Ceramic Restoration:from Technique To Traditional Folk Art

Ceramic restoration is a time-honored folk craftsmanship. Developing from theoriginal simple ceramic repairing among common people, this skill was passed on andachieved unprecedented prosperity during the three booming periods of Qing Dynasty,transforming from a skill to an art. With its artistic and aesthetic values and uniquetechniques and skills, the historic old art was firmly supported by the mass populationaround the nation. The production and development of ceramic restoration has beencentered around the life of ordinary folks by meeting people’s demand for labor. As thisart was an inheritance of the worship of nature in the pre-Qin Taoism and therequirements of thriftiness, temperance and self-discipline, it serves as a direction forthe life of ordinary men and a reflection of Chinese folk customs. With a focus on thefield investigations of the production, development, technical processes andrepresentative inheritors of ceramic restoration in Fushun, Shenyang and Tezhou,Shandong, this paper builds on previous researches to investigate and analyze the craftsand structure of the traditional folk art of ceramic restoration by examining relatedmasterpiece paintings and historical records in order to reveal the transformation of thisskill to an art and point out the historical, cultural and aesthetic values of this folk art.This paper explores the traditional folk art of ceramic restoration from four aspects.First, “the Origin and Historic Development of Ceramic Restoration” analyzes,concludes and summarizes the concept and historical background of ceramic restorationand expounds on its current condition. Second, “the Cultural Connotation, Value andFunction of Ceramic Restoration” analyzes the Taoist ideas embodied inside anddiscusses about the functions and values of this art from multiple perspectives. Third,“the Crafts and Artistic Features of Ceramic Restoration” records the detailedtechnological processes of ceramic restoration, demonstrates the transformation of thistechnique into an art from several perspectives, and proposes and explains three typicalfeats in the skills of ceramic restoration. Fourth, “the Inheritance and Protection ofCeramic Restoration” analyzes the challenges faced by ceramic restoration, explores thenecessity of innovation and reform and proposes examples of protective measures.