JINGDEZHEN, China, Aug. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A report from Jiangxi International Communication Center (JXICC): Jingdezhen Handicraft Porcelain Industry Sites has been inscribed on the World Heritage List on July 25, making it the world’s first porcelain-themed World Cultural Heritage.
From Hands to Legacy
From a lump of clay to a single bowl, porcelain is shaped by human hands, passed down through generations, and carried across oceans to the world. It is the bone of time and the lifeblood of culture. Also, porcelain embodies the poetry of the East—a timeless verse that China offers to the world. Rooted in history, that poetry continues its journey toward the future.
From Hands to Legacy
The story of Jingdezhen, the thousand-year-old porcelain capital, begins with generations of artisans who have devoted their lives to preserving the craft.
Inside the Sungong Kiln workshop in Taoyang Alley Historical and Cultural Tourist Area, Sun Lixin lifts his fine brush and gently lays the first blue line onto a pristine porcelain body. Since apprenticing under his father at the age of 13, he has spent more than four decades working alongside clay and kiln fire. Generation after generation, the Sun family has preserved every step of the traditional porcelain-making process.
Teaching without reservation and accepting apprentices free of charge has long been the family’s enduring principle.A single blue-and-white porcelain piece—four generations of dedication have kept the kiln fire alive for more than a century.
“As long as the passion of Jingdezhen’s artisans lives on, its kiln fire will never go out. That is how we carry the tradition forward.”
From Encounter to Connection
Blue-and-white porcelain was born from the encounter of civilizations. Today, it continues to find new possibilities through encounters with the world.
In 2014, a chance encounter at the Canton Fair brought Turkish ceramic trader Hakan together with Jingdezhen blue-and-white porcelain inheritor Cheng Linyao. One brings the world’s evolving needs to Jingdezhen. The other brings Jingdezhen’s creativity to the world.
As cultures draw closer, blue-and-white porcelain becomes more than Chinese porcelain. It becomes a cultural language the world can understand—and embrace.
“Jingdezhen has opened a window onto the world of ceramics. In many ways, the story of China is the story of Jingdezhen ceramics.”
From Memory to Innovation
A fragment of ancient porcelain carries the memory of a thousand years of kiln fire. Today, technology is helping these fragments speak again—turning scattered shards into data that can be studied, shared and used to decode the story of ceramic civilization.
At the other end of the spectrum, clay is being transformed through ultrafine milling, ultrathin coating, multilayer stacking and high-temperature firing into tiny MLCCs—essential components in smartphones, new energy vehicles, aerospace equipment and servers.
From an ancient porcelain shard to a microscopic ceramic component. The applications may change, yet Jingdezhen’s pursuit of craftsmanship and materials endures. The kiln fire that has burned for a thousand years has never remained in the past.
It continues to burn, and it continues to move forward.
From Memory to Innovation
From Encounter to Connection
