The Knowledge System of the Traditional Chinese Craftsman

Many kinds of traditional craft-from ceramics and textiles to stone-carving and others-are still being practiced in China, but they are disappearing fast in the wake of the unprecedented development drive in the last three decades. The premise of this essay is that efforts to conserve traditional crafts should begin with an understanding of the knowledge system that accounted for their resilience and remarkable success until the twentieth century. The three interrelated elements of this knowledge system are knowledge about the physical properties of materials; knowledge about methods, tools, and protocols of their use; and knowledge about the form, structure, and decoration of vessels. Although transmitted primarily by personal experience in the apprenticeship system, these elements found oblique expression in the classical textual tradition as well. This essay draws from both the textual and material records to reconstruct the craft knowledge and embodied skills shared by artisans across a wide range of material media.