Generations in contrast: Master Chen Deyong 陈德永’s pottery and its legacy in Nixi 尼西,Yunnan.

Abstract

This article is based on an analysis of a traditional pottery craft in a village on the fringes of Tibet, and investigates the fundamental role it invests on local economy, society and family structure. The reconstruction of the craft’s operational chain, from raw materials procurement to commercialization of the finished products, is closely related to Nixi village’s relative prosperity and it is a manifestation of the specific ecological niche in which the settlement is nestled. Economic, social and cultural elements, in sum, merge within the socio-technical study of the ware, in which the master potter, as the bearer of the tradition and the main economic figure of the community and the individual household, plays a pivotal role. Last but not least, I attempt an interpretation of social change that is particularly noticeable in the contrast of lifestyles and religious and economic motivations between Master Chen Deyong and his urbanized offspring.