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Black pottery art shines in Guantao

Zheng Jinran
Updated: Dec 5,2014 9:09 AM     China Daily

Black pottery workshops in Guantao county, Hebei province.[Photo by Wang Ge/China Daily]

Life is full of twists and turns and it is easy to lose direction, but it also has moments we look back on as “destiny”. For Yin Junting such a moment was in 1987, when he dropped by a training course in black pottery at Guantao county, Hebei province.

“I really liked painting when I was a kid, even though my works were very naive,” said Yin, 54. “I kept painting and wanted to have some expert advice. I was lucky to attend free classes offered by two masters in a small county when I was 17 years old.”

One of the two masters was Wang Yiyang, professor of Chinese National Academy of Arts. Wang came to Guantao again in 1987 to develop the ancient art of black pottery and start a training course.

Yin again attended Wang’s class but, this time, his life was changed forever.

“I always think I have a special connection with pottery,” said Yin. “And after working on various arts, such as lacquer painting, I think I can not only pass down ancient skills but also offer a fresh understanding.”

Black pottery workshops in Guantao county, Hebei province.[Photo by Wang Ge/China Daily]

Black pottery workshops in Guantao county, Hebei province.[Photo by Wang Ge/China Daily]

Black pottery was first discovered at Longshan county, Shandong province, in 1930. Before then, there was colored and red pottery, but not black. Experts named the historic culture defined by black pottery as “Longshan Culture” (2900-2800 BC).

Guantao county, which lies in eastern Handan, has a tradition of making pottery dating back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24).

“Guantao is on the lower reaches of Yellow River where the alluvial plain produces a special red clay.

Red clay is the perfect raw material for pottery,” said Qiao Shiguang, art professor of Tshinghua University, also from Guantao.

“Guantao has great potential to develop black pottery. I am glad to see there are many black pottery factories now.”

Yin’s workshop, founded on 1993, is one of them. Under the guidance of Wang and Qiao, Yin protects the heritage of black pottery and tries to develop new patterns by incorporating traditional Chinese arts.

Black pottery workshops in Guantao county, Hebei province.[Photo by Wang Ge/China Daily]

Black pottery workshops in Guantao county, Hebei province.[Photo by Wang Ge/China Daily]

Yin’s workshop has more than 260 employees and dozens of designers. Its black pottery features more than 1,300 different patterns and is sold all over the world.

However, the pattern that made Yin famous is called lacquer-painted black pottery. A combination of lacquer painting and black pottery, it has caused many disputes among experts.

“There were differences of opinion,” said Wang Yiyang. “Some people said black pottery is black pottery, colored pottery is colored pottery. If you paint on black pottery, you simply change black pottery into colored pottery, and that cannot be called a new pattern.

“But I think lacquer-painted black pottery is totally different from ordinary colored pottery. I think it is an innovation that has helped to develop the art of black pottery as well as meeting the demands of the market.”