Black pottery works by Liu Jiadong, the inheritor of black pottery in Rizhao, mountain, sea and sky
Poster News Reporter Cheng Yuhan Xin Runze Rizhao reported
When the reporter came to the black pottery factory in the two cities of Rizhao Mountain Haitian Tourist Resort, Liu Jiadong was working next to the blank drawing machine to carry out the process of black pottery blanking.
As “the art of earth and fire, the crystallization of power and beauty”, black pottery is a treasure handed down from the original culture and a figurative embodiment of the Longshan culture more than 4,000 years ago. Through the exquisite and delicate black pottery, you can all marvel at the advanced pottery technology that was thousands of years ago. Black pottery culture is the culture of the Yellow River Basin, with its profound historical heritage and rich humanistic connotation, constitutes the origin of Chinese thought and culture, and Rizhao black pottery is known as the “soul of Chinese art” pottery, a symbol of ancient Chinese civilization.
A finished black pottery, regardless of size, complexity and simplicity, must go through many processes such as material selection, filtration, precipitation, blanking, repairing, carving, drying, polishing, firing, etc., and the use of smoky charcoal permeating method has undergone thousands of temperings to achieve a perfect black pottery handicraft, which is as black as lacquer, as bright as a mirror, as thin as paper, and as loud as a rock.
When it comes to his beloved black pottery inheritance business, Liu Jiadong’s eyes are like light, and he talks eloquently, he strokes the delicate black pottery crafts in his hand, and he can’t put it down: this is his most satisfying work this year, and it took several months of energy to make a total of four samples before it was finally completed.
Smooth lines, exquisite production, beautiful shapes, compact and harmonious patterns all over the bottle, lotus, carp… Liu Jiadong poured everything that represents the beautiful meaning of the people into this work.
Works like this are born every year from Liu Jiadong’s hands, and he has set himself an unwritten rule to study and meditate on at least one work every year. For him, innovation is the foundation of the progress of traditional craftsmanship, and maintaining the spirit of innovation can have the motivation to keep pace with the times.
While continuing and inheriting the black pottery craft culture, returning to the most essential use of artifacts is the concept that Liu Jiadong has always been determined to advocate. Talking about the evolution of the role of black pottery, he expressed some emotion, although his black pottery crafts are loved by people at home and abroad, and have been collected by the National Museum of Japan, the Chicago Museum in the United States, etc., and are more and more well-known as gifts between relatives and friends, but the practicality of black pottery seems to be gradually forgotten. “Black pottery was originally made as a daily commodity, used to hold food, food and water.” Liu Jiadong said.
Tea set made of black pottery
Therefore, Liu Jiadong began to try to innovate the production of black pottery towards practicality. The unique permeability and moisture absorption of black pottery inspired Liu Jiadong to make a black pottery tea pot, the outside is dense and the inside is comfortable, the moisture outside the can cannot be immersed, and the moisture emitted by the inner tea leaves is absorbed and evacuated by the inner wall pores, thereby keeping the tea in a long-term dry state, which is the role that ceramics and glass cannot achieve, and the black pottery tea pot is widely popular once it is launched.
The road to non-genetic inheritance has not been easy. At the beginning of his business in 1992, just one year later, Liu Jiadong’s black pottery factory went bankrupt, but his love and unwillingness to black pottery craftsmanship made him never want to give up, learn from teachers and recruit soldiers… After a year, the black pottery factory of the two cities appeared in front of everyone again, and until now, it is well-known at home and abroad.
When the reporter left, Liu Jiadong began the work of black pottery carving, and after picking up the carving knife, he immersed himself in the world of self-creation. Although he is over the age of flowers, Liu Jiadong’s tough body and bright eyes show the world the vigorous vitality of this generation of intangible cultural heritage inheritors and intangible cultural heritage. The continuation of intangible cultural heritage, the inheritance of craftsman spirit and the firmness of returning to the basics, intangible cultural heritage inheritors like Liu Jiadong have always been “on the road”.
