Shu Dansheng (courtesy name Shixue, Master of Shuotao Studio)
written by siyutao art team
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Jiangsu Provincial Ceramic Art Master (2nd batch, 2016)
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Senior Certified Master of Arts and Crafts
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Member of China National Arts and Crafts Society
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Member of Jiangsu Provincial Arts and Crafts Society
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Member of Jiangsu Provincial Ceramic Art Committee
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Member of Jiangsu Xu Beihong Research Association
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Member of China Yixing Purple Clay Culture and Art Research Special Committee
Born in 1944 into a purple clay pottery family in Shushan, Yixing, Jiangsu Province. The family business, 立新陶瓷厂 "Lixin Ceramic Factory," was one of the predecessors of the Jiangsu Yixing Purple Clay Craft Factory No.1, founded in 1940 by his father Shu Ludu 束禄度 and his uncle Shu Jinshou 束金寿 . In 1958, he entered Yixing Purple Clay Middle School to study and learn the craft, under the initial guidance of Professor Pan Chunfang 潘春芳. He later transferred to the Purple Clay Craft Factory and studied under the renowned veteran artisans Tan Yaokun 谈尧坤 and Ren Ganting 任淦庭. Subsequently, he devoted himself to purple clay form design. Over more than fifty years of practice, his new creations have repeatedly won major awards in provincial and national arts and crafts exhibitions. He is especially skilled in ceramic engraving and decoration, and has conducted in‑depth research on calligraphy, painting, seal carving, and the history of purple clay ware. His works embody an elegant traditional cultural ambiance, forming a scholarly and refined personal artistic style. He has participated many times in academic exchanges on purple clay culture both domestically and internationally.
He is a highly influential veteran figure in the industry. A disciple of Tan Yaokun and Ren Ganting, he benefited from a unique apprenticeship that enabled him both to make teapots and to excel in ceramic engraving, a rarity in the purple clay world. Proficient in calligraphy and knowledgeable in painting, he is a true inheritor of the old‑school engraving tradition.
Shu Dansheng is the son of Shu Liudu and the younger brother of Shu Fengying. His studio name is "Shuotao Studio", the character shuo (硕) is homophonous with his family name Shu (束) in the Yixing dialect (according to the Book of Jin, the Shu surname originated from "Shu Guang," Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince in the Han dynasty, whose great‑grandson changed the radical of the surname to avoid persecution), and also means "great" or "abundant." His courtesy name "Shixue" (石雪) combines shi (stone) because ceramic engraving resembles the study of epigraphy (the "art of metal and stone"), and xue (snow) to signify a life of purity and integrity.
