Jingdezhen taolu 景德鎮陶錄

Jingdezhen taolu 景德鎮陶錄 is a book on the porcelain industry of Jingdezhen 景德鎮, Jiangxi. The book of 10 juan length was written by Lan Pu 藍浦 (juan 2-9) and enlarged by Zheng Tinggui 鄭廷桂 and printed in 1815 by the Yijing Studio 翼經堂. A reprint was published in 1891 by the Shuye Hall 書業堂 in Beijing.

The book describes methods of porcelain production (with many illustrations), the Qing imperial kilns (yu yaochang 御窯廠), "pottery affairs" (taowu 陶務), the history of the Jingdezhen kilns, methods of imitating ancient objects and other miscellaneous matters, mainly quotations from various types of literature. The book is rich in content and details the history of the porcelain industry in Jingdezhen since the Tang period 唐 (618-960). The illustrations of pottery describe the process of porcelain firing in detail, from quarrying stone clay to preparing bundles of Cambodian grass. The part on "pottery duties" is a detailed record of the "seventeen works" (shiqi gong 十七工) and "eighteen operations" (shiba zuo 十八作) carried out during the production process. The section on the imitation of antiques (fanggu 仿古) lists glaze formulas and materials needed for colouring. It records different types of clay, glaze, and such for blue colours, including the places of origin and amounts needed to achieve various types of fineness for sherd and glazing. This book is not only beneficial for the study of Jingdezhen but also provides valuable information for the study of the development of porcelain industry in China.

The book is found in the series Meishu congshu 美術叢書.

Figures 1-2. Illustrations from the Jingdezhen taolu 景德鎮陶錄

Applying the glaze (dangyou 蕩泑).

Preparation of kilns (shaolu 燒爐).