Shushan Pottery

Shushan Pottery

　　Shushan Pottery is a renowned specialty of Wuxi, Jiangsu. Yixing is famous both in China and abroad for its pottery and purple clay ware. The Dingshu Town in Yixing is known as the “Pottery Capital of China,” with a history of pottery-making that dates back 5,000 years. The so-called “Five Golden Flowers”—purple clay ware, celadon, Jun-style pottery, painted pottery, and fine pottery—are celebrated both domestically and internationally. Overseas, celadon is referred to as the “Sapphire of the East,” painted pottery is called “pottery dressed in gorgeous clothes,” fine pottery tableware is praised as “unbreakable porcelain,” and the vibrant colors of Jun-style pottery are hailed as “unsurpassed in a thousand years.”

　　As for Yixing’s purple clay pottery, it enjoys even greater fame. As an ancient saying goes, “What value have pearls and jade on earth, when compared to a lump of earth from the headwaters of the Yangxian Stream?” Today, Dingshu Town is home to renowned master craftsmen such as Gu Jingzhou, Gu Shaopei, Xu Xiutang, Wang Yintang, and Shen Juhua. Their purple clay works have repeatedly won international gold awards, and many are highly valued and collected by collectors both at home and abroad.