A visit to Jingdezhen - Hometown of China’s ceramic and porcerlain centre

Posted by miel

July 17, 2008

Though I never really did internship as most universities require of their students, the Department of Museology in Fudan University ensured that their students had insights into the various area we can actually choose to work in. Among the places we visited, we touched on conversation practices, architectural practices, archaeology, museum management, as well as a site visit to Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, where quality porcelain was produced for the royal familes for almost three dynaties.

Making porcelain is not a procedure where one person takes care of every step, if you want to mass produce, like our modern day factories, one person or a group of people will take care of one job or one sequence in making. You will have people producing bowls, vases, etc..

This old man is making the shape out of Kaolin clay that’s found in abundance in the area. He will ensure that every bowl he makes if consistent. And him doing throughout the course ensures standardization and consistency.

Thinning and ensuring the base is proper.

Kaolin clay, the important ingredient that makes Jingdezhen so famous.

A pile of wood. Large amount of wood is required in the burning process of the pocerlain.

Classmate. Jiang Tao, posing with a large vase.

To ensure porcelain to be made with ease, the control of the fire in the baking process if very important, in which a temperature as high as 1300 degrees celcius must be maintained.

This is just what’s left over of a kiln. It was kept there as a study of how a Kiln look in the old days. You can say that it is an archaeological site. Kiln sites have an insight to how ceramic and porcelain develops in China, as while as which area develops what kind of ceramic and porcelain. Arcaheologists can find broken pieces there which they will piece them up and tell a story.

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