Primitive pottery making techniques of Li Nationality

The name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Li's primitive pottery making skills

Applicant: Changjiang Li Autonomous County, Hainan Province

Project No.: 354

Project No.: VIII - 4

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Hainan Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Changjiang Li Autonomous County, Hainan Province

Protection unit: cultural center of Changjiang Li Autonomous County

A brief introduction to the original pottery making techniques of the Li Nationality:

Applicant: Changjiang Li Autonomous County, Hainan Province

Hainan Island has a long history of pottery making. Pottery pieces have been found in prehistoric sites in Li inhabited areas, and there are many related records in the literature. For example, in the Song Dynasty's Zhufan annals, it was recorded that the Li people "used soil as cauldrons and gourd as utensils". In the Qing Dynasty, Gu Yanwu's book on the diseases of the prefectures and states under the heaven also recorded that the Li people "used fine pipes to make wooden cloth and clay as cauldrons." The pottery making techniques in Li nationality areas are preserved in Ha dialect, run dialect, Sai dialect and Mei Fu dialect.

The pottery making tools of Li nationality include wooden pestle, wooden mortar, wooden racket, wooden scraper and bamboo knife, clam shell, drilling bamboo stick, bamboo mat, etc. the pottery making process consists of 12 steps: digging, picking, drying, crushing, sieving, mixing, blank making, drying, preparing, igniting, extracting and reinforcing. The main products are kettle, steamer, urn, bowl, can, wine steamer, rice steamer and so on.

From one side, the technique of making bricks reflects the level of the original technique of making pottery of the Li nationality. It includes kneading, clay bar building, fast wheel making pottery and so on. The slab making methods, such as clay slice sticking method, clay strip plate making method and fast wheel drawing method, are still preserved in Li nationality area. Among them, clay strip plate making method has the characteristics of no mixing materials, simple pottery making tools, open-air pottery burning, no pottery cart and wheel, and few types of utensils.

The original pottery making techniques such as clay strip and pan construction are still handed down in Dapo area, Shilu Town, Changjiang Li Autonomous County, Hainan Island, which is of great significance to the study of prehistoric pottery making history. However, with the development of society, the improvement of living standards and the convergence of social culture, porcelain, glassware, metal ware, plastic ware, etc. have replaced pottery into daily life, and Li pottery has gradually shrunk, especially during the "Cultural Revolution", almost all of them stopped production. At present, there are few Li artists who know how to make pottery, and the art of making pottery is on the verge of extinction. It is urgent to take practical measures to ensure its inheritance.