Many years ago, a dance between clay and fire gave rise to a piece of art: porcelain, an artwork     1     is fine and crisp.

Flames in kilns (窑) around China have been burning since the Xia and Shang dynasties. Along the way, porcelain     2     (create).

Porcelain is ceramic made by heating raw materials, often a mix of china stone and kaolin clay, in a kiln at a temperature as high as 1,200 degrees Celsius. Temperature is key to     3     (make) porcelain. Going through the fire of reinvention at a high temperature gives porcelain greater strength     4     richer colors.

Celadon produced in Longquan, Zhejiang Province, with a technique passed down for more than 1,600 years, is a typical example of craftsmen’s pursuit of the perfect green glint. It takes 72 steps     5     (produce) Longquan celadon’s jade-like green. Plum green and light green, or tianqing (the color of the sky after a rain), are two colors of the best quality. Porcelain has also been a     6     (carry) for cultural exchanges. In addition     7     China’s silk and tea, porcelain was one of the first products to receive worldwide trade.

Porcelain began as a practical utensil (器具) and     8     (gradual) became a form of art. Even when porcelain was broken into     9     (piece) and buried deep in mud, the cultural values     10     (attach) to it would never disappear. As a memory that can be felt with both hands, porcelain is touchable history.

Over 400 pieces or sets of Dehua white porcelain (德化白瓷) are     1     display in the National Museum of China in Beijing, with the exhibition running from Aug. 26 for three months.

Dehua white porcelain is famous for     2     (it) pure white color. Dehua white porcelain     3     (extraordinary) pure and white because the kaolin (高岭土) in Dehua county in Fujian has a low percentage of iron, making the porcelain stainless like white jade, earning it the French name “Blanc de Chine”, or “white from China”.

Sitting in Quanzhou city,     4     the ancient Maritime Silk Road started, Dehua white porcelain     5     (sell) like hotcakes at home and abroad since the Song Dynasty (960-1279). In 2006, Dehua white porcelain was listed as     6     national intangible cultural heritage.

Despite the past glories, Dehua craftsmen never stop improving their skills. One     7    (impress) skill is “the eggshell technique(薄胎技艺)”. The eggshell technique in Dehua     8    (date) back to the Ming Dynasty. With the technique     9     (improve) by generations of craftsmen, today’s eggshell porcelain can be made as thin as paper.

By combining traditional Chinese artistic skills with modern disciplines(学科) like material science and humanities, Blanc de Chine will continue to enhance the cultural confidence of the Chinese people as they create even more outstanding     10     (work).