From: Yuncheng Urban Collective Industrial Association
Issue Time: 2020-05-15 15:33
The Lv’s ancestral glaze family started in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty (1573-1620 AD) and was an important glazed grey pottery making family artisan in the northern part of China at that time. Hejin Yantang Lv’s Glaze Grey Pottery Craft Factory is a large traditional handmade factory integrating design, producing, and marketing of traditional colored glaze and grey pottery. The glazed grey pottery products made by the company are exotic in shape, exquisite in craftsmanship, brilliant in color and excellent in texture, and are very popular among domestic and foreign users. Especially the glaze color “peacock orchid” is the exclusive first creation, which has had a great influence on the development history of glaze art. Many famous ancient buildings in Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan provinces in Ming and Qing dynasties and later such as Xiezhou Guandi Temple, Quwo Chenghuang Temple, Jishan Wulong Palace, Hejin Tianshen Temple, Hejin Qinglong Temple, Hejin Ancestor Temple and Henan Lingbao Houtu Temple were made by Lv’s craftsmen for many generations. These buildings have been through a hundred years of wind and rain, and still keep the light color.
Hejin Lv’s glaze was founded in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasty, and was a glaze kiln which has official kiln level in northern China. Its glazed products were so exotic in shape, brilliant in glaze, exquisite in craftsmanship and excellent in texture that they made it to the roof of the Forbidden City in the Ming Dynasty. After liberation, LV Hongjian, the eighth generation of Lv’s glaze family, participated in the restoration of Richeng Yongle Palace and Hongdong Guangsheng Temple, and fired all the glazed ridge animals and pagoda ornaments. In June 2008, Lv's glaze firing technology was announced as “national intangible cultural heritage” by the State Council. The achievements and status of Lv’s glaze are fully affirmed in the monograph Shanxi Glaze and Hejin County Annals and other materials.
In 1983, LV Yantang, the ninth generation heir of “Lv’s glaze family”, founded Hejin Lv’s glaze factory in his hometown, Dongyaotou village. After 22 years of development and growth, it was expanded to Hejin Ancient Rhyme Lv’s Ancestral Glazed Grey Pottery Co. in 2015. The company covers an area of 19,000 square meters, including a workshop covering 1,200 square meters, and has 80 employees, 18 senior technicians and 10 managers. The production adopts the traditional production process combined with domestic advanced scientific and technological achievements, forming a modern business model with scientific ingredients, modernized production scale, modernized equipment and specialized team, and the annual output value can reach more than RMB 10 million yuan.
Over the years, the company has made shadow walls, kissing decorations and gray pottery components for Changjia Manor, Wangjia Courtyard, Lijia Courtyard, Datong Yungang Grottoes, Huayan Temple and city walls in Shanxi. The company has made glazed sculptures for large ancient buildings such as Shaolin Temple in Henan Province, Xiezhou Guandi Temple, Hongdong Susan Prison, Linfen Yao Temple and Drum Tower, etc. In the late 1980s, the company fired all the glazed gray pottery products for the restoration project of Yongji Pujiu Temple and Guanque Tower. We also fired glazed and gray pottery products for important government projects such as Yongji Wan’gu Temple, Guifei Pond, Wulao Peak, Hongdong Great Pagoda Tree (a scenic spot), and Yuci Old City, etc. Its products are sold to Beijing, Tianjin, Inner Mongolia, Xi'an, Gansu, Henan, Hebei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Taiyuan, etc., and are unique in the glazed grey pottery industry. In 1993, at the request of Hebei Provincial Construction Department, the company designed and produced all the glazed products for Yanzhao Garden in Tottori County, Japan, which were well received by Japanese colleagues. In 1994, the company made a full set of glazed and gray pottery components for the miniature landscape of Beihai Park in Houston, USA, which made an important contribution to the development of glazing in China and the economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.
Shanxi Economic Channel, Yuncheng broadcasting and TV station, and Hejin TV station have made special reports on Lv’s glaze craft. In 2008, Lv’s glaze won the “National Intangible Cultural Heritage·Glaze Firing Technique”. In 2012, the “Round Incense Burner·Smoked Incense Burner” created by LV Yantang won the silver award of the 2012 “Tangdu·Jinyi Cup” at the First Shanxi Fine Arts and Crafts Fair, and the silver award of the National Leisure Agriculture Creative Excellence Competition. In 2013, “Da Yu Healing Water” created by LV Yantang won the gold award of Shanxi Cultural Industry Expo and Trade Fair “Intelligent Craftsman Cup” Fine Arts and Crafts Award; “Carp Leaping Dragon Gate” won the silver award of Shanxi Cultural Industry Expo and Trade Fair “Intelligent Craftsman Cup” Fine Arts and Crafts Award; “Child’s Pillow” won the bronze award of Shanxi Cultural Industry Expo and Trade Fair “Intelligent Craftsman Cup” Fine Arts and Crafts Award. In 2014, LV Yantang won the honorary title of the third Shanxi Provincial Arts and Crafts Master. In 2016, the glazed work “Carp Leaping Dragon Gate” won “the Outstanding Work Award” in the Great Exhibition of Yuncheng Intangible Cultural Heritage. In 2017, the glazed work “Child’s Pillow” won the bronze award in the “Creative Yuncheng” Cultural and Creative Product Design Competition. In 2018, the glazed work “Dayu Healing Water” won the silver award in the “Ancient China·Craftsman Cup” Fine Arts and Crafts Award.
