Reimagining Jingdezhen: A Review of Porcelain Design Innovation Between Cultural Preservation and Contemporary Aesthetics.

Abstract

 Jingdezhen, known as the 'Porcelain Capital' for over a millennium, represents one of the world's most significant and enduring craft heritage sites. Its ceramic traditions spanning imperial kilns, intangible craftsmanship, and global trade networks face profound challenges in the twenty-first century as the city navigates pressures of modernization, globalization, and contemporary design innovation. This critical review systematically examines how Jingdezhen's porcelain heritage has been reimagined through contemporary design practice, synthesizing scholarship from design studies, heritage studies, art history, cultural policy, and anthropology. The review is organized around seven thematic areas: (1) the historical legacy of Jingdezhen's porcelain culture; (2) transitions during the Republican and Maoist eras; (3) the reform period and globalization; (4) contemporary aesthetics and design innovation; (5) cultural preservation and policy interventions; (6) the creative ecosystem of studios, residencies, and institutions; and (7) critical debates on authenticity, commodification, and sustainability. Drawing on over 100 sources spanning Chinese and international scholarship, the paper identifies a central tension between heritage conservation and creative reinvention that manifests across material, economic, and institutional dimensions. The review proposes a conceptual framework the Preservation–Innovation Spectrum for understanding how craft heritage sites navigate competing demands of cultural continuity and aesthetic transformation. Key findings reveal that successful innovation in Jingdezhen depends on hybrid strategies combining traditional techniques with contemporary design principles, institutional support through creative clusters and education, and negotiated approaches to authenticity that resist both rigid preservationism and uncritical commodification. The paper concludes with implications for design practice, heritage policy, and future research directions, including comparative studies with other ceramic heritage sites and empirical investigations of consumer and producer perspectives.