"Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" - Longquan Celadon Shines Bright at Forbes House Museum In the U.S.

BOSTON, June 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- At the time of 40^th anniversary of the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations, the City of Longquan will host the 2019 Longquan Celadon Exhibition Tour entitled "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity – Chinese Classics" in the Forbes House Museum in the Greater Boston area in the U.S from June 9^th through June 14^th, 2019. The exhibition is sponsored by Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in New York and Longquan Municipal People's Government of Zhejiang Province, and is organized by Boston Dragon Boat Festival, Inc.; Bureau of Culture and Radio, Film, Television, Tourism, Sports of Longquan; and Bureau of Longquan Celadon and Sword Industry. A total of 80 celadon treasures from 77 Longquan celadon artists will be exhibited for the duration of the event.

The event has cordially invited excellencies and distinguished guests including Consul Ou Shengming from Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in New York; Mr. Mike Zullas, Chairperson of Town of Milton Select Board; and Mr. Zhuge Chunjie from Longquan Municipal People's Government and Intangible Cultural Heritage artists from Longquan.

China is regarded and recognized as the country of porcelain around the globe. Linguistically, porcelain is referred to as "china" in English, as it was first seen in imports from China. Celadon is known as the "root" of porcelain as it's the earliest porcelain ever recorded in the world. Tracing back, the different varieties of porcelain people see nowadays all originated and developed from celadon.

Longquan is located in the southwest of Zhejiang Province, China, where Longquan people create beautiful artistic Longquan celadon. Longquan celadon originated from the Three Kindoms and the Jin Dynasty, flourished in the Song and Yuan dynasties, and has resurged in the contemporary era. It is a well-known type of historical ceramic with the longest firing time, the largest number of kiln sites, the largest production scale and the widest export range among all Chinese ceramics. As the process passed on from generation to generation for more than 1,600 years, Longquan celadon has developed four unique skills: preparing celadon glaze, applying the glaze multiple times, firing thick glaze, and controlling cracking glaze.

Longquan celadon is a classic of Chinese culture. It is regarded as "harmony between heaven and man" as its core aesthetic ideal and "comparing virtue to jade" as its value orientation, reflecting the beauty of "harmony" and "perfection". Historically, Longquan celadon was the cultural messenger of China's exchange with the world. In the Song, Yuan and early Ming dynasties, Longquan celadon played a leading role in the development of the long Maritime Silk Road. Celadon products were widely exported to more than 50 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe, closely connecting China to the rest of the world. In recent years, Longquan has intensified its foreign exchange of celadon culture. Longquan celadon has shined at the Shanghai World Expo, World Internet Conference, the APEC meeting in Beijing, the G20 Hangzhou Summit, "The Belt and Road" Form for International Cooperation Summit and other conferences at international scale. It has been widely recognized by politicians and celebrities from all walks of life.

Longquan celadon has resurged in modern times. The City of Longquan takes the path of integrating cultural promotion and industry interaction – fully exploring the market and industry attributes of celadon culture; organically integrating trending elements; increasing the development of celadon commodities, both artistic and daily-use celadon, at tourism destinations; and promoting the integration and development of the celadon industry with cultural creativity, film and television animation, tourism, tea industry and other industries to inject fresh blood into the celadon culture industry. Longquan celadon town, founded around celadon culture, is a pioneering and innovative platform for building the "celadon" industrial chain, and has now become a destination for Chinese and foreign potters and tourists to tour, experience and exchange Longquan celadon. Nowadays, there are approximately 16,000 people in Longquan engaging in the celadon industry, 14 celadon masters recognized at the national level, and 1,451 celadon production and distribution companies. The celadon industry has achieved an industrial output value of RMB 2.121 billion.

The opening ceremony of 2019 Longquan Celadon Exhibition Tour "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity – Chinese Classics" has invited artists of Longquan celadon to perform live ceramic molding, carving and many other intangible cultural heritage techniques. Two main categories of porcelain will be on exhibit: artistic porcelain and daily-use porcelain. Artistic porcelain conveys the artistic conception derived from poems to showcase the spiritual pursuit of traditional Chinese culture. Signature artworks include "Yu Hu Chun" (Spring Pot), "He Yi·Yang Lian Zuo"(Lotus Seat of Bodhisattva), and "Yun Xin Lu Ying" (Cloud Heart and Deer Reflection). Daily-use porcelain emits the cultural beauty of Longquan celadon through designs with modern aesthetics, striving to integrate traditions and creativity, making practical arts tangible, achieving a breakthrough in the development of modern celadon, and unleashing the energy and power emanated from contemporary Longquan celadon.

At the end of the 16^th century, Longquan celadon traveled across the continent to Europe, the romantic Parisians named it "celadon". In 2006, the Longquan celadon firing technique became one of China's first national intangible cultural heritage masterpieces. In 2009, Longquan celadon's traditional firing technique was listed by UNESCO in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It is also the only ceramic project in the world listed thus far. In 2019, Longquan celadon comes a long way to the Greater Boston area in the U.S. to shine its beauty at the Forbes House Museum. To help the global audience better understand celadon as well as Chinese culture, it is impossible to not accentuate the efforts and contributions the inheritors of celadon have dedicated to. Longquan celadon has now become a cultural bond that conveys the elegance and delicacy of Chinese culture, and help push forward the communicational, historical and cultural impact of Longquan celadon on the international stage.