After the rain, the sky breaks open in azure - such a color is worth creating. A touch of sky blue, traveling across a millennium from Ruzhou, quietly illuminates Zhengzhou's nightscape. On the evening of July 3, the 2025 Pingdingshan Culture and Tourism Promotion Event was held at the Henan Art Center in Zhengzhou city, Central China's Henan province. At the same time, the Pingdingshan Ru Porcelain Exhibition also opened, attracting a continuous stream of visitors who encountered the timeless charm of Ru porcelain amid its elegant sky-blue hues.
"Ru kilns topped China's Five Great Kilns of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), producing porcelain exclusively for imperial use. And the sky-blue glaze was the most beloved color among scholar-officials and nobility," explained Zhang Zhinan, a Ru porcelain exhibitor from Pingdingshan city of Henan province. The jade-like texture and minimalist elegance of the sky-blue glaze calms the mind with its serene beauty. "Viewers find serenity when they see it, regardless of age or gender," he added.
To bring Ru porcelain into the lives of younger generations, Zhang Zhinan said he plans to launch practical items such as Ru porcelain office supplies and portable travel tea sets, so that more young people can engage with and fall in love with Ru porcelain in their daily lives. "Nowadays, young people love to travel. We hope to better promote tea culture and porcelain culture by combining the two," Zhang said.
In addition, exhibitor Wang Longhe said that he has made bold attempts in the design of Ru porcelain by incorporating popular cultural IPs such as Nezha and Sun Wukong. By blending tradition with modern trends, he hopes to tell the story of Ru porcelain in ways that resonate with the younger generation. "We hope that in this way, Ru porcelain can be revitalized in modern society, allowing more young people to appreciate it," he said.
The exhibition drew dedicated crowds, with many Zhengzhou residents making special trips to attend. One visitor, Li Zhenyang, said: "As a cultural treasure of Henan, Ru porcelain deserves wider appreciation and preservation. So straight from work, I brought my friend here to see the exhibition." In her view, Henan's culture is vast and profound - it takes lifetimes to truly experience and understand it.
From royal palaces to ordinary homes, Ru porcelain carries the elegance of Song Dynasty aesthetics. Through generations of artisans' dedication and innovation, it continues to thrive with renewed vitality. A single stroke of sky blue not only lit up the night of Zhengzhou, but also rekindled people's passion for traditional Chinese culture. (Chinese source: dahe.cn Reporter: Yang Jiaxin Translator: Yang Jiaxin Proofreader: Chen Xingjie and Zhao Hanqing)
