Buan Ceramics
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LocationBuan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- CategoryFolk Food ∙ Local Specialties
- Korean부안 도자기
- Chinese扶安陶瓷器
- FieldPolitics, Economy and Society / Economy & Industry
- Contents TypeSpecialty
- Production site33-5, Nonggongdanji-gil Boan-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Production site1256, Buan-ro Boan-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Production site1500, Cheongja-ro Boan-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Experience & Exhibition Hall1594-10, Cheongja-ro Boan-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Experience & Exhibition Hall33, Bangye-ro Boan-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Experience & Exhibition Hall1493, Cheongja-ro Boan-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Definition
- Porcelain wares produced in the area of Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do.
- Summary
- Buan County in Jeollabuk-do has long been a production center of Goryeo celadon, Joseon Buncheong (grayish-blue-powdered celadon), and Joseon white porcelain, maintaining and transmitting Korea’s traditional ceramic styles in terms of their design and shape and the types of glaze and clay used. In particular, Lee Eun-gyu, a master of Sagijang (Ceramic Making, Jeollabuk-do Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 29), runs the Yucheon Kiln, a traditional kiln which produces celadon with inlaid designs, which were the best quality celadon during the Goryeo dynasty. Furthermore, a wide variety of everyday porcelain wares are being made in both traditional and modern styles at the Buan Kiln, Doulyo Kiln, Hawayo Kiln, Gungan Pottery Workshop, Suryeon Pottery, Mun’s Workshop, Baeksan Pottery, and Ssuk Pottery Workshop. Buan’s potters have also established the Buan Potters’ Association and the Buan Celadon Association and hold the associations’ exhibitions every year.
- Origins and Development
- The production of pottery in Buan dates back to the Prehistoric and historical periods. In particular, the celadon wares of Yucheon-ri in Boan-myeon and Jinseo-ri in Jinseo-myeon enjoyed a strong reputation along with those of Gangjin. During the late Goryeo period, the kilns located along the coast fell into decline due to the frequent incursions by Japanese raiders and the invasion of the Yuan Dynasty. Around the fifteenth century in the early Joseon period, kiln sites in Udong-ri and Sinbok-ri in Boan-myeon and Gamgyo-ri in Sangseo-myeon in Buan produced Buncheong and white porcelains. According to the Geography Section of the Annals of King Sejong, a factory for producing middle-grade porcelain was located in Gambul-ri, Udong, Buan.
White porcelains, earthenware, and roof tiles were produced in Boan-myeon, Jusan-myeon, and Byeonsan-myeon, Buan during the late Joseon and modern periods in Korea. Especially, during the modern period, records on local pottery products can be identified from the oral record (introduced in the Buan-gun Magazine) of Kim Byeong-soo (an earthenware artisan), whose family earthenware business has survived for four generations in the village of Sandol (Matdol-ri), Sasan-ri, Jusan-myeon, Buan, and from photographic plates dating from the Japanese Colonial era.
At present, Buan’s representative traditional ceramist is Lee Eun-gyu, a master of Sagijang (Ceramic Making). After studying under two teachers, Yoo Geun-hyeong (pen-name: Haegang) and Lee Eun-gu (pen-name: Cheongpa), Lee Eun-gyu established the Yucheon kiln in 1986 in Yucheon-ri, Boan-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do, which is the home of Goryeo celadon production. He was designated as a master of Sagijang (Ceramic Making, Jeollabuk-do Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 29) in April 2004, and is dedicated to preserving and transmitting the tradition of Goryeo celadon with inlaid designs in Buan. The Buan kiln’s Choi In-ho, who studied under Lee Eun-gyu, also continues producing Goryeo celadon and Joseon Bucheong wares. Moreover, some ten ceramists who graduated from the college of pottery are pursuing their creative activities in Buan, Jeollabuk-do, while the factories in Julpo-myeon and Boan-myeon as mass producing earthenware and bricks.
- Production Method and Characteristics
- The Daebo granite geological zone is distributed across the eastern area of the Byeonsan Peninsula in Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do - where there is an abundance of reddish yellow clay and white clay - encompassing Julpo-myeon, Boan-myeon, Jusan-myeon, Baeksan-myeon, Buan-eup, Haengan-myeon, and Dongjin-myeon. Since ancient times, the area has produced good-quality Goryeo celadon, Joseon Buncheong, Joseon white ceramics, earthenware, pottery, and roof tiles. At present, with the exception of Master Ceramist Lee Eun-gyu and a few other notable ceramists, the kilns and pottery workshops use manufactured materials as glaze and clay to simply the production process and save on costs, and mainly produce daily accessories such as decorative ceramics and tableware. However, Lee Eun-gyu uses raw materials from Buan in order to reproduce Goryeo celadon and Joseon Buncheong from the Yucheon Kiln, which is a private workshop. By baking ceramics in a traditional kiln according to traditional pottery techniques and styles, he is able to maintain and transmit traditional ceramics.
- Current Status including Relevant Industry
- Buan ceramics can be categorized according to traditional production and modern production techniques using gas or electricity. Lee Eun-gyu’s ceramic works represent traditional production methods: He shapes them with his hands, bakes them in a firewood kiln, glazes them with a natural, transparent green pigment and finally inlays them with beautiful white and black designs similar to those of Goryeo celadon. There are about nine ceramic workshops in the area that mainly use modern production methods and manufactured clay and glaze to make various types of ceramics including celadon, Buncheong, white porcelain, and daily ceramics, which are available at the Buan Celadon Museum, etc.
There are also ceramic factories, such as Buan Traditional Earthenware, Vision Ceramic, and Yucheon Ceramic Business, which are equipped with modernized facilities quite unlike those of private workshops. Buan Traditional Earthenware, which is located within the Julpo Agricultural Industrial Complex at 33-5, Nonggongdanji-gil (298-7, Yeongjeon-ri), Boan-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do, is run by Yang Seong-nam and uses automated production lines to produce modernized earthenware and ceramics that are available both on and offline. Meanwhile, Vision Ceramic, located at 1256, Buan-ro (339-16, Nampo-ri), Boan-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do, and the Yucheon Ceramic Business, located at 1500, Cheongja-ro (795-1, Yucheon-ri), Boan-myeon, both produce clay bricks.