The Disappearing Land and Techniques for Pottery Making

Write by Ma Yongjian

The image is a record of the history, especially the one not only of the history gradually disappearing form our sight, but also of the one which will be possibly deleted from our memories. The documentary film, Pottery from Ethnic Minorities in Southwest China, is the very one which is of historical, documentary and academic values. Lu Bin, a ceramic artist, and Tan Hongyu are the authors of the film and they have spent over two years on many travels into the remote areas inhabited by the minority nationalities in Southwestern China and made a thorough investigation and a comprehensive collection of the materials. As a result, they have given us a detailed and vivid presentation of the primitive techniques for pottery making by the ethnic minorities in Southwestern China in an imagery way and created an outline map of the primitive techniques in the areas.

The film is of great significance to the anthropology, the art history or the ceramic technology as it is by far the first one in China, or even in the world, to document the traditions of primitive pottery making techniques, the forms of development and its history of the ethnic minorities in the areas of Southwestern China by making their thorough and comprehensive field investigations and collections.

In the process of human civilizations, the origin of the pottery making techniques, without any doubt, is a major symbol of the technological development in the production of the primitive societies. It changed the modes of production simply by changing the outer appearances of the materials in the period of making stone artifacts. By shaping the pottery clay and using the fire, the chemical properties of the clay have been changed. The technology for pottery making is an important link in the history of human civilization. Its development is a decisive factor to change the way of living from migration to settling down. In the same sense, the use of fire laid a solid foundation for the bronze smelting technology in later periods.

In Southwestern China, Yunnan, Guizhou, Tibet and Hainan are the provinces which are mainly inhabited by the ethnic minorities. As they are far away from the Central China and mainly plateaus or islands, they have poor traffic facilities so that an enclosed natural and human environment has already been formed in the history. It is even today that some areas have not been influenced by the modern civilizations and remain at the level of the phase of pre-industrial civilization. It is in such a unique environment that their unique ways of production and living which have already been established in the long history have been carried forward one generation after another in these areas. In the same sense, the “history and culture museums of the living primitive pottery making techniques” have been set up that we see in the film. In these places, the primitive pottery making techniques are well preserved not in the form of ruins, but in the form of the “living cultures” which have been continued until today. By giving oral teaching which inspires true understanding within, various techniques for pottery making have been completely preserved and handed down through generations and they are still used in their life today. They preserve and continue to use various types of forming techniques from handbuilding to throwing, roughly including handbuilding, moulding and throwing on the pottery wheel. The specific forming methods include handbuilding technique, coiling techniques, slab building, slow wheel coiling, coiling and throwing technique, mould-aided forming, fast wheel throwing technique and jiggering method. With regard to the firing techniques, what the ethnic minorities of the Southwest are now using covers all the types of kilns from the open-air firing to the kilns. In a historical sequence, the kilns include open-air firing, pit firing, cross-fire kiln, updraft vertical cave kiln, adobe kiln, round updraft kiln, downdraft round kiln (Mantou-shaped kiln), dragon kiln and multi-chambered climbing kiln. However, all of the above firing techniques are preserved and used in some of these areas due to the “historical accumulations”.

The unique value of such a cultural phenomenon lies in that all the pottery making techniques which originated in a linear sequence of historical periods are used at a flat level similar to the different zones of vegetation from the sea level to the top of the mountain in the topical regions. It has a unique abundance and entirety. It is really a rare fossil-like cultural resources of anthropology, art history and ceramic technology even in the world. In this regard, a deepgoing investigation into these areas, undoubtedly, is of great significance to gain a clear idea of the process of pottery making techniques and the relative transformations of specific forms.

Lu Bin, a famous ceramic artist and director, has turned his attention to and started his research of the heritage of the primitive pottery making techniques in Southwestern China since late 1980s and has already had a rich accumulation of materials. Tan Hongyu, the co-producer of the film, is also a ceramic artist and both of them have many travels in the remote villages for shooting and investigations and have a large accumulation of first-hand materials. They are neither anthropologists nor professional documentary makers, but the most desirable and heart touching is that they, both being famous artists now, have regarded themselves as “ordinary potters” as the unique quality of simplicity of the clay has already merged into their temperament and their inner world through years of contact with the clay. It is a true reflection of their artistic ideals characterized by simplicity and inner vitality. It is such an ideal that has created a spiritual communication and tacit understanding between the ceramic artists living a metropolitan life and the potters in the remote areas. They have been overwhelmed by the unique spiritual qualities of the primitive pottery making techniques, resulting in their unremitting efforts to further their research.

Meanwhile, both of them, being well-trained ceramic artist and with professional experiences, have seized any opportunities to get a good shot of all the details in the process of pottery making, which are not easily perceived by the common people. The making of pottery wares is a complete handwork. It is the pottery makers who can have intimate experience of any minor changes arising from the special sense of touch when touching the wet and soft pottery clay by hands and any relative movements. In the process of firing pottery wares can only the people who have undertaken profound research of the process have an exact clarification of any differences of similar methods. Their method to document the history with their lens instead of their writings has created a great power with more artistic appeals, i.e. to create and highlight a more distinctive work field by tapping any existing potentials of the work field. The most gratifying is that the producer of the film is Madam Zheng Yi who is also a well-known ceramic artist and organizer of art exhibitions. She has promoted the traditional Chinese ceramic art with her “Pottery Workshop” as a platform. She has contributed a great deal to the shooting and making of the film.

I still remember the great shock beyond any words in my heart when I saw it for the first time. It is not only because I am an art historian. The film has changed the abstract words on the paper into a history textbook and research thesis concerning the primitive pottery making techniques with great details and vivid descriptions. What is more important is what the film has shown us: the primitive potentials, power, ingenuity and artistic senses which have a close connection with the human existence. It is hard to find such a close relationship in the modern urban environment. Simply by using their hands and simple tools, the common villagers of the ethnic minorities change balls of clay into primitive artworks with practical functions. Through their lens, we see that the wet clay, like illusionary spirits, has become a simple, but dazzling world as the makers merge their souls and hands into one.

Therefore, it is not only a documentary film in some sense, but also a perfect work of art. By presenting a detailed and vivid description of the primitive techniques of pottery making, the film has stirred up our feelings at the bottom of our hearts which have gradually faded away with the development of the modern civilizations, i.e. our primitive feelings which were harmoniously related with the root of our life: the nature, the earth and the clay.

The shooting of the documentary film, Pottery from Ethnic Minorities in Southwest China, has another important significance, i.e. a protective research of and the relative attention to the primitive techniques for pottery making in these areas. With the rapid approach of the modern industrial civilizations, the primitive techniques for pottery making will unexceptionally be confronted with the danger the “ecological chains” linking the society, economy and material life will possibly be twisted and broken, upon which the primitive techniques depend. On the one hand, a large quantity of industrial products have destroyed the already existing market and, as a consequence, a large number of potters have to give up their pottery making techniques. On the other hand, the urbanization process and the rapid advancement of tourism have accelerated the predatory development of the areas inhabited by the minority nationalities and more and more native people are forced to leave their homelands. It is even worse that the clay for pottery making has already become rare resources in some of these areas. We may find from the film that Yu Meng, the only and female potter of the Dai Minority from the Mandou Village of Xishuangbanna District, Yunnan Province, has to store the clay at home in order to be able to carry forward the traditional techniques for pottery making which have been handed down through generations. The very reason is that she has lost her land due the overdue development of local tourism. It is clearly seen that such a compulsive action is none other than a reflection of the embarrassing condition confronting the primitive techniques for pottery making.

Without any doubt, it seems that we don’t have any reasons to prevent these areas from being influenced by the modern civilizations, but the loss will be immeasurable from the perspective of cultural research if there is no thorough research and protective measures of the primitive pottery making techniques. It is an irrenewable resources which will never be regenerated if it is lost some day. In those areas which seem to be far away from the modern civilizations, there are also many different forms of pottery making, which have not been able to voice their rights. Consequently, it is really an urgent work to sort out and protect these techniques.

It is really a problem for careful pondering as how to take appropriate protective measures. All in all, it is clear that the primitive way of pottery making looks quite weak when being confronted with the rushing flood of modern industrial civilizations.