Yingge offers more than just pottery
Yingge offers more than just pottery
When I first learned that a visit to Yingge, a small town in the
southernmost part of Taipei County, was included on our schedule,
I wondered how the trip would be, considering that some parts of
Indonesia are also famous for their pottery.
After a drive of around one hour from Taipei, our group --
comprising around 30 journalists from South America, Eastern
Europe and Asia invited by the Taiwanese government -- arrived in
the small town.
The first stop was the Yingge Ceramics Museum. There, we
learned the history of Taiwan's ceramic industry from its early
days through to the second world war and the modern era.
We also learned how ceramic articles are produced, including
entering a replica of a giant charcoal stove.
Then, we visited Jianshanpu Road, better known as Old Pottery
Street. The road is closed to vehicles other than bicycles and
motorcycles.
Along the road, dozens of shops offer numerous ceramic
products in a variety of designs -- from tea sets to lamps and
small decorative water fountains.
The items are priced from T$35 (or around US$10.40) for a
single small tea cup to thousands of dollars for bigger
decorative pottery works.
The name Yingge means parrot. It was apparently given to the
town after the landmark parrot-shaped rock that is perched on the
lower slopes of a mountain on the town's northern outskirts.
People first began to manufacture pottery in Yingge in 1804,
and a century ago the ceramics industry was flourishing there due
to the suitability of the local clay and the convenience of rail
and (formerly) river transportation.
Countless craftsmen and artists have worked to improve their
techniques, including clay selection, forming, glazing and
firing.
Most people assume that pottery and ceramics are one and the
same. But, actually the two are quite different.
Besides using different types of clay, pottery is fired at
temperatures under 1,250 Celsius degrees, while ceramics must use
the temperature of above 1,260 degrees.
Pottery, also known as earthenware, has been around for about
8,000 years, but ceramics and porcelain only date back about
3,000 years.
In the early years of the industry in Yingge, the products
made were mostly for everyday use.
Now the kilns used in firing have advanced from the
"primitive" kilns of the Qing Dynasty to modern gas-fired tunnel
kilns, and more articles are produced not for practical use but
for esthetic purposes.
To help bring Yingge's ceramics industry into line with the
international industry, the Yingge Ceramics Festival was held in
2001. The aim of this yearly event is to build Yingge's
international reputation as a specialized ceramics industrial
zone and create new vistas for this high-end industry as well as
for cultural tourism.
In Yingge, several stores offer crash courses for budding
potters. Children and teenagers are particularly enthusiastic
about making their own tea cups and the like.
Too bad we only had one hour to look around Yingge. Otherwise,
I could have attempted one of those courses myself.