Jun wares make a splash in new exhibition

The blue with reddish tints, purple splashes, pure sky-blue, and pure moon-white scatter like fireworks on a bluish-white ground — the magnificent effect characterized by Jun ware makes it one of the five famed types of Song Dynasty (960-1279) porcelain. This aesthetic marks one of the peaks in Chinese ceramics. It is ancient, yet contemporary, enthralling people today.

Ren Xinghang was born into a family of ninth-generation Jun ware makers in Yuzhou, Henan province, a city believed to be the site of the ancient Jun kilns.

His Jun ware works are now on display in the exhibition The Path of Mastery at the National Art Museum of China. This series champions national-level cultural heritage inheritors.

Ren's ceramics on display re-create the brilliant glaze shades derived from the various hues of iron and copper during firing, as well as the irregular, flowing, thin lines on the glaze surface, another distinctive feature of Jun ware.