Craftsperson's Employment System for Porcelain Production in Jingdezhen, China

- Traditional Employment Culture Inherited in Jingdezhen

Abstract

The paper extracts the characteristics of craftsperson's employment system for porcelain production in Jjingdezhen by literature study and field survey. The following are the findings:
1. The porcelain production in Jjingdezhen today is based on the division of labor restored by the traditional hand-made work studios after 50 years of absence during the period of machine-made mass production.
2. Each studio centered by the owner and kiln holder performs the specialized activities in each production process, which are to be closely geared to the complete porcelain production.
3. The deliberately established employment system supports the porcelain industry which has been developed and inherited over 2000 years. It has been infiltrated not only in the management and trading, but also in the culture of living and family bond and been accepted naturally by the local people.
4. The specialized employment system, as opposed to the mechanized mass production in the rest of the world, is unique in light that it stopped the downfall of Jingdezhen.