The Tradition · Early PRC
1949 – 1978
State Collectivisation and Institutional Codification
Production Authority
All kilns were nationalised under state-owned factory systems. Production planning, material allocation, and design direction were centrally administered.
Individual craft identity was subsumed into collective factory designation. Historical techniques were codified within institutional research frameworks.
Material & Technical Shift
Standardised glaze formulations and firing protocols
Institutional preservation of historical decorative techniques
Introduction of industrial firing methods alongside traditional wood-fired kilns
Market Orientation
Production served state requirements: diplomatic gifts, institutional supply, and controlled export channels. Market forces were effectively suspended.
Distribution was planned rather than negotiated. The collector-maker relationship was mediated entirely by state apparatus.
Structural Tension
Collective efficiency vs individual mastery
Technical preservation vs creative suppression
Institutional memory vs ideological conformity
This period simultaneously preserved and constrained the tradition. The institutional framework that protected technique also limited its evolution.