Editor's Note: Handicrafts are much in vogue in the world today, and the pottery unique to Taba Village are famous for their unsophisticated style. If it is possible to find an appropriate pattern of products, such as pottery jars in ancient China or local potteries in Africa, trying to follow the trend of selling international traveling craftwork arts, maybe it will be an outlet of Taba Village.

Koko is now 60 years old and he has been a potter for 50 years.

He lives in Taba Village in Meizhogkungka town. One afternoon, he was sitting in his courtyard looking at the many jars standing in it. I entered his room, and we bought two jars at a price beyond the market one.

Koko said: "We went to Lhasa to sell pottery, but there wasn't any booth for us. People drove us out if we placed our wares for sale on by the side of the street, so all we could do was sell them at a low wholesale price to a store, which doesn't bring in much?

Fuel: Must Be Greensward and Cow Dung

Koko's family is one of the 52 making pottery in Taba Village. Like others, Koko does this work between November and January, as the rest of the year is devoted to doing some work on the farm or finding a job outside. Apart from winter being a season when the farm is relatively idle, there is a more important reason for making the pottery then, namely, that the main fuel for its production, greensward, can be only used at this time. The grassy turf is usually dug up after September and then left to dry for at least a month.

Greensward and cow dung have been the traditional fuels used by ancestors for thousands of years, because, being scattered all over the mountains and plains, they didn't cost anything. The burning temperature of greensward is crucial to the color and rigidity of the potteries.

However, the good days of things being completely free of charge have gone forever. Now, with more and more families starting to produce pottery, the time for growing grass is limited and the amount of cow dung is not enough to satisfy everyone's needs. Moreover, the local grassland is degenerating, so the villagers have to spend money on buying good greensward from elsewhere.

Clay for Potteries: Must Be Tamped

When we met Chimei Dainda, he was sitting in a valley in front of his door above which pieces of stones were inlaid. He was holding a big stone hammer made by himself and doing his best to smash a pile of pottery clay in front of him, with the sweat running down his face. I walked up to him and asked: "What are you doing?" He smiled and replied without guile: "I'm smashing the pottery clay to make pottery!"

There are two kinds of pottery clay, one being laterite, the other white pottery clay. They should be used after mixing. Chimei Dainda told us that the laterite came from Seduo Village several km away. In its original condition it was in large lumps and was mixed with some detritus, so it needed to be smashed into small pieces and sifted to get rid of the impurities like gravels. He showed me a handful of fine powder under a sifter, and added: "This is the kind of clay that can be used to make pottery? The formal name of this clay is Kaolin, and it abounds in Taba Village, providing the most important condition for forming a "Pottery Village". It is claimed that the villagers of Taba Village have been making pottery for a thousand years. Judging from the way that Chimei Dainda was smashing the clay, it seems likely the technique a thousand years ago still exists with little change.


Income From Selling Pottery

There are five members in Chimei Dainda's family. His father and he can make about 30 jars a month and their earnings can add up to 4,000 Yuan over a season. The other times are devoted to land cultivation.

This situation reminds me that, according to local government regulations, family members of a pottery craftsman could hold plowing land, but the craftsmen could not. A pottery craftsman's life depends on the cash or daily necessities like food stuff, tea, salt, qingke barley, butter and so on, that can be exchanged for his wares. Prior to the Democratic Reform, if there was one pottery worker in a family, the family should hand in 18 products to the master as a kind of tax. If there were two craftsmen in a family, the tax was doubled. So in order to pay less tax, the villagers tried to disguise the pottery making activities to some extent.

The chief potters in Koko's family are his younger son and himself. His son's wife does some odds and ends. The income of the family in the pottery season is some 5,000 Yuan. He still wishes he could have his own booth in Lhasa.

Tools and Technique: No Change for 1,000 Years

Under the sun the doorway of Koko's neighbor, three men sit on the ground, curling their legs and making pottery. There are a variety of wooden tools besides them, such as bats, knives, drilling sticks, carving knives and so on. In front of them is a wooden dial, on which is placed their pottery bases. There are some finished pottery bases being dried not far away.

This kind of wooden dial is the original machine for hauling bases. It is the foremost tool for making potteries. Except for the small pieces shaped by hand, all other kinds of potteries should be made on it.

The operation is somewhat technical so only those of good technique are allowed near it. The pottery clay only needs to be evenly kneaded with water, like kneading flour. Then whole lumps of pottery clay are put into plastic bags and placed in the sun. This process is usually left to a person who is strong but lacks the potting techniques.

The processes of making pottery bases are as follows: patting the bottom, installing the wall, installing the edge, installing the nib and handle of the ware. The base should be polished and shined. Finally, grains are carved in different areas on the base. The whole process requires the cooperation of hands and feet, using of various tools and many technique alternating one after another. The most skilled craftsman can only make three a day.

In our opinion, the efficiency seems low mainly due to the restrictions imposed by the tools and techniques. "This is just what our ancestors handed down," Koko says, "Although the tools and techniques are very simple, we Taba Villagers can produce more than a hundred kinds of pottery."

The produced bases have to be put on the wooden shelves in kilns and houses to dry in the shade. Usually it takes three days to load them into kilns. Another way is lighting a dung fire around which the bases are placed to dry, which can speed up the process.

The Knack of Glazing

There should be a process of glazing before baking in the kiln. This is very singular to me.

Pottery clay for glazing is the powders ground from the aluminum ores dug from Jamma Township. I see this kind of aluminum ore, whose size is like a human fist, has a grayish color and weighs "heavy". They are very heavy. The ground powder is black. I carelessly got some of it on my hand, and found it was difficult to remove.

When glazing, the powder is placed into a clean container to which is added a certain proportion of water and then agitated evenly. Next, bristles are used to brush the solution onto the pottery base. Koko tells me that household utensils requiring one time baking like butter lamps and flowerpots, the pottery bases can be loaded into the kiln after a single brushing, while to utensils requiring double baking like kettles of qingke barley wine, the glaze need not be applied for the first loading into the kiln, but only the second time.

All of the glazed pottery bases are black. After being baked for ten hours in the kiln, they take on a completely different look, being very clean and bright and in different colors. That is really like magic.
Koko tells us a secret: if we only use the powder of aluminum ores to glaze, the product will be red after baking. He has a technique of putting the ore powder together with water into a kiln and baking it to form a square. The square is then smashed and ground into powder, which is mixed with powders of aluminum ores in a ratio of 3:7, adding glazes. As a result, the baked utensils will be much nicer than the former ones! The things that baked in this method in Taba Township are unique, and they are top grade among Tibetan pottery.

No Special Kilns for Making Potteries

There are altogether 75 families in Taba Village. They are divided by a road. Most of families live in the valley through which runs a small river, while only more then 10 families live on the upper slops. The site for the kilns is usually a wide, flat and airy place on the slopes.

Taba villagers don't use a special kiln to bake their pottery, but simply stack up a small hillock. Three pieces of stones are first placed so that a fire can pass underneath and maintain constant heat. About 20 or 30 bases are usually placed in the kiln and then tightly covered with greensward and cow dung. Then fire is lit by a clump of wheat. Noon is usually the beginning time of baking. The fire will be kept till the evening and products taken out the next morning.

When I climbed up to the hillside, a kiln of jars of qingke barley wine made by Garzhub had just been finished. The greensward and cow dung on it had been shoveled away. Garzhub squatted nearby waiting for them to cool.

Garzhub has only been making pottery for six or seven years. What he usually makes is big pieces like jars for qingke barley wine. He then uses a tractor to carry them to Doilungdeqen County besides Lhasa for selling or to exchange for food. He does so monthly, normally staying for a week until all of the jars are sold. I asked him why he didn't go to Lhasa to sell them, and he replied that it needs a large number of wheat sheaves to pack the pottery. In Lhasa, these cannot be placed on the ground, otherwise, he will be charged.

Koko's kiln, located on the hillside higher than that of Garzhub, is now emitting thick blue smoke. He tells us that the baking has already lasted eight hours and at eight in the morning, the products would emerge. If I'd like to take pictures, he can wait for my arrival. I am overjoyed: the only process of making pottery I had missed was the one taking place when they come out of the kiln. I must come the next morning!
I can't sleep, being afraid that Koko will open the kiln ahead of schedule, and I will miss the most wonderful moment. I drive to his home especially early. My associate takes a bag of candies for his youngest grandson. I tell him he mustn't open the kiln until I come, for I want take pictures. Koko promises.


The Kiln Is Opened

At eight o'clock the next morning, I arrive at Koko's kiln. He is shoveling the burnt-out greensward and cow dung debris aside. The 25 jars appear. What is in the pottery jars and which color are they? I wait and see what happens.

After shoveling, Koko lights a cigarette. This time I know that Koko is waiting for the jars to cool. After ten hours' burning and a night's covering, the temperature of the pottery products must be very high. When I get close to them, I can hear a light sound causing by the pottery products when cool and hot air meets.
A moment later, Koko puts on his gloves to move the jars. My eyes closely follow his hands. Pottery jars are carefully lifted: a red, brown and yellow brazier appears, upside down, plain but fresh and clean. At that very moment, I feel that it is as lively as a small animal just coming out of a burrow.

Although the products are from the same kiln, the colors differ, which I find astonishing. Koko says that that's because of the asymmetry of temperature, making the parts in high temperature red and parts in low temperature green.

Selling Pottery in Lhasa

Koko is going to carry this batch of products to Lhasa to sell the next day morning. Of course, he sells them wholesale to the dealer's store. "The shopkeeper of Galsang Pottery Store gives us a low price, which is about half the market price. Moreover, he is very strict in selecting products,"Koko speaks to me watching those braziers whose color is not even. "If our village had our own booth in Lhasa Barkor or Chongsaikang, we would send people to operate it alternately. In this way can our prices can be raised and there will be more profit."

I tell him he needn't to be worry. I can ask my friends in the local industrial and commercial administration for help when he arrives in Lhasa the next day. Koko is very happy and he makes an appointment to meet me in Galsang Pottery Store on Lhasa's Nanjing Road at nine o'clock the next day.

Koko Breaks the Appointment.

At nine o'clock the next morning, I stand in the street across from Galsang Pottery Store, watching and waiting for Koko coming from Meizhogkungka. Three hours have passed, and Koko, who should have set off at six o'clock in the morning, hasn't arrived.

The hostess of Galsang Pottery Store shouts: "Don't take photos!" after I tell her that I'm a journalist. I tell her I don't want to take a photo of her, but Koko who is going to deliver pottery jars. The hostess shouts: "I will close the store if you go on taking photos!"

Ten o'clock has passed, and Koko hasn't come yet. I leave there because it is the time for me to meet my friend with local industrial and commercial administration. I leave a message with Koko's relatives: Please inform me as soon as Koko arrives.

Koko Comes at Last

My friend with the local industrial and commercial administration tells me that because the profit of the pottery in Taba Village is low, and the villagers can't afford the rent in Barkor Street and Chongsaikang, they are naturally washed out of the Lhasa market.


I get a survey report from Meizhogkungka county office, saying: "Pottery products in Taba Village have a great reputation in Tibet. They are mainly sold to places like Lhasa, Shannan, Nyingchi, Nagqu, etc. But many restricting factors do exist in the respect to supply and marketing. The concept of the market economy among the farmers is weak, and they haven't established any concept of marketing and any mature consciousness of the merchandise economy. They are now still in the state of half nature economy, causing a low possession rate in the market."

At 12 o'clock, I receive a call from Koko's relative, telling me that he has arrived in Lhasa. The reason for his lateness is his tractor had broken down on the way to Lhasa taking two hours to repair. I rush to Koko's relative's tea shop excitedly. Koko usually has tea there and goes back to his village after lunch.


Conversation With Koko

Little do I think that when I meet Koko again, he will look so coldly at me as on our first meeting. The first sentence he utters is: "Those pictures you take don't have any material helpful for us. You insisted on shooting us yesterday and I agreed. The villagers scolded my stupidity, telling me that I should have charged for taking pictures."

I am very sad. I certainly cannot do anything to help him.

The only thing I can do is to pass on the words from my friend to him. He replies: "I do know the rules of the market, however, because of the fact that our profits are low and we don't have good types of pottery products, we can't find any solution."

I tell him that I will send him picture books for reference. Koko's relents and says: "If you meet any appropriate opportunity, you can order them by pictures. We have more than 70 people making pottery in our township. We will make pottery according to the pictures."

I promise him that I must act as go-between if I meet some appropriate business opportunities. He says: "If you can find some good business opportunities, we can sign a contract, organizing all the people from my village to make pottery. Moreover, you should grasp the best opportunity if there is an order, because we can't make any pottery from April to August, which is the rainy season in Tibet.

"It doesn't matter if the order is big. We can make it and the pottery clay and fuel for making pottery is enough to use.? "We even can make that kind of pottery that has hand-painted pictures on them."

At last, Koko speaks to me: "You are single-hearted, and I'm sorry for my bad manners on the first day."


Three Months Later

Three months after my interview with Koko, I paid my third visit to the village. I brought Koko and others with photos of illustrious potteries and picture albums on potteries, and asked him to make some after these stylish fashions.

Koko and other villagers made did according to my demand and potteries he had produced were good enough also to carry Tibetan flavor. He had also produced potteries after lovely animals.

When I went for samples of potteries I asked Koko to make, it was in April. The pottery-making season has gone by and Koko and other villagers were busy with spring ploughing. I came across Zhaxi in the walking tractor I rode, and asked: "Can you make this after the picture?" "Sure!" he said. "I can do it so long as you give me the picture." "But it is not in the pottery making season." "If you ask us to produce it in batches, we can manage to make it."

I felt change in the villagers, changes that have been brought with the reform tide.

China's Tibet
TEXT AND PHOTOS BY CHEN DAN