Pubei Rustic Ware - 浦贝土陶

There is a centuries long history of the pottery in Pubei (浦贝), which is a settlement of the Yi national minority. It is believed that Li Zhong, a potterer from Jiangxi province, found good clay in Pubei (Yimen county, Yunnan province) while he was fleeing during the civil war in the mid 17th century, thus the pottery of Jingdezhen took root in the land of Pubei; over four hundred years, the local pottery has developed an artistic style unique to the region, known as Pubei Rustic Ware, and was finally listed in the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Yunnan in 2013.

Although it originates from the pottery technique of Jingdezhen, and even though it is usually glazed, Pubei Rustic Ware is not porcelain. Due to the differences in material and kiln temperature, it is rather a type of stoneware. Unlike the fineness and delicateness of Jingdezhen's porcelain, the beauty and charm of Pubei Rustic Ware is rugged and primitive, but with the elegance and a mystery of the folk culture of the Yi people.