The Chinese dragon has long been associated with rain, water, protection, and imperial authority. In The Keeper of Flourishing Tides, FEYI ARCHIVE reimagines this ancient symbol as a Ming-style Sancai Liuli ceramic guardian rising from ocean waves — a piece that carries the wish for steady fortune, ordered strength, and prosperity that continues to flow.
The “Ma Shang You Qian” display piece reimagines the horse as a traditional beast of fortune — a symbol of movement, ambition, and prosperity in Chinese culture and fengshui. Glazed in Imperial Gold, it carries the auspicious blessing of wealth arriving swiftly and progress moving forward.
Imperial Gold and Emerald Green were never merely decorative colors in Chinese Liuli ceramics. Once tied to rank, ritual, palace architecture, and imperial authority, these glazes carried cultural meaning through clay and fire. At FEYI ARCHIVE, they are preserved through the surviving Mentougou Liuli kiln lineage, where local material knowledge, inherited glaze memory, and the hands of craftsmen keep these historic colors alive.
Behind the luminous surface of Liuli ceramic is a process that leaves little room for shortcuts. Each piece moves through clay preparation, shaping, body firing, glazing, glaze firing, and cooling — stages that depend as much on judgment as technique. This article looks at the making of Liuli ceramics, from raw material to natural glaze crackle, and why the finished object carries the quiet authority of work done slowly and correctly.