The world’s finest glazed ceramics are in China, China’s finest are in Qilu, and Qilu’s finest are in Yanshan.
The story begins with the Zheng and Jiang families’ glazed-ceramic workshops vying to inherit the intangible cultural heritage of crafting the finest chicken-fat yellow glaze.
Naturally, the two families fought openly and behind the scenes over who would inherit the craft. In the end, the Jiang family resorted to underhanded tactics to claim the chicken-fat yellow heritage, and the furious Zheng family withdrew from the glazed-ceramics trade. Who could have guessed that the Zheng family had long planned to forge a new path in the glass trade, just one character different in Chinese? The Jiang family seemed to have become the kings of glazed ceramics, but once they reached the top, they learned that it was lonely at the summit. By then, there was no turning back. After a series of mishaps, the Jiang family came to realize that neither chicken-fat yellow glaze nor traditional glazed ceramics belonged to one family alone. This traditional craft belongs to the people, and only by developing and expanding it can it shine even brighter.
