瓷都景德镇，青年艺匠的朝圣之地

JINGDEZHEN, China — For centuries, the most coveted china from China came out of Jingdezhen’s workshops — fashioned from clay made smooth by trained hands, fired in kilns and then transported across the world.

中国景德镇——数百年来，中国最受青睐的瓷器来自景德镇的作坊——经娴熟的双手处理的光滑粘土被捏成形，在窑炉里烧制，然后运往世界各地。

The works graced the courts of the Persians, Mongols and French. Some craved blue-and-white vases. Others admired jade-green celadon bowls. This was China’s greatest export, the rival of silk.

这些工艺品曾给波斯、蒙古和法国的宫廷增光添彩。有些人渴望得到青花瓶。有些人则喜欢青瓷碗。它是中国最重要的出口商品，与丝绸旗鼓相当。

The fall of the Qing dynasty and war and revolutions in the 20th century broke the artisan culture, unless one counts Communist statues as an important stage in China’s hallowed porcelain tradition.

清朝的衰落以及20世纪的战争和革命破坏了这项手工艺文化，除非有人把共产主义雕像也算作神圣的中国瓷器传统的重要阶段。

Now that tradition is being revived at the roots. Young people are moving to study in Jingdezhen, a river town in the southern Chinese province of Jiangxi. Studios and workshops have popped up around town and in the surrounding valleys. Some of the new artisans hope to profit from their skills, since the country’s middle-class boom of recent decades has meant a greater demand for porcelain.

现在，这项传统正从根源开始复兴。年轻人正前往中国南方江西省的滨河城市景德镇学习。城市各处和周围的山谷里涌现出很多工作室和作坊。有些新手工艺人希望用自己的技艺获利，因为近几十年来，这个国家的中产阶级的壮大意味着对瓷器的需求量在增大。

“I like the atmosphere here very much,” said Fang Xin, 27, a woman from the Guangxi region who showed me how she was sculpting a clay cup with her hands one morning in a former factory. “A lot of people with dreams come here. There is a variety of teachers, and they teach all kinds of skills and ideas.”

“我非常喜欢这里的气氛，”27岁的广西姑娘方欣(音)说。一天早上，她在一个工厂旧址向我展示如何手工做出一个杯胚。“很多怀有梦想的人来到这里。这里有很多老师，他们教授各种技巧和想法。”

There is even a term for young artists like Ms. Fang: jingpiao, or Jingdezhen drifters.

方欣这样的年轻艺术家甚至有一个称呼：景漂。

Ms. Fang was working in a space managed by the Pottery Workshop, an education center opened in 2005 by the sculptors Caroline Cheng and Takeshi Yasuda that has become a magnet for jingpiao. (The workshop’s mother branch opened in Hong Kong in 1985.) The center has been critical in rejuvenating the Jingdezhen ceramics scene.

方欣在乐天陶社经营的一个空间里工作。这是雕塑家郑祎和安田猛(Takeshi Yasuda)在2005年开设的一个教育中心，已经成为一个对景漂很有吸引力的地方(该工作室的母公司1985年在香港创立)。该中心在振兴景德镇陶瓷业方面发挥了重要作用。

In 2008, Ms. Cheng opened a Saturday outdoor market in a courtyard space by the workshop and its cafe, so artists could try to make a living by selling their creations.

2008年，郑祎在工作室的庭院和咖啡馆里开设了周六户外市集，艺术家们可以尝试通过销售自己的作品谋生。

The idea came when a recent workshop graduate asked Ms. Cheng if she could sell items outside the cafe. She wanted to set up on a blanket, but Ms. Cheng insisted on erecting a proper tent covering, said Po-Wen Liu, the workshop’s deputy director and a teacher there. These days, about 80 artists take part in the market. They place their wares on tables under white awnings.

新近从工作室毕业的一名毕业生问郑祎是否可以在咖啡馆外卖瓷器，由此产生了设立这项活动的想法。工作室的总监、教师刘博文说，那名毕业生想在毯子上售卖，但郑祎坚决主张布置合适的遮篷。如今，约有80名艺术家加入了这个市集。他们把自己的作品放在白色遮篷下的桌子上。

Mr. Liu is from Taiwan and studied ceramics art there and in the United States before teaching at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He joined the Pottery Workshop in December 2015 after answering an ad for a teaching position. His wife, son and daughter continue to live in Greensboro.

刘博文来自台湾，曾在台湾和美国学习陶艺，后在北卡罗来纳大学格林斯伯勒分校(University of North Carolina at Greensboro)教书。2015年12月，他去乐天陶社应聘教师，成为其中一员。他的妻子、儿子和女儿继续在格林斯伯勒生活。

“Since I was a student, I wanted to come to Jingdezhen,” he said. “It’s the mecca.”

“因为我是学这个的，我想来景德镇，”他说。“这里是麦加圣地。”

Mr. Liu teaches classes of about 15 students for one week or more. These take place in a building at the rear gate of the compound, which is on the grounds of a state-run sculpture factory. Two brick chimneys from an unused kiln rise near the education center. Many students are recent graduates of the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, the most prominent academy in town.

刘博文的班上约有15名学生，授课时间是一周或更长。教学活动在这个综合建筑物后门边上的一座楼里进行，整个建筑群坐落在一个国营雕塑厂的场地内，教育中心附近的废弃窑炉有两个砖制烟囱。很多学生刚从景德镇陶瓷学院毕业，那是这座城市最著名的学院。

“I would say their craftsmanship is amazing and their technical level is very high,” Mr. Liu said. “But their conceptual skills need improvement. There’s too much historical burden. They need to break out of the boundaries.”

“我得说他们的技艺很高，教育水平很高，”刘博文说，“但他们的概念技巧需要提升。他们的历史负担太重。他们需要打破界线。”

“For example, if I ask them to make a cup, they will make something very uniform,” he added. “They might have an idea of what a Chinese cup looked like 1,000 years ago. They will stick with this. I personally like more creativity. I tell them to have the work reflect the handmade quality, not something made by machine.”

“比如，如果我让他们做一个杯子，他们做出来的东西都很像，”他补充说。“他们可能知道1000年前中国的杯子是什么样的。他们将遵循这个传统。我个人喜欢更多创造性。我让他们从自己的作品中反映出手工制品的品质，展现与机器制品的区别。”

Though most students are Chinese, the workshop has an international flavor. The manager is Siumei Ngan, a trained arts administrator who moved here from Hong Kong in November 2015. At any given time, the workshop has about eight artists in residence, most of them from outside China. They stay up to six months.

尽管大部分学生是中国人，但工作坊却有一种国际氛围。经理是艺术管理科班出身的颜小美，2015年11月从香港来到这里。工作坊在任何时候都有约八名艺术家驻场，他们大多来自中国以外的地方，最多会待上半年。

There are also foreign study groups. In the cafe, I met Brandon Schnur, 29, the co-leader of a group of 13 students from the West Virginia University Ceramics Program visiting for the summer.

也有一些国外的学习小组。我在咖啡馆遇见了29岁的布兰登·施努尔(Brandon Schnur)，他是西弗吉尼亚大学(West Virginia University)陶瓷课程的13名学生的带队人之一，这个夏天他们来这里访学。

The workshop has a pottery kiln that resident artists can use. They work in individual studios on the upper floor of one building. Sunlight streams in from large glass windows.

工作坊有个窑，可以供驻场艺术家使用。他们在一座建筑上层的单独工作室内工作。阳光透过大玻璃窗照射进来。

A Canadian woman, Denise White, 29, sat at a table painting a small porcelain outdoor scene with snow-covered trees and a polar bear. She said her goal for the two-and-a-half-week residency was to design molds of Canadian scenes that she could bring home to make sculptures for sale.

29岁的丹尼丝·怀特(Denise White)来自加拿大，她坐在桌边，给一个小型瓷器作品绘制野外风景，有银装素裹的树木和一只北极熊。她说她要在这里驻场两周半，目标是设计加拿大风景模具，可以带回去制作雕塑出售。

“I got 13 small molds made here,” Ms. White said. “The master mold-makers here can pretty much do anything.”

“我在这里做了13个小模具，”怀特说，“这里的模具制造师傅几乎什么都能做。”

Jingdezhen has been producing ceramics since the early Chinese dynasties. But it was during the Tang dynasty, from 618 to 907, that word of the town’s arts spread.

景德镇从中国的封建王朝早期就开始生产瓷器。不过到了618年至907年的唐代，它的艺术名声才传播开来。

In that era, Jingdezhen was called Changnan because it sits on the south bank of the Chang River, and some historians say the word “china” — and thus the Western name of the country — came from a bad transliteration of the town’s name. Some scholars date China’s earliest fine porcelain to the Five Dynasties and 10 Kingdoms period, a time of upheaval in the 10th century.

在那个时代，景德镇被称为昌南，因为它位于昌江南岸。有些史学家认为，瓷器的英文单词“china”——以及西方对中国的称呼“China”——源自对这个名字的糟糕音译。有些学者认为，中国最早的精致瓷器制作可以追溯到五代十国时期，那是10世纪的一个混乱时代。

Dynasties rose and fell, but each new emperor ordered porcelain to be brought from Jingdezhen to their courts. Imperial officials were posted in Jingdezhen to oversee the production. Pieces from here carried a stamp of authenticity and gained prominence worldwide.

王朝兴起衰落，但每个新皇帝都命令景德镇向宫廷进贡瓷器。皇家官员驻守在景德镇督促生产。这里生产的瓷器会有用于防伪的款识，在世界各地享有盛誉。

Today, the values of those works are among the highest in the Chinese art world. At a 2014 Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong, the Shanghai businessman Liu Yiqian offered a record-setting $36.3 million for a delicate Ming dynasty porcelain cup, called a “chicken cup,” that was fired in Jingdezhen’s imperial kilns.

在今天，这些瓷器是中国艺术中价值最高的作品。在2014年香港的苏富比(Sotheby’s)拍卖会上，上海商人刘益谦以破记录的3630万美元买下一个精致的明代“鸡缸杯”，是在景德镇的官窑中烧制的。

After paying for the cup with a credit card, he took a celebratory sip of tea from it.

在用信用卡支付买下该杯之后，他用它喝了一口茶，以示庆祝。

After the Communists took over in 1949, Jingdezhen became known for the production of propaganda statues. By 1958, that work was consolidated into 10 main factories or studios.

1949年共产党上台后，景德镇以生产政治宣传雕塑闻名。1958年，那项工作被统一交给10个主要的工厂或作坊完成。

In recent years, the local government has begun its own efforts to rejuvenate the porcelain industry. But people in the industry say it is the small, privately run workshops that are revitalizing the traditions while injecting them with new ideas.

最近几年，当地政府自己也开始努力复兴陶瓷行业。但业内人认为，是私营小工作坊在复兴这些传统，同时也给它们注入新的观念。

One such workshop lies in the Sanbao Village area across a river. Here, artists and businesspeople have opened workshops and studios throughout a lush valley.

其中一个工作坊位于河对岸的三宝村。在这里，艺术家和商人开设的作坊和工作室遍布整个葱翠的山谷。

Perhaps the most striking one is Zhenrutang, whose sprawling showroom consists of four connected traditional homes moved here from the white-walled village area of Huizhou, in neighboring Anhui Province. Bowls, plates and vases sit on tables and are bathed in the soft glow of overhead lights. Buddhist figurines are also on display.

其中最引人注目的可能是真如堂，它庞大的展厅由四座相连的传统宅院组成，它们是从毗邻的安徽省徽州区那片白墙村落群搬过来的。桌上的碗、盘、瓶沐浴在头顶射下的柔和灯光里。同时展出的还有佛像。

The porcelain works are designed by Jiang Bo, 35, a native of Xi’an who came to Jingdezhen in 2001 to study at the ceramics institute. Eight years later, he opened his own studio. More than 40 people work for it on the grounds here.

这些瓷器作品是35岁的江波设计的，他是西安人，2001年来景德镇的陶瓷学院学习。八年后，他开设了自己的工作室。有40多人在这里工作。

A signature piece is a small teapot with a pair of cups, all in a creamy powder blue. Each cup has a tiny rough nub on the smooth bottom, like a rock protruding from an ocean’s surface. Called “Mountain and Water,” the set sells for $150.

真如堂的一件代表作品是配有两个杯子的茶壶，全是光滑细腻的粉蓝色。每个杯子光滑的底部都有一个粗糙的小突起，像是海平面上冒出的岩石。整套茶具被称为“山水如意”，全套售价150美元。

“If you want to develop a career around ceramics, Jingdezhen is the best place,” said Mr. Jiang, who is now vice general manager of the company.

“如果你想在陶瓷方面开创事业，景德镇是最佳地点，”现为这家公司副总经理的江波说。

Like the Pottery Workshop, Zhenrutang also has a residency program for foreign artists.

和乐天陶社一样，真如堂也有提供给外国艺术家的驻留计划。

“More and more young people decide to stay here,” Mr. Jiang said. “Some of them come from big cities. Here, it’s easier to start ceramics workshops.”

“越来越多的年轻人决定留在这里，”江波说。“他们当中有些人来自大城市。在这儿办陶艺工作室更容易。

But like the town’s pottery, some Jingdezhen drifters are now moving to other corners of China. Ms. Cheng, co-founder of the Pottery Workshop, said artists were getting married, having children and asking themselves what were more suitable environments for them. She lives in Dali, a rural town in Yunnan Province that has attracted an extraordinary number of Chinese fleeing the cities.

但是，和镇上的陶艺一样，一些景漂正在搬往中国的其他角落。乐天陶社的创始人郑祎说，艺术家们开始结婚生孩子，并考虑什么样的环境最适合他们。目前她住在大理，那是云南省的一个乡间城镇，吸引了大量逃离城市的中国人。

“I have now met a lot of people who have gone home,” Ms. Cheng said. “I really don’t encourage people to stay in Jingdezhen forever. It’s good that they go home. They can teach others what they’ve learned here.”

“我现在已经遇到过很多回家的人，”郑祎说。“我真的不鼓励人们永远留在景德镇。他们回家很好。他们可以把在这里学到的东西教给别人。”