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Yaoli was a porcelain production center from the Song Dynasty (ca. 960) through the middle of the Ming Dynasty (ca. 1600). More than 30 workshops and several ancient kilns from that era have been excavated. Dunzi (chinastone / petunze), a porcelain and glaze ingredient, is still processed on the outskirts of town. While high production techniques are utilized in Jingdezhen, the traditional method is favored in Yaoli. |
| Excavated kiln at Yaoli. |
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Dunzi is quarried nearby, broken into pieces, then ground into a fine powder with water-powered trip-hammers. |
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| A water wheel drives the long, wooden axle. | Wooden pegs (in center back) trip the stone-tipped stampers as the axle rotates. |
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| Powdered Dunzi is washed, the slurry is passed through several tanks, then it is formed into blocks and dried. | Sheds with walls of drying Dunzi blocks. | |
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| The tranquil town of Yaoli has preserved much of its past. | Yaoli Clan House | Cart used to transport Dunzi on exhibit at the Hongyi Hall Museum. |
Tang Yong (an MFA student at the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute) is an excellent bilingual guide. Please contact him for more information about Yaoli. You may also enjoy reading my Made in China article in the July/August 2008 issue of CERAMIC REVIEW.
LINKS:
Cloisonne enameling in Beijing
Printing in China
Capelo Ceramics of Mexico
Mexican Ceramist, Angelica Escarcega Rodriguez
Mexican Ceramist, Jose Luis Mendez Ortega
Guevara Ceramics of Mexico
Pottery of Western Cameroon
Ceramics of Ubeda, Spain
Tiles and Ceramics of Seville, Spain
Tiles and Ceramics of Talavera de la Reina, Spain
Monje Ceramics of Lora del Rio, Spain
Earthenware Tiles of Portugal
Majolica Ceramics of Caldas da Rainha, Portugal
Roof Tiles in Bali, Indonesia
The Traditional Crafts of Porcelain Making in Jingdezhen, by Bai Ming, Jiangxi
Fine Arts Publishing House, 2002, ISBN 7-80580-887-2, is excellent, but
difficult to find outside of China.
Web page, photographs, and text by Carol Ventura in 2004. Please look at
Carol's home page to see more about crafts around the world.