Molding dreams

Sun Lixin's store is tucked in a hive of ceramics outlets of varying sizes that line almost every street.

This is a typical area in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China's porcelain capital for more than 1,000 years.

Not many visitors step in.

But Sun Lixin believes the porcelain made in his workshop Sun Gong Yao (Mr Sun's Kiln) is of true artistic value that only those who understand fine porcelain would appreciate.

The 41-year-old's forefathers were all renowned porcelain artists. But Sun is the only one from the family's fourth generation to have inherited the blue-and-white painting skills. He hopes Sun Gong Yao will not only preserve his family's unique style but also help Jingdezhen revive the industry.

With a history of more than 1,000 years, Jingdezhen became acclaimed for cultivating highly sophisticated porcelain-making techniques in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

But since the 1990s, the city has been slipping from its top spot in the sector. It has been losing out to rivals from the eastern and southern coasts because of its incompetence in operating in the market economy.

Sun is ambitious about cultivating Sun Gong Yao to make it a major, top-quality brand and an exemplary business model.

"Sun Gong Yao will become a porcelain research institute, focusing on design rather than production," he says.

"It will feature a garden, a fishing pond and a swimming pool, and my designers will work in studios featuring traditional dcor."

He also says it will be environmentally friendly. It won't generate smoke or dust, and all water will be reused.

"Jingdezhen has lagged behind Chaozhou, Foshan and other porcelain-making cities in terms of production facilities, but it still has an artistic edge," he says.

"We will make the best use of our strengths to offset our weaknesses."

Sun's love for porcelain began in 1981, when he followed the footsteps of his father Sun Tongxin and secured an "iron rice bowl" job at the State-owned Hongqi Porcelain Factory, where his father had worked for more than 20 years.

Hongqi (Red Flag) was then one of the city's 10 State-owned porcelain factories. Jingdezhen had hosted the rise and fall of numerous private studios and workshops, most of them devastated in wars since the Qing Dynasty ended.

After New China's founding in 1949, the local government merged the surviving small workshops into 10 State-owned factories. It was part of a nationwide campaign to transform private enterprises into State-private joint operations.

"When I first took the factory shuttle bus, the adults on board couldn't believe I was their colleague," he says.

He was the Hongqi factory's youngest worker at age 13.

"I felt quite proud to work in a State-owned factory with a good reputation and a welfare policy that could then match that enjoyed by government officials," he says.

Sun spent the first three years as an apprentice. He ran errands and performed daily chores, such as making tea and tidying up, before practicing porcelain-making basics.

The first skill he learned was line drawing, which is integral to the exquisiteness of porcelain patterns.

"When I practiced drawing, my father often snuck in to look over my shoulder," he says.

"He would surprise me by pulling my brush over my shoulder to see that I held the brush tightly and had drawn the lines meticulously.

"If he caught me chatting with others, he would throw a stool at me."

The strict discipline made their relationship somewhat tense. When the father later realized he'd been too impatient, he entrusted his son in better hands.

At the age of 17, Sun was brought to Master Fu Zhouhai, an acclaimed artist from whom Sun learned not only the skills but also the art of porcelain making.

"Master Fu was a good teacher. He reminded me not to limit my vision or ideals, no matter what I am doing - reading, painting or making porcelain," he says.

While Sun's skills advanced, the Hongqi factory became mired in troubles.

In the 1990s, Jingdezhen began lagging behind the market economy, despite its golden history of making top-quality porcelain for imperial use. Its State-owned porcelain factories, which had produced wares specially designed for late Chinese leader Mao Zedong and the Great Hall of the People, went downhill.

Its problems were caused by outdated facilities, old-fashioned products and fierce competition from more market-oriented coastal cities.

To stave off bankruptcy, the local government restructured State-owned factories. Many employees were laid off. There was little to do for the few who stayed, because production was sharply cut.

The father and son, once admired for working at the same factory, weren't spared.

"The factory collapsed and the workers all left," Sun says.

"Those who hadn't reached retirement age - at which point they could receive a pension - had to find other ways to support themselves."

Sun had considered seeking a new job in Guangdong or Fujian provinces. Private porcelain firms there have snatched up a sizeable market share, thanks to their sensitivity to consumer demands.

But his father bitterly disagreed and asked him to stay to find ways to keep the factory afloat.

State-owned enterprises, which had provided "cradle to grave" welfare, had been a "second home" to Sun Tongxin and his family. It was difficult for them to accept the decline.

Sun insisted on going to work every day, no matter how little he was paid or how many young people were seeking opportunities elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the son went to Shenzhen, an emerging city next to Hong Kong, to get away from Jingdezhen. He went there not only to find work but also to enjoy a cleaner environment.

Jingdezhen's kilns were coal-fueled before the mid-1990s. At one time, there were as many as 600 chimneys in the 30-sq-km city. These emitted up to 54 tons of soot per sq km a month. If not swept, the soot could have piled up to 30 cm to 40 cm within a year.

"It forced you to leave. The chimney started to emit smoke at 4 or 5 o'clock every morning and the city was always blanketed by dust clouds," he says.

In 1995, Jingdezhen's kilns started shifting from coal to gas. In two years, the city dismantled and reconstructed more than 190 coal kilns and demolished most of the chimneys.

In Shenzhen, Sun helped design porcelain ware for hotels, restaurants and golf clubs, earning about 3,000 to 4,000 yuan a month ($441 to $588).

He even worked as a home-decoration designer after moving to Zhuhai, another city in Guangdong, two years later. He earned 20,000 yuan a month doing this job.

He attributes his versatility to Master Fu's guidance. "He encouraged me to absorb knowledge from different disciplines. So I read widely, including books on home decoration," he says.

But Sun had always kept his hometown in mind and waited for his chance to show his love for it.

Private porcelain workshops and retail stores began reappearing in Jingdezhen while he was working in southern cities. The small workshops - flexible enough to meet market demand - were tainting Jingdezhen's reputation by churning out large quantities of low-end porcelain.

Sun returned to Jingdezhen in 1998 and opened Sun Gong Yao with the money he had earned in Guangdong. He rented two floors from Hongqi factory's old cafeteria for his studio and spent 40,000 yuan on a gas kiln.

Like many other workshops, Sun Gong Yao has experienced its ups and downs in the market economy. It started producing popular modern porcelain in 2001 but returned to traditional styles, mostly blue-and-white ware, when market demand for modern porcelain waned two years later.

Today, Sun seems to have a clear vision. "Jingdezhen has to undergo two revolutions to revive its past glory," he says.

"One is a revolution of ideas - craftsmen should improve their understanding of the world, the market and the way they make a living."

The other revolution, he says, is industrial. "Handmade crafts are treasures, and we shouldn't abandon them," he says.

"But we can't expand their influence by making everything by hand. Excellent designs must be used to mass-produce ceramics for daily use."

Sun dreams that Sun Gong Yao will be able to focus on porcelain design and attract the best artists from around the world, who can sell their creative ideas through his business.

"A revival will come, if these revolutions eventually take place."