Jingdezhen Porcelain-Industry Water Mill Building Technique

The hills around Jingdezhen are laced with streams, and since ancient times water power has driven trip-hammers to pound porcelain stone—the traditional way of preparing the raw material. The water-mill building technique entered the fifth batch of national ICH in 2021, reflecting the close fit between the porcelain industry and the local water network.

Builders choose a site by the fall of a stream and construct the water wheel, hammer beams and stone mortars; diverted water turns the wheel, which raises and drops a row of hammers to pound the porcelain stone, after which it is washed and settled into clay. Siting, constructing and maintaining the whole assembly draws on specialized building knowledge.

The water mill is the very first stage in Jingdezhen's porcelain supply chain, turning mountain porcelain stone into usable clay; the craft of building it records how the traditional industry organized production along hills and streams, making it important heritage for understanding the ties between the porcelain capital's ecology and its handicrafts.