SEMINAR: The transmission of the intangible cultural heritage of porcelain production in mid to late 20th Century China (1950 - 2000)

Traditional forms of craftsmanship and craft production are types of intangible cultural heritage (ICH), and their survival has been challenged by urbanisation, industrialisation, and globalisation. This urgency motivates my doctoral research on heritage craft production in China, with the aim of balancing the sustainable development of profit-driven modern craft industries with the long-term conservation of the significant ICH. During my fieldwork in Jingdezhen which is the Porcelain Capital of China, a large number of interviewed porcelain craftsmen spoke highly of stateowned porcelain factories (SPFs) that operated from the mid to late 20th Century which was the period of centrally planned economy (CPE) in China. Based on grounded theory analysis of in-depth interviews with 14 former factory workers, the study concludes that the CPE in China has profoundly promoted the transmission of porcelain craftsmanship in Jingdezhen in breadth and depth. This study is thus an interrogation of whether experience can be drawn from SPFs for better ICH preservation contemporarily.