Dehua white porcelain craftswoman develops unique way of ornamental engraving

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Chen Minghua draws patterns on a porcelain model at her studio in Dehua County, southeast China's Fujian Province, Nov. 12, 2019. (Xinhua/Song Weiwei)

Dehua white porcelain, produced in Dehua County, one of the three major porcelain metropolises in ancient China, has long been one of the important merchandises of Marine Silk Road since the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties.

Chen Minghua, a 53-year-old Dehua white porcelain craftswoman, was born in a porcelain making family and started to learn the craft from her father and master Li Guozhang when she was 15 years old.

Through 40 years' efforts, Chen has developed a unique way to add exquisite ornamental engraving, or hollowed carving on white porcelain artworks.

Due to the excellent craft and elegant style, her works have been awarded many national and provincial awards.

One of her hollowed porcelain works was selected as China's official gift presented to foreign leaders attending the BRICS Summit in 2017.

The making of hollowed Dehua white porcelain needs to go through about 100 procedures and costs at least five days to finish.

Despite failures of thousands of times, Chen is still in love with the art and treats every piece of her work as her own child. She hopes her skills will be inherited by her son and be developed with his own characteristics in the future.