Liang Xiancai works at a pottery studio in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)
CHONGQING, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Liang Xiancai, 73, is an inheritor of Rongchang Pottery craftsmanship, an intangible cultural heritage in China. Despite the trend toward mechanization, automation, and large-scale pottery production, he steadfastly upholds the tradition of manual pottery making.
Liang Xiancai displays a pottery pot in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)
Liang Xiancai instructs a craftswoman in making pottery artworks at a studio in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)
Guan Yongshuang views a pottery artwork at a studio in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)
Guan Yongshuang, 32, graduated from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute with a major in pottery art. He has been studying pottery culture for nearly ten years.
Guan is working on turning plant ashes, such as chestnut shells and ginkgo leaves, into natural glazes for pottery. "Pottery is like painting, with clay being the paper, wood fuels being the ink, and plant ashes being the pigment," said Guan. "All these things are from nature. So I wish to continue observing and expressing nature via pottery."
Guan established his own pottery studio in Rongchang District of Chongqing, the birthplace of Rongchang Pottery. He not only uses the traditional pottery making methods but also innovates and creates contemporary pottery artworks that appeal to the younger generation.
Dating back to the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD), Rongchang Pottery is known as one of four famous pottery styles in China. It is renowned for being "as thin as paper, as bright as a mirror, and with a sound like a chime." In 2011, the craftsmanship of Rongchang Pottery was inscribed on the list of national intangible cultural heritage.
Guan Yongshuang works at a pottery studio in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)
Guan Yongshuang works at a pottery studio in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)
Guan Yongshuang works at a pottery studio in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)
Guan Yongshuang checks the firing of pottery inside a kiln in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)
Guan Yongshuang works at a pottery studio in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)
Guan Yongshuang works at a pottery studio in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)
Guan Yongshuang displays a pottery artwork in Chongqing, southwest China, Nov. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Tang Yi)■
