and in Ji's view, the firing process is the most difficult and crucial. As the kiln heats, she notes the temperature, air pressure, color and chemical changes in the clay and glaze, noting changes every 15 minutes.
The firing process generally lasts nine hours, and throughout that time she is focused on the kiln.
Keeping precise notes is essential, so that the process can be repeated or corrected as necessary, she says.
"If the first batch is flawed, we can adjust settings next time," she says.
She compares firing and removing the finished work to giving birth to a baby.
Sometimes the efforts fail, when the porcelain is cracked, the painting or glaze come out all wrong.
"Creating porcelain is time-consuming and it doesn't pay well," says Ji, who only makes two or three works a year.
"Nowadays, fewer and fewer young women are willing to devote themselves to this craft, so I worry about the future of porcelain making."
The Zhejiang Province authorities are trying to preserve and promote the art of porcelain making, especially celadon.
The government of Hangzhou, capital of the province, has given Ji a rent-free studio in the Xixi National Wetland Park. It contains a two-story building and bungalow.
Ji invested 800,000 yuan (US$128,318) to turn the larger building into an exhibition hall, with traditional Chinese-style design. The smaller building is her studio and kiln, which she calls Guishan Kiln.
The government helps subsidize the operations and encourages young people to become apprentices to Ji. In the second half of 2012, five people became apprentices after taking a series of exams, then began their five-year study of porcelain making.
Some of the apprentices, who come from other provinces, live rent-free in Ji's house in Xihu District.
Her training program is strict, involving tests and evaluations. Those who don't measure up are dropped.
"Five years is too short for them to learn all the techniques and craft of making porcelain. The art takes a lifetime and I am still learning," Ju says.
Ji's eldest daughter, Guo Yi, was an apprentice and has been honored as Zhejiang Province Craft and Art Master.
Since 2013 is the Year of the Snake, the mother and daughter worked together to create a serpent-shaped piece of celadon to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year.
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