Pathways of transmission: investigating the influence of Chinese kiln god worship and mythology on kiln god concepts and rituals as observed by American ceramists

Designed to be an inquiry into both the past and living traditions and mythology of Chinese kiln god worship, this study investigates the manner by which these folk traditions and means of worship have been viewed and worked into discourse by Western historians and ceramists in the United States. Furthermore, by examining this research from the assumption that Western discourse on Chinese kiln gods has been recorded with a bias known as Orientalism that presents a biased view of the Far East this study endeavors to present new insights into the possible motivations for why American potters would appropriate and engage in various aspects of Chinese kiln god worship.

This study discusses issues concerning the control of Chinese cultural material by Western scholars, through research gathered from discourse, interviews, and my own ethnographic field observations of Chinese kiln god practices. Collectively the outcome of this research has yielded a study of Chinese kiln gods with a strong focus on the history of the kiln god deity Feng Huo Hsien, or Genius of the Fire-Blast who is still worshiped in Jingdezhen, China today. The legend of how Feng Huo Hsien lived his life as T'ung Bun, a Jingdezhen potter, and then earned his immortal namesake through the incredible act of sacrificing his body and soul in the fire of the kiln, is a tale that is central to the religious beliefs and practices of the ceramists of Jingdezhen. Additionally, I believe that the presence of the myth of Feng Huo Hsien in American literature has also influenced the development of kiln god rituals among studio potters in the United States.