Jingdezhen Fa Cui Glaze Preparation Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritor

Tu Jinghua

Born in 1969 into a ceramic family in Jingdezhen, Tu Jinghua is a representative inheritor of the Jingdezhen intangible cultural heritage—the preparation of Fa Cui glaze. He is also the only inheritor in Jingdezhen who has mastered the preparation, coloring, and firing techniques of medium-temperature Fa Cui glaze.

He began learning the craft from his father in 1987; in January 1989, he joined the Jingdezhen Sculpture Porcelain Factory; in 1996, the company underwent restructuring, and he independently established a ceramic studio specializing in medium-temperature jade glaze decoration materials, which he still runs today.

Apprenticeship: Grandfather Tu Yixin, a late ceramic glaze blending master in Jingdezhen during the Republic of China era (later joined the Ceramic Research Institute of the Ministry of Light Industry);
Apprenticeship: Tu Jincai, father, a veteran craftsman at the Jingdezhen Sculpture Porcelain Factory;

Features:
1) It is made by hand-pouring glaze and adding colors directly onto the unglazed porcelain body and then firing it;
2) The glaze and body are tightly bonded, and the glaze contains fine crackles resembling fish roe.
3) The glaze is bright, thick, warm, elegant and clean, with a strong glassy texture, giving people a pleasing feeling.

Mid-temperature glaze decoration is mainly used for traditional porcelain. In recent years, while working on decorating traditional porcelain with mid-temperature glaze, Tu Jinghua has also been committed to promoting the combination of glaze and modern art porcelain, so that more people can understand glaze.

In 2014, the artwork "Chang'e Flying to the Moon" by Liu Yuanchang, a master of Chinese arts and crafts, was decorated. In the same year, it was also decorated with "The Dawn Ceremony" by Chen Peihuo, an inheritor of provincial intangible cultural heritage. The decorative effect of the colored glazes in the artworks received high praise and recognition from experts.

They also participated in the recording of the large-scale documentary "Craftsmanship in Pottery" about the 72 porcelain-making processes in Jingdezhen, which enabled more people to recognize and understand the medium-temperature jade glaze.