Porcelain was first made in China and it is said that only after Marco Polo introduced chinaware to the West 600 years ago, did Westerners know of this country. Indeed, at first Westerners used the name "China" solely to refer to Jingdezhen, the "porcelain capital" in Jiangxi Province, which was then named Changnan.
Chinaware from the five top kilns of the Song Dynasty (960-1127) now fetches tremendous prices at auction houses around the world. During the Ming and Qing dynasties (from 14th to 20th centuries), porcelain experienced further development and the "blue flower" pattern was highly acclaimed.
However, that past glory has faded.
Things have gone from bad to worse in recent decades as many ceramic institutes lacked money for innovation. In Jingdezhen, mass-production gave way to small family operations, which did nothing but copy the old products.
But one man is determined to lift the industry from the doldrums.
Li Youyu said he made this resolve after an embarrassing experience in 1989. He was giving a lecture in Japan on the ceramic achievements of the Tang and Song dynasties when one of the audience asked him about the quality of China's modern ceramic products.
"For a moment I couldn't say a word," said the 46-year-old. "I hazarded a guess, talking about ‘7501’ - a label on porcelains made by top artists in China in the 1970s, exclusively for Mao Zedong and other government leaders. It was the only recommendable type after the founding of the People's Republic.
"That moment really put me on the spot," said Li. "It was then that I made up my mind to restore China's ceramic making to glory."
In 1993, he quit his job as a university teacher to set up the Hanguang Ceramics Research Institute. The company's name conveys his intention to revive the glory of the Eastern Han (25-220 AD), when porcelain first appeared.
Li's first step was to scout out the kiln workers who made the "7501" line. He also collected different kinds of porcelain from around the world for study, including those used by Chinese emperors. "We learned a lot from them, and we developed our own method of china-making," said Li.
In the years that have passed since then, Li's efforts have paid off handsomely. Today, Hanguang's products are sought after by many porcelain collectors.
Though the situation has improved under Li's stewardship, porcelain made in Jingdezhen is still hard to find overseas.
Competition abroad is strong, and Britain, Germany, France and Japan have applied new technologies to ceramic making. And even though China is the world's largest porcelain producer, the country makes very little profit from it, especially overseas. Unlike foreign manufacturers, much of the local industry has stuck to old methods, and its porcelain ware for daily use is seldom sold in the international market.
"Yet Hanguang Ceramics has made breakthroughs in use of clay and product design," said Wang Qingzheng, a porcelain expert with the Shanghai Museum. "It can be ranked among the world's best ceramic brands, with as Germany's Rosen Thal, Britain's Wedgwood and Japan's Noritoke."
The fine porcelains made by Hanguang are noted for their whiteness, thinness, transparency, elegant designs and glazed patterns.
Li now has a 5-million-yuan porcelain factory in Fengxian, a suburban county south of Shanghai. His workers come from Jingdezhen, Liling, and other major porcelain-making cities. To maintain a high quality standard, only perfect products are allowed to leave the factory; the rest are smashed, said Li.
And Li is not yet content. His ambition, he said, is to have his ceramics sold on New York's Fifth Street.
(www.eastday.com)
