Exploring Baoding | Chen Wenzeng Ding Porcelain Art Museum: The Past and Present of Ding Porcelain Culture

Ding Kiln Child Pillow (replica by Chen Wenzeng)

In the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing

Open a junior high history textbook, and a picture of the "Child Pillow" catches your eye. Its adorable shape and exquisite craftsmanship are breathtaking.

Do you know where this piece, housed in the Palace Museum and representing the superb artistry of the Song Dynasty and even Chinese ceramics, was produced? It comes from Quyang’s Ding porcelain craftsmanship.

"Ding porcelain is my life."

This was the lifelong commitment

of Chinese master of arts and crafts,

Chen Wenzeng.

In the 1970s, a temporary worker who could write arrived at the Baoding Arts and Crafts Ding Porcelain Factory. No one imagined then that this temporary worker, who dealt with porcelain day in and day out – from selecting materials to firing – witnessing every piece come into being, would, after more than thirty years of painstaking exploration, finally awaken the lost 800-year artistry of Ding kiln from fragments and bring Ding porcelain back to life. He came to be known as the "Father of Chinese Ding Porcelain during the Revival of Ding Kiln." In 2012, Chen Wenzeng decided to donate over 2,000 pieces of his decades-long creations – Ding porcelain, poems, calligraphy, and research works – to the state for free.

"Ding porcelain was resurrected, but Master Chen Wenzeng, exhausted from overwork, passed away forever in June 2016."

Chen Wenzeng Ding Porcelain Art Museum

Named after Chen Wenzeng,

known as "the first person of Chinese Ding Kiln."

In June 2017, invested by the Quyang County People's Government, covering 9,999 square meters with an exhibition area of 3,000 square meters, the Chen Wenzeng Ding Porcelain Art Museum opened in Quyang County. It features permanent exhibitions of Chen Wenzeng's Ding porcelain, calligraphy, poems, Ding kiln history, and Chen Wenzeng's artistic documents. All of the over 2,000 pieces he donated – Ding porcelain, poems, calligraphy, and research works – are on display and open to the public for free, inviting appreciation from people of all walks of life across the country. The museum has two treasures: one is the Ding Kiln "Triple Art" Peony-pattern Engraved Guifei Vase. Inspired by the full yet graceful figure of Yang Yuhuan (a renowned beauty of the Tang Dynasty), the vase has a lip mouth, sloping shoulders, a full and smooth belly that tapers gradually to the base, exuding an enchanting charm. It bears a poem by the artist: "How many autumns have been quietly concealed? Jade rhythm has never lost its natural tenderness. History's brush records myriad emotions, a fragrant passage remembers the elegance." This piece embodies the trinity of "porcelain, poetry, and calligraphy," thus called the Triple Art. The original is housed in the Ziguangge of Zhongnanhai. The other is an eighteen-panel calligraphy work titled "Three Poems by Chen Wenzeng Himself."

To promote Ding kiln culture, showcase its long history and artistic achievements, facilitate in-depth research, and boost the Ding porcelain industry, with the support of the Quyang County Party Committee and County Government and leveraging the Cultural Tourism Development Conference, the Chen Wenzeng Art Museum established the Ding Kiln History Museum. It builds a platform for publicity, display, exchange, and research. The museum covers a building area of 1,000 square meters, with approximately 600 square meters for display, featuring extensive historical records and physical specimens collected by Ding kiln enthusiasts since the 1970s. The exhibition is divided into sections such as Ancestral Pottery Making, First Smelting at Hengshan, Perfecting Skills, Carving and Engraving Wonders, Mold-printed Blossoms, Spreading of Techniques, Unceasing Kiln Fire, Origins of Beautiful Wares, Evolution of Main Vessels, and Conclusion. Using physical objects, text, and high-tech forms, it displays items chronologically, thereby reviving the Ding porcelain techniques that had been lost for 500 years.

The completion and opening of this museum reflect the nation's firm determination to promote fine traditional Chinese culture and serve as great consolation for the pioneering first generation of Ding kiln artisans led by Chen Wenzeng. Through this platform for dissemination and exchange, Ding kiln culture will go global and reach the world.

Chen Wenzeng Ding Porcelain Art Museum

The main building of the Chen Wenzeng Ding Porcelain Art Museum has four floors, with permanent exhibitions on the basement, first, and second floors. The first floor houses exhibitions of Chen Wenzeng's Ding porcelain, calligraphy, and poems. The second floor features Chen Wenzeng Art Documents Exhibition, Lin Zhanxian’s and He Huan’s Ding Porcelain Exhibition, and a Ding Kiln History Gallery. The third floor is an office and research exchange area with a lecture hall, library, meeting rooms, and calligraphy and painting exchange rooms. To further promote Ding kiln culture, showcase its long history and artistic achievements, and boost research and industry development, a new Ding Kiln History Museum was built on the basement floor of the art museum. It displays chronologically the massive historical records and physical specimens gathered by Ding kiln enthusiasts since the 1970s, reviving the 500-year-lost techniques. Meanwhile, the exhibition uses modern digital technology for multimedia presentations and interactive queries, breaking away from the traditional habit of simply looking and allowing visitors to listen, achieving unlimited digital space information within a limited space.

At the beginning of the year, Baoding launched a citizen-friendly policy –

the Baoding Cultural Tourism Benefit Card.

The card not only grants access to all the wonderful scenic spots mentioned above

but also offers discounts at Guan Hanqing Grand Theater and Zhili Grand Theater.

Heart’s flutter? Take action!