Weng Yanjun, curator of the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum, introduces the history of the imperial kiln to visitors from China and abroad in Jingdezhen City, Jiangxi Province, on September 17 (COURTESY PHOTO)  

Jingdezhen is a place where tradition meets fashion. Renowned as the most important ceramic production center in China since ancient times, the city buzzes with creative ideas and art forms. It was one of the stops of a delegation of international youth as they visited Jiangxi Province, the land where ancient culture brings unique significance to modern Chinese history . 

The delegation's visit to Jingdezhen this September  occurred under the 2022 Global Young Leaders Dialogue (GYLD) China Tours program. 

The program presents young people from across the world with the opportunity to experience the profound and inclusive Chinese civilization, get a glimpse of a better life for the nation’s people, and appreciate China’s picturesque scenery via interesting visits and exchanges that take them all over the country.  

In Jingdezhen, they visited venues featuring the city's time-honored art of porcelain-making. Describing his visit there, self-proclaimed China hand and American TV host Steven Weathers said, "The most important value of the visit is to let younger generations understand and inject their thoughts into the tradition that has been passed down for thousands of years."   

"Before I came to the Imperial Kiln Museum, I didn’t even know it would take such a complicated process to restore a piece of porcelain left over from ancient times,” Weathers told Beijing Review. “Even with the help of hi-tech, it’s is hard to imagine how many modern means  have played a part in the process of cultural relic protection,” he added.  

Daria Lisaia, a researcher from Vanke Urban Research in Shenzhen, shared Weathers’ opinion. Some porcelain musical instruments have been produced with these ancient kilns from imperial days and traditional porcelain-crafting equipment, and they can let us “hear the music” from hundreds of years ago, she told Beijing Review. “It’s like past and present are integrated and ancient culture is reborn,” she explained.  

Jingdezhen lives and breathes porcelain. It began to produce pottery in the Han Dynasty (B.C. 202-220 A.D.) and porcelain about 1,700 years ago, with its local artisanal craftsmanship rising to prominence during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The  culture of ceramics continues to this day .    

In elaborate forms and enabled by sophisticated techniques, the art of Jingdezhen porcelain-making is widely recognized as a gem of the Chinese civilization. Some even believe Jingdezhen to be the birthplace of the word "china."  

Visitors experience the shaiqiu tradition in Huangling Village in Wuyuan County, Jiangxi Province. (COURTESY PHOTO)  

Exploring a modern Jiangxi    

In addition to exploring the porcelain art, the delegation also learned more about other aspects of local development.     

Around  80 km east of Jingdezhen lies an ancient village that has gained popularity in recent years—Huangling Village in Wuyuan County. A pearl set in lush mountains, the village was another stop of the GYLD youth’s Jiangxi journey.  

After weathering centuries of twists and turns since its sprouting during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Huangling was once packed with dilapidated houses and buildings. Changes began to take place since 2009, with over 80 percent of the shabby houses renovated. Today, its fresh appearance and distinctive customs and culture attract tourists, painters and photographers from around the world.     

"It’s a historic village, but it’s also one of natural beauty with the mountains and the trees," Weathers told Beijing Review, “And so when we come here as foreigners, we love that; but there’s also some comforts here. Coffee is not too hard to find,” he said. This is where modern and traditional lifestyles collide.  

In early autumn, large bamboo baskets filled with crops, such as chilies, pumpkins and chrysanthemum flowers, are placed in front of the local houses. This process is called shaiqiu, or “autumn parching,” an agrarian custom in central China that has been passed down for centuries. Locals dry and preserve their crops for winter. Today, the longstanding practice has become a symbol of local culture and a highlight of rural tourism.  

"This trip to Jiangxi allows us to see that if a balance is achieved between development and heritage protection  in China’s rural areas, it will develop the economy but will not be overly commercialized," Lisaia commented.  

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon  

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