China News Service, Nanjing, January 18th: Title: Taiwan's "Tao Second Generation" landed: continue to innovate on the basis of their parents' generation
China News Service reporter Zhu Xiaoying
In the Nanjing Dahan Kiln Art Museum in winter, the brewed Pu'er tea is steaming, fighting fish are swimming around in the fish tank, and teddy dogs are basking in the sun with their backs to their owners.
The owner of the museum, Lin Shimin, picked up a white porcelain cup with extremely thin walls and looked at the sun.
He dipped his fingers lightly in water and circled the rim of the porcelain cup. After a few seconds, the porcelain cup made a long buzzing sound.
“Only a good finished product can produce such a pleasant sound.”
Lin Shimin dipped his fingers in water and circled the rim of the porcelain cup. After a few seconds, the porcelain cup made a long buzzing sound.
Photo by China News Service reporter Zhu Xiaoying
Lin Shimin is a "second generation pottery" who was born and raised in Taiwan. His father, Lin Mingde, is quite famous in Taiwan's ceramic industry.
In 2000, Lin Mingde came to Shanghai and opened a store on the bustling Huaihai Road. He flew his works from Taiwan to sell them, and asked a friend to find a 2,000-square-meter factory as a production base. In 2003, he founded the "Dahan Kiln" brand in Shanghai.
Lin Shimin has been sitting next to his father playing in the mud since he was a child.
After graduating from college, whenever Lin Shimin heard his father talk about the ceramics business in mainland China, Lin Shimin had no doubts in his heart: he spent his days doing advertising design and opening fashionable clothing stores in Taiwan, and the profits were considerable.
In 2006, Dahan Kiln received an order to produce high-end porcelain gifts for top international events. Since then, it has received orders for gift porcelain for many major events and exhibitions, as well as orders for customized bottles for a number of famous wines.
As Dahan Kiln became famous in the mainland industry, Lin Mingde, who became increasingly busy, issued a "landing" invitation to his son.
"I thought about it for three days and finally put down everything I was doing and came to the mainland to help my father run the business together." Lin Shimin said that at that time, there were many orders and complicated process requirements.
"Take high-end gift porcelain as an example. After customizing the shape of the vessel, the pattern must be hand-painted on the porcelain and fired eight to nine times. The kiln temperature is as high as 1340°C. From clay to porcelain, from design to delivery, the entire process takes approximately It takes 40 to 60 days, but the yield is only about 70%.”
Lin Shimin inspects porcelain vases at the Dahan Kiln Art Museum in Nanjing.
Photo by China News Service reporter Zhu Xiaoying
After visiting many well-known porcelain-producing places in the mainland, including Jingdezhen in Jiangxi, Longquan in Zhejiang, Dehua in Fujian, Tangshan in Hebei, and Zibo in Shandong, Lin Shimin was determined to continue to innovate in the dot glaze gold-painting technique and the elegant and wealthy style.
In 2021, after visiting Nanjing, Lin Shimin was attracted by the local historical and cultural heritage. Through the introduction of Taiqing, he used Jingdezhen, Jiangxi as his production base and moved the Dahan Kiln brand display area to Nanjing.
"Nowadays, mainland ceramics have a wide range of uses, including daily porcelain, artistic porcelain, scientific and technological porcelain, cultural and artistic porcelain, etc. Young people prefer ceramic products that are down-to-earth and personalized." In recent years, Lin Shimin developed Enamel mugs, cartoon porcelain ornaments, etc. are very popular among young customers.
Every weekend, many parents take their children to the Hanfu Culture Salon area of the Dahan Kiln Art Museum, where they change into Hanfu, practice calligraphy, play the guqin, and experience hand-drawn blanks and handmade porcelain.
Lin Shimin said that in the future, Dahan Kiln will work in the direction of museum cultural creation and continue to innovate on the basis of its fathers.
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