ChineseToday | Ru porcelain enthusiast molds passion into career in China's "porcelain capital"

JINGDEZHEN, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Ru porcelain, one of the famous kinds of porcelain during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) in ancient China, always impresses its viewers with the jade-like color of the sky.

In Jingdezhen of east China's Jiangxi Province, 45-year-old Li Shanming is a ceramic craftsman dedicated to the art of Ru porcelain, which originated in Henan Province.

Li defines himself as a Hunan native who came to Jingdezhen to make Henan porcelain. Born and raised in Yongzhou of central China's Hunan Province, Li spent his early days in the fields and left his hometown with friends to work in Xiamen after a few years of vocational training. He started as a ceramic painter in an art and craft factory and later learned sculpture from the factory's craftsmen. After a few years of training, Li gradually fell in love with the art of clay.

In 2005, Li started his ceramic career in Jingdezhen, a city known as China's "porcelain capital." Initially, he assisted artists in carving ceramic works. Over time, Li established his workshop, which focused on producing daily-use porcelain for export. However, Li always aims higher. In 2009, he took several of his porcelain works to Shanghai, where they received widespread acclaim, strengthening his confidence to create his own brand.

Despite being in Jingdezhen, a place famous for blue-and-white porcelain, Li chose Ru porcelain to establish his brand. "Ru porcelain is elegant and reserved, which resonates with my personality," Li said.

In Li's view, the natural color of Ru porcelain is the most touching yet most challenging to reproduce. The sky-blue color of Ru porcelain requires agate for the glaze, which must be in the right shade of blue, smooth, and jade-like. To recreate the beauty of Ru porcelain, Li not only visited the Palace Museum in Beijing to study exhibits but also sought materials in Henan. Without a glaze formula, he made numerous attempts in his kilns, adjusting the percentage of agate and kiln temperature each time. Sometimes, an entire kiln would yield no satisfactory pieces.

In 2012, the Ru porcelain works of Li gained recognition at an international ceramic expo, establishing him as a prominent figure of Ru porcelain in Jingdezhen. He named his brand after the Chinese character "Shan," which means "goodness," in his name. To ensure quality, any porcelain with minor flaws is discarded and smashed. Li also integrates traditional ceramic techniques of other kinds of porcelains, such as blue-and-white porcelain and famille-rose porcelain, into Ru porcelain works, developing his unique style.

Looking ahead, Li aims to create more affordable porcelain products, bringing ceramic culture into every household and expanding its reach overseas, allowing more people to experience the charm of Chinese ceramics.