Fire and Clay:
Jingdezhen

1700 years. Just to make a vase.

"I don't think there's another place like this on the whole planet.

Think about it. What other city has ever made something so good, that an entire country's name became the name of that thing? Yeah, China comes from the Qin Dynasty. We all know that. But let's be real. Nobody in Europe in 1700 was thinking about Qin Shi Huang when they said "china". They were thinking about this. The porcelain from this tiny little town in southern China."

The Dual Fire: Underglaze Cobalt & Overglaze Enamel Physical Process Archive — 1:26

Section I

The Emperor's Town

It all started in 1004. The emperor of China got a bowl made here. And he lost his mind over it. So much so that he gave the town his own name. Jingde. His reign name. That's how good it was. And for the next thousand years, every emperor in China got their porcelain from here. Then the ships started sailing. All over the world. Kings and queens would fight over these things. They'd lock them in glass cases. They'd pass them down like crown jewels.

The Craft

72 Pairs of Hands

A piece of porcelain goes through 72 hands before it's done. One slip. One wrong temperature. One tiny bubble in the glaze. And you smash it. And you start over.

Seventeen hundred years. Fathers teaching sons. Mothers teaching daughters. Every single step. Every single trick. Nothing's written down. It's all in the hands.

Section II

What Makes It Special

"What makes it so special? Two things. And you can't copy either."

The Clay

White as Jade.
Bright as a Mirror.

The kaolin clay here is magic. There's no other way to say it. Dig it out of the ground, fire it, and you get something that's white as jade, bright as a mirror, thin as paper. Tap it, and it rings like a bell. People have tried to find this clay everywhere. In Europe. In America. In Japan. Nobody's ever found anything that comes close.

The People

Seventeen Hundred Years
of Memory.

Seventeen hundred years. Fathers teaching sons. Mothers teaching daughters. Every single step. Every single trick. Nothing's written down. It's all in the hands. A piece of porcelain goes through 72 hands before it's done. One slip. One wrong temperature. One tiny bubble in the glaze. And you smash it. And you start over.

Section III

They Never Stopped Learning

And the craziest part? They never stopped learning. They took the sky blue from Ru ware. The crackle from Ge ware. The deep green from Longquan. They stole every good idea from every other kiln in China. And they made it better. That's why they won. That's why they're still here.

Section IV

Why We Go There

Today, people come here from all over the world. Artists. Potters. Dreamers. The old kilns still burn. But now they're making things for us. For our quiet corners. For our moments of peace.

That's why we go there. We walk the same narrow, winding streets. We talk to the same old men who've been throwing pots since they were 10 years old. We don't source from mass-production factories. We work directly with master artisans. People who have spent their entire lives perfecting this craft.

Watch

See Jingdezhen

A journey into the world's porcelain capital

If you liked the famous pottery wheel scene in 'Ghost,' you'll like this Travelogue episode in the world's 'Porcelain Capital,' Jingdezhen. Part 1 of 2.