The earthware craftsmanship in Village He Jia Lou， Street Fengtai， Pingdu， Qingdao can date back to over600 years． The earthware can be divided into red pottery and cyan pottery and has thousands of varieties in the three categories of life， architecture and artware． The earthware products as big as an earthen jar， earthen urn， stove pot， as small as a bowl， plate， pot and tin and such as bricks， tiles， heaters， inverted heads， drips and eaves boards used in building involve everywhere in our daily life． We have recently paid a visit to Zhang Maolin， the earthware craftsman in Village He Jia Lou and experienced the unique charm of this traditional skill from a short distance．

It is said that in the second year of Hongwu Emperor of Ming Dynasty （1369 AD）， Zhang Wenzhong， the ancestor of Zhang family， migrated from Zitong County， Sichuan Province to Shui Hu Tong， Pingdu （previously called Jiaoshui County）． In the first year of Qianlong Emperor of Qing Dynasty， in order to expand business and develop pottery production， Zhang family’s ancestors Zhang Qian and Zhang Ju migrated southward to He （Fu） Jin Shi Lou to build their residence， set up kilns to make pottery． Merchants who came here to purchase， usually called it He Jia Lou， the landmark building． As the time passed， the place was later evolved into Village He Jia Lou． The pottery draftsmanship of Village He Jia Lou is passed down from generation to generation． The pottery products in the village are well processed and uniquely shaped． In addition， because the craftsmen in the village are good at using techniques including embossing， openwork carving， deep carving， shallow carving and hollow carving， with the traditional skills such as kilning and kiln braising， the newly－kilned finished products are of elegant and profound surface finishing， unsophisticated and clear characters， symmetrical and dynamic， distinctive and broad colors．

We have found in the pottery museum in Village He Jia Lou pottery products， tools for making pottery and the related data on pottery of different periods were on display in the exhibition hall． In the pottery workshop， we saw Zhang Maolin put a piece of kneaded earth onto the throwing machine． As the wheels rotated， two hands held the earth to change the shape． After a few minutes， an adobe earthen pot took shape．

Zhang Maolin，63 years old， said the working process started from raw material collection， mud splashing， mud treading， manual wheel pedaling， blank forming on the wheel to greenware sun－curing， shaping， carving， polishing and grinding， subsequently underwent firing in kiln， watering in kiln， braising in kiln and taking out of kiln and ended until sorting and stacking for sale． To make pottery products of acceptable quality， there are20 procedures from blank making to burning．

“The greenware cannot be put into kiln for burning until they are sun－cured for7 to8 days． Choose good weather to stuff the greenware into the kiln． At the beginning， the fire cannot be too large． The temperature needs to increase slowly． Many factors including the temperature， kilning time， the cooling speed after firing stops， climate change and skills of burners all can affect the quality of the pottery．” According to Zhang Maolin， pottery burning has two ways， namely green and cyan， also the two colors of finished products． For red pottery， burning is not very demanding， burning takes one day and night and the kiln can be closed when the temperature reaches800 to900 degrees （sealing kiln eye and kiln entrance）． However， to make cyan pottery， the kiln entrance needs to sealed airtight with mud． Sealing the kiln entrance is very time－consuming and labor－intensive． Grout the mud around the kiln entrance with water and it is best to make it totally airtight and prevent any smoke． Only after burned three days and nights， the finished pottery is cyan．

Nowadays， villagers in He Jia Lou start to focus on product transformation． They have successively made a variety of high－end products of different models such as oval flowerpot， hexagonal flowerpot and square flowerpot． In addition， a lot of delicate handiwork is launched including pen container， key cage， calabash， censer， candlestick， silk ball， lion， tea tray， and goldfish hanging dish． The modeling retains the special local style． The traditional pottery craft has been well inherited to make pottery more diverse and artistic． Ma Bingzheng

（1． Zhao Maolin is demonstrating pottery products．2． Throwing3． Polishing4． Carving characters5． Kiln stuffing）