When I visited China in the late 1970s, I was attracted by the fine porcelain vases and plates with mixed flower designs in well-matched, pleasant pastel colours. They appeared quite different from those produced in Jingdezhen, a city in Jiangxi province. They looked more elegant, artistic, and of better quality.
I was told they were a speciality product of Liling City, Hunan Province. Liling’s ceramics were the origin of the world’s underglaze multicoloured porcelain. It has a history of more than 2,000 years. Liling is one of the three “porcelain capitals” in China.
The unique quality characteristics of Liling porcelain are its lustrous and wet-looking appearance, exquisite, rich in colour but not gaudy, gorgeous but not loud and garish-looking, and pleasing to the eye.
Tan It Koon
Before retirement, Dr Tan It Koon was, among many appointments, Head of Clinical Biochemistry at SGH’s Dept of Pathology. He was the Deputy Chairman of the National Theatre Trust and Chairman for Grants and Scholarships of the Spore Cultural Foundation. He received the National Day Awards, PBM, and PPA, for his contribution to cultural and community development and excellence in Public Administration.
