Revisiting Memories: Remembering My Teacher, Shi Yuren

Cao Ruixin In 1988, Cao Ruixin graduated with a Masters degree from Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute where she stayed on to teach. In 1991, she transferred to the Art and Design Institute of Guangzhou University where she is a professor.

Revisiting Memories: Remembering My Teacher, Shi Yuren

By Cao Ruixin,

Piece by piece, fragments from my memory gather together, slightly disorganized, driven by nostalgia. Although he is no longer with us, Shi Yuren still remains vivid in my memory. In the classroom, at his desk, in front of the kiln, in his studio, on a trip – those vivid moments with him are still alive in my mind even though we never held very long conversations together. Writing now, I, Cao Ruixin, am transported back in time when I was Shi Yuren’s first year graduate student in 1985 and the beneficiary of his teaching which has sustained me throughout my whole life. I look at the works he left us and feel as if I can hear his voice with its strong Zhejiang-Jiangsu provincial accent. I can almost call him back to life; even though he is far away, he is still among us.

Perseverance

Shi Yuren is among the new China’s first generation of ceramic artists and a forerunner of the modern porcelain art revival. He enjoys a high reputation and warrants praiseworthy recognition in ceramic art education and research. When I think of Shi Yuren, I recall his character with its tenacious sense of perseverance. His kind of determination reaches its apogee in times of great stress; what he endured during times of political turbulence tested his capacity for survival as he was forced to move back and forth between the college campus and the countryside. In a way, his experiences helped him become who he is – refined by fire, strengthened by adversity. After those trying times, he was lofted by the spring wind to the top of ceramic art.

Balance between Historical Events and Personal Life

In 1954, after graduating from Beijing’s Central Academy of Fine Arts and Crafts, Shi Yuren came to Jingdezhen where the educational facilities and living conditions were quite underdeveloped, but he was not intimidated by the harsh environment. He brought the Beijing academic model to Jingdezhen, wrote his own textbooks, and invited artisans into the classroom to work collaboratively with scholars. Later on, when my own studies were coming to a close, I stayed on and prepared to go to one of Jingdezhen’s porcelain manufacturing centers to intern in a hands-on, experiential way. Shi Yuren was so supportive of my apprenticeship choice. He told me I ought to study with the elder artisan masters, and in the process, to set aside my intellectual training and be more open-minded, modest, and ready to learn. From my mentors, I came to understand the passion inherent in porcelain and to respect their approach to art. Shi Yuren said I should learn gucai (old style

polychromes) from such and such a master and fencai (overglaze painting) from another. Thereafter, I would be able to improve my style and elevate my competence. Those experienced practitioners took good care of me because of their respect for and friendship with my teacher, Shi Yuren. In that way, I was able to fulfill the mission bestowed on me by my university.

Benefits from Nature

Shi Yuren always had a special feeling of reverence for and love of nature. Recently, when I was looking at his work in a book – his expressive fruits and flowers, for instance, I could trace the path he blazed in watercolor, Chinese traditional painting, and porcelain, all of which reveal his special understanding of nature. My memories harked back to the 1980’s when the dormitories and classrooms at Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute were still in poor condition. One time, after I had returned from winter break, I went to Shi Yuren’s house, walked inside, and went on through to the window which looked out on his small garden which radiated the hope of spring. We talked and walked about there together. The small space was bursting with life – with hanging things, with new growth under our feet at ground level. Shi Yuren grew excited telling me about all his plants and their characteristics. He was so proud of his garden, really a spiritual sanctuary – a part of his life in art, a gift from the gods, his handiwork.

With a lifestyle that was quiet and peaceful, Shi Yuren’s attitude brought contentment infused with colorful richness to his days. During the time I studied with him, he always urged us to go outside and learn directly from nature – our best teacher. He accompanied us to Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province, to Dunhuang, and to Shaanxi; everywhere we went, we sketched together in direct contact with the natural world which lifted our spirits in a most exhilarating way.

Theory and Practice

Shi Yuren was very stern and direct, a scholar who never showed off or exaggerated things. Besides teaching, he conducted his own ceramic research and designed the large tile mural on display in the Beijing airport. Professor Zhu Danian from the Central Academy oversaw this exciting project which deeply affected all of us who worked on it. Among other things, we witnessed Shi Yuren’s profound respect for the older generation of artists.

Although the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute’s situation was rather limited at that time, Shi Yuren always devoted his efforts to expanding our horizons. He brought several of us to the Shenyang Porcelain Factory and to work on the restoration of the Dunhuang murals. At all times, he encouraged us to be bold, to work with dedication on our art, and to fulfill our goals. Choose an interesting research project, he would advise, and follow our heart in that direction. He would always urge us to make good choices for research in tune with our passions and skills. Although we were limited by the conditions at the factory, we had the opportunity to learn from technical specialists and to ask questions directly of the artisans. Our assignment: do our own thinking, experiment, synthesize what we knew with where we wanted to go in our research. This final stage was very helpful as it made us bring together our theoretical education with our hands-on, real-life experiences.

Creation and Fulfillment

Shi Yuren, so respected and so talented, worked hard to teach us with his inspiring language. He asked us to analyze the clay body, glazes, firing temperatures – and to look closely at our kiln accidents: the crackles, shrinking, bubbles, and so on – all kinds of problems related to the firing process. From such happenings, he counseled us, we could find our own language to express ourselves through the material and thereby, become more creative. Using this porcelain language in such a way enables greater self-expression. If we became discouraged after firing, especially if the results were disappointing, Shi Yuren patiently listened to our original ideas – giving us both critique and encouragement. I remember when I designed a vase for my graduate project; I wanted to use a blue-green glaze with fencai overglaze in a floral pattern in order to achieve something like a 3-D effect. The underglaze and overglaze firing times differed, but could be handled with the expectation of a good result. Shi Yuren said not to worry: porcelain demands practice. Just ask other teachers, he would say, and take risks. Firing temperatures and glaze thicknesses are very important and inter-related. Trial and error are necessary steps in the learning process, and we must be prepared to repeat experiments over and over. Despite his relative taciturn demeanor, his support helped build my confidence enormously. In those short, intense teaching moments, he motivated us so brilliantly with inspiring words – enabling us to express our own creativity and dare to reach our potential.

Walking the Road of Creativity

Shi Yuren had a deep understanding of traditional Chinese culture and folk arts, including paper cuts, wax resist, blue-and-white, woodcarving, and the like. His patterns always reveal that kind of deep knowledge which fuse traditional and modern motifs together – rather than just copy the tradition. His foundation is always grounded in the tradition, from which springs his new design ideas. He always carefully considered how to forge new directions in art: how to build on the inherited Chinese culture, how to free up porcelain to take its own road.

Looking at his work, we feel as if we are talking directly to him. In turn, he communicates his deep understanding of tradition – and, even more, his heart and his mind. We can do no better than to study his decorative porcelain painting: his plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, chrysanthemums, spiral and geometrical patterns – and how he alters symmetry. His paper cuts are created in a new format, composed with new rhythms. We can see this process at work, too, in his vases where the motifs change in 3-dimensional space. A modern aesthetic arises from his deep cultural and artistic insights.

I think Shi Yuren’s decorative porcelain art achieves a synthesis of external beauty and deep meaning. Outside visual appearance merges with internal ideology: the form and meaning combine, the manifestation and the spirit intersect. Such is the way our ancestors consummated their dreams, their yearnings for an aesthetically rich life. By our nature, we human beings pursue ways to make the abstract tangible, the invisible visible, and by so doing, pass our understanding from generation to generation. Traditional porcelain expresses the foundational “mother” root of our culture and at the same time enables future artists to create new aesthetic concepts and forms. To inherit the given and extend its meaning while enriching its spirit – this is the path Shi Yuren chose to follow.

Although Shi Yuren has left us, his gentle, smiling face remains forever imprinted in my mind. He continually inspires me. I recall talking with him about his name, derived from a saying by Confucius that described a kind, honest, tolerant person who persists in his career. A person who helps others, who gives to others the wherewithal to ask questions and to solve problems. Such a person is my teacher whom I revere with infinite respect, my teacher, Shi Yuren.

Translated by Yenfen Huang and Carla Coch