Traditional Techniques and Culture of Chinese Rongchang Pottery

Chongqing is a place of strategic importance in Southwest China. There is a well-known and deep-rooted traditional folk pottery culture named Rongchang pottery, which shares an historical reputation with three other Chinese folk potteries, which are Jiangsu Yi Xing pottery, Guangxi Qin Zhou pottery, and the Yunnan Jiang Shui pottery. Rongchang pottery dates back thousands of years and inherits and develops upon the fine tradition of Chinese folk ceramic arts, and was enlisted in the national intangible heritage list in 2011.

Rongchang pottery is mainly produced in the town of Anfu, located in Rongchang district, south of Chongqing. In the north of Anfu, pine forests proliferate in the undulating mountains. Clay and bituminous coal is abundant beneath the ground’s surface and provides a natural resource for local pottery production.

Rongchang pottery has a long, rich and tortuous history which can be traced back to the Han Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the main product was black-glazed porcelain which had the characteristic of pure intensity, a richness in glaze transmutation, and primitive simple forms. During the late Ming and early Qing period, war interrupted the production of Rongchang pottery. However, as many migrants from southeast China moved into Sichuan and Chongqing during the early Qing dynasty, potters started to produce red pottery from local clay for the urgent needs of daily life, and Rongchang pottery evolved to develop fine earthenware. Ever since the Kangxi and Qianlong period in the Qing dynasty, pottery production in Rongchang bloomed and