Problems of Authenticity: Reflections on Contemporary Zisha Teapot-making Techniques

It is believed that the traditional Zisha teapot-making technique is still preserved in the Yixing region of China. This claim was supported by Zisha-ware being one of the first in China to be identified by UNESCO as Intangible Culture Heritage in 2006. Ironically, the increasing attention and commercial success of the local ceramic industry may, in fact, be endangering the very techniques that the listing is meant to conserve. The national title of Intangible Culture Heritage on the one hand was an attempt to add more commercial value to locally produced pottery production. On the other hand, the traditional skills are being challenged by increasing numbers of poorly trained potters, who are fail to preserve the traditional techniques. These poorly trained potters produce pottery wares mainly for commercial purposes 

Zisha teapot manufacture is defined as Chinese Intangible Heritage based on its much prized traditional pottery skills. UNESCO first defined and used the term Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in 2003. Intangible Culture Heritage includes “traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts.” (See UNESCO Intangible Culture Heritage Website: https://ich.unesco.org/en) 

The reformation triggered by the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) movement at the level of culture, economics and politics has led to a booming local cultural industry. Under the pressure of large market demand, traditional Zisha pottery making technique which requires a longer processing time, has been replaced in some places by modern machines or modern techniques. So how can authenticity of the pottery techniques be assessed and how can the Zisha-ware be certified as authentic in this case? 

This research uses a method called chaîne opératoire to analyze the differences in technique between local potters, in order to assess the authenticity of contemporary Zisha pottery-making processes. Chaîne opératoire was introduced to technological analysis and the study of ceramic technology during the 1970s, mainly by the Ecole de Techniques et Culture of the French CNRS and the Department of Pottery Technology of the University of Leiden. This framework enables us to reconstruct in detail the technological choices involved in the pottery production process from clay procurement to the later firing processes. It is posited that using the differences in the techniques, and comparing them to the historical record, it may be possible to map the current preservation situation in respect of Zisha teapots.

Further questions may be directed to: xuyang.gao@arch.ox.ac.uk