Diqing Tibetan black pottery firing technique

Yunnan
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The Tibetan black pottery firing technique has a long history and distinctive characteristics. It is mainly distributed in Tibetan residential areas such as Tangdui Village, Nixi Township, Shangri-La County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, Asi Village, Chitu Township, Daocheng County, Sichuan Province, and Nangqian County, Yushu Prefecture, Qinghai Province. The villagers of Tangdui Village, Nixi Township, Shangri-La County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture have the traditional handicraft of firing black pottery. This skill has a long history of inheritance in the local area and has high research value. In recent years, under the environment of cultural tourism development, the primitive pottery industry in Tangdui Village has developed. The Tibetan black pottery firing process in Tangdui Village uses white and red clay with high viscosity and plasticity, plus stone powder ground from weathered sand and stone, to mix and form the raw materials for blank making. Its production tools are mainly wooden paddles, wooden scrapers, wooden pads, wooden hammers, etc., which are extremely primitive and simple. In comparison, the firing process is very particular. The firing of black pottery requires 12 processes in sequence, including soil selection, soil conditioning, blank making, porcelain inlay, polishing, decoration, shade drying, firing, carbonization, and crack prevention. The method of making pottery blanks adopts the method of mud strip coiling, which has high technical requirements. First, take the evenly kneaded clay, beat it into strips with a wooden slap and place it on the base, and then pinch the outline by hand according to the shape of the required object, then polish the inner and outer walls and edges, and then inlay white porcelain pieces, decorate with animals and geometric patterns, and finally fire it at high temperature for about an hour to complete the finished product. The Tibetan black pottery handicraft products of Tangdui Village can be roughly divided into two categories: daily necessities and religious utensils. It has a complete variety and a wide range of uses. All kinds of tableware, cooking utensils, tea sets, wine sets, drinking utensils, incense burners, butter lamps, etc. used by Tibetan people are all available. This kind of pottery integrates usability, appreciation, and craftsmanship, fully demonstrating the creativity and expressiveness of Tibetan folk pottery. Tibetan black pottery is fired in Asi Village, Chitu Township, Daocheng County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Asi black pottery is made of local clay mixed with two other types of clay. It is then shaped by hand techniques such as kneading, hammering, knocking, and beating, and then decorated with broken porcelain pieces. After these steps are completed, pine wood is set up to ignite the fire, and the yellow-brown clay turns black in the process. The fired pottery pots, pottery jars, pottery basins, pottery pots, and pottery bottles are all indispensable daily utensils for the Tibetan people. Initially, Tibetans exchanged pottery pots for food and other items. Now Asi black pottery has entered the market and has become a handicraft with distinct local characteristics. Nangqian County, Qinghai Province is the birthplace of Yushu civilization, with a long history and splendid culture. Nangqian Tibetan black pottery is a traditional handicraft in Nangqian area, mainly produced in Shanrong Village, Nangqian County. According to legend, the Nangqian Tibetan black pottery technique was spread to the local area when Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty entered Tibet to marry and passed through the Yushu area. From this perspective, it is the crystallization of the fusion of Tibetan and Han cultures. Nangqian Tibetan black pottery is made by primitive hand-made methods, with careful selection of materials. It uses local pure and fine red clay and clay as raw materials, and is made into a blank through manual pounding, screening, throwing, drying, trimming, calendering, painting and other processes, which are then sealed in a large pottery jar and fired using a unique method of sealing the jar and fumigating with smoke. During firing, the temperature and humidity are strictly controlled so that carbon particles can penetrate into the pottery blank during the fumigation process, and finally become black pottery that is "black as carbon and hard as porcelain". Nangqian Tibetan black pottery products currently mainly include jars, pots, incense burners, butter lamps and religious supplies, among which religious supplies and tributes are the most exquisite. The firing technique of Nangqian Tibetan black pottery has high academic value in the study of the history of Tibetan cultural development and the history of Tibetan-Han cultural exchanges.

Intangible culture related to the heritage

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