A wonderful life from pottery-making

“My family has been making pottery for five generations. Since I was 11 years old, I began to learn pottery from my grandfather and father. Now, my sons and grandsons are learning pottery from me,” said Sunnuo Qilin, the 68-year-old inheritor of the Tibetan black pottery, which is a Chinese national intangible cultural heritage. “Many young people in our village come to me to learn pottery, and some foreign tourists also want to learn it out of curiosity.”

Sunnuo Qilin lives in Tangdui Village, Nixi Township, Shangri-La. In the past 57 years, he has developed more than 70 varieties of black pottery products, making them a lot more diverse, ornamental and functional. Also, he has recruited a large number of apprentices and trained more than 80 skilled potters. He said excitedly: “I am best at making dragon-headed braziers and butter tea shakers. A pottery brazier, a butter tea shaker and a tea can that I have made are now housed in the National Museum.”

Speaking of his income from pottery, Sunnuo Qilin said: “I earn about two or three hundred yuan a day or 100,000 yuan a year, and my apprentices can earn 100 to 150 yuan a day per per- son. There are two pottery companies in our village. We make pottery by households and the companies sell them.” The black pottery in Tangdui Village, Nixi Township, Shangri-La, dates back to more than 1,000 years ago. Today, this craftsmanship has been inscribed on the national intangible cultural heritage list, and the pottery workshop of Sunnuo Qilin has become a teaching practice base of Tourism and Culture College of Yunnan University.

A wonderful life from pottery-making

My family has been making pottery for five generations. Since I was 11 years old, I began to learn pottery from my grandfather and father. Now, my sons and grandsons are learning pottery from me, said Sunnuo Qilin, the 68-year-old inheritor of the Tibetan black pottery, which is a Chinese national intangible cultural heritage. Many young people in our village come to me to learn pottery, and some foreign tourists also want to learn it out of curiosity. Sunnuo Qilin lives in Tangdui Village, Nixi Township, Shangri-La. In the past 57 years, he has developed more than 70 varieties of black pottery products, making them a lot more diverse, ornamental and functional. Also, he has recruited a large number of apprentices and trained more than 80 skilled potters. He said excitedly: I am best at making dragon-headed braziers and butter tea shakers. A pottery brazier, a butter tea shaker and a tea can that I have made are now housed in the National Museum. Speaking of his income from pottery, Sunnuo Qilin said: I earn about two or three hundred yuan a day or 100,000 yuan a year, and my apprentices can earn 100 to 150 yuan a day per per- son. There are two pottery companies in our village. We make pottery by households and the companies sell them. The black pottery in Tangdui Village, Nixi Township, Shangri-La, dates back to more than 1,000 years ago. Today, this craftsmanship has been inscribed on the national intangible cultural heritage list, and the pottery workshop of Sunnuo Qilin has become a teaching practice base of Tourism and Culture College of Yunnan University.