Susan Peterson(THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)

   
         Hello to all of you who are Chinese ceramic artists or collectors! Bai Ming has written another book about international ceramic artists, but this one is in Chinese and in English, I am pleased to be invited to write a Preface for this new book , which will have lots of useful information about ceramic art in the world.
       My first trip to China was in 1981, I traveled with my friend , Jade Snow Wong, who was visiting members of her family after the end of the “Cultural Revolution”. Jade Snow and I were already well-known ceramic artists. We wanted to see Jingdezhen, which we had learned in our art history classes was famous as the celedon capital of the Chinese Sung Dynasty, dating from about 900 AD to 1200AD. In China in 1981 we were told by the government guide who accompanyied us everywhere, that we could not go to Jingdezhen because there were no roads.
      At the time we thought the government just didn’t want foreigners visiting small villages. However, on my subsequent visits to China, I have been to Jingdezhen, YiXing, Chunlu, and Lungchuan, as well as to other kilns and villages where roads now exist. I have also watched new roads being built on the way to other villages, and I have bounced up and down over partial road beds made of rock foundations. Therefore Iunderstand that roads really were not necessary to the early Chinese potters, they walked or rode horses in the old days, Only recently have foreigners been able to travel by car over almost all of  China.
       Lack of roads may explain the varied types of Chinese ceramic art from prehistoric to Qing dynasty, I think the fact of no roads had a positive effect . The isolation and the inadequate communication among the villages probably contributed to the Astonishing diversity in your ceramic art history. China has had the longest unbroken ceramic tradition in the world, longer in years than any other country.
       Now you are entering a new era. Ceramic artists in China are just beginning their careers. Most Chinese ceramists have become well-known only in the last ten to twenty years. After 1980  a new generation of potters and painters could study in your art schools and begin professional careers. Bai Ming and his bother Bai Lei. Are among those who are products of this revival in China’s ceramic art.
       I met Bai Ming in Beijing in 1998, and saw him again in United States when he came for a residency at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, We invited him to Arizona to present a demonstration of his brush painting on porcelain for Mesa College, which is near Phoenix. Bai Ming wanted to see American Indian pottery. He knew that this is an important several-thousand-year-old legacy from the Southwestern pueblo Indians in United States. Bai Ming and I visited remote Indian villages near the Grand canyon in Arizona, where he could see the Indian traditional way of life and examples of their pottery. Bai Ming also visited Los Angeles, California, where he met with some of my friends who are very important ceramic artists. He visited many museums of contemporary ceramics. His knowledge of world ceramic art has aided Bai Ming in the writing of his books , which give Chinese ceramists an understanding of clay history in other countries.
        I am very impressed with the creativity and ingenuity of  the ceramic art being made in China today. Many of this new generation in China have established their own studios, or work in local potteries, taking advantage of your superb clays and glaze materials and your variety of kilns. You in China have extraordinary ceramic facilities. Soon China will be recognized again as the ceramic capital of the world!
       Together we are all part of a fascinating international community of ceramic artists. Chinese ceramists are becoming well known in the world. We meet each other at conferences and exhibitions around the globe, and we can see each other through books such as this one. Our associations will grow, exchanges between Chinese ceramic artists and others from abroad will continue, and a world-wide ceramic market will occur. We all look forward to better international communication and understanding through ceramic art.