Cai Bingsheng 蔡炳盛

Quick Facts

About Cai Bingsheng

Cai Bingsheng (蔡炳盛) was born in January 1956 in the Jianyang area
of Fujian Province and grew up in a family with generations of
experience in ceramic firing.

He became involved with ceramic production while young and accumulated
practical experience with clay preparation, kiln firing, glaze materials,
fuel and temperature control before beginning his own research into Jian
ware.

In 1982, at about twenty-six years old, Cai began independently
experimenting with the firing of Jian Zhan. His career consequently
reaches back to the formative years of the modern revival of the craft.

The Cai Family Tradition

Cai Bingsheng belongs to one of the families closely associated with
the modern Jian Zhan community of Shuiji.

Jianyang sources identify three brothers who became involved in Jian
ware production: Cai Bingkun 蔡炳昆,
Cai Binglong 蔡炳龙, and
Cai Bingsheng 蔡炳盛.
Cai Bingsheng is the youngest of the three.

The brothers became part of the generation of local ceramic workers who
carried practical kiln knowledge into the renewed Jian Zhan industry
during the late twentieth century.

The Modern Revival of Jian Zhan

Cai Bingsheng’s career developed during the period when Jianyang potters
and researchers were working to restore Jian ware after centuries in
which the historic industry had disappeared.

Beginning in 1979, researchers from institutions including the Central
Academy of Arts and Crafts, Fujian research organizations and the
Jianyang ceramic factory undertook experiments aimed at reproducing
historic Jian glazes.

A later People’s Daily account records Cai sharing practical local
ceramic knowledge with the research team, including information about
plant ash used in glaze preparation and kiln-temperature control.

After the successful revival experiments, Cai continued his own work.
In 1982 he began a sustained independent exploration of Jian Zhan firing,
eventually concentrating particularly on oil-spot crystallization.

Oil Spot & Crystalline Glazes

Oil-spot Jian Zhan became one of the defining areas of Cai Bingsheng’s
work.

People’s Daily records that Cai spent years experimenting with the
interaction among the clay body, glaze thickness, kiln atmosphere and
firing temperature before successfully producing oil-spot ware.

His best-known oil-spot pieces are frequently associated with
silver-blue oil spot 银蓝油滴.
These works can display dense metallic crystals against a dark glaze,
with blue or silver reflections appearing as the bowl moves through
different light.

Other works associated with Cai include silver oil spot, classic oil
spot, silver-blue hare’s-fur and wood-fired kiln-transformed hare’s-fur.

Fire Phoenix 火凤凰

One of Cai Bingsheng’s most distinctive modern developments is
Fire Phoenix 火凤凰.

The glaze develops warm iron-red, copper and orange crystalline areas
over a much darker ground. Individual markings can resemble glowing
rings or small bursts of flame.

Cai described the glaze as demanding extremely precise temperature
control. Too much heat could push the glaze toward yellow, while too
little prevented the characteristic spots from developing correctly.

Fire Phoenix is best understood as a
modern signature glaze associated with
Cai Bingsheng, rather than the name of a historical Song
dynasty Jian glaze category.

Cai Family Jian Zhan Research Institute

Cai later established the
Cai Family Jian Zhan Research Institute
蔡氏建盏研究所, where he continued researching Jian bodies,
crystalline glazes and new forms.

Biographical material also records the restoration of an older dragon
kiln for traditional wood-fired production. Wood firing became another
part of Cai’s exploration of historic Jian techniques and natural kiln
effects.

For more about the structure and firing behavior of traditional long
kilns, see our

Dragon Kiln reference page
.

Teaching & Transmission

Cai Bingsheng’s importance extends beyond his own production into the
transmission of Jian Zhan knowledge to later makers.

Liao Chengyi 廖成义

Jianyang government reporting identifies
Liao Chengyi 廖成义 as having
returned to Shuiji and formally studied Jian Zhan firing under
provincial representative inheritor Cai Bingsheng. Liao later developed
his own work in Jian ware and traditional kiln firing.

Research & Writing

Cai Bingsheng has also documented Jian Zhan production in writing.
His technical work is particularly valuable because it discusses
glaze development from the perspective of a working kiln practitioner.

One documented paper is
《试论建盏的烧制工艺》,
approximately “A Discussion of Jian Zhan Firing Techniques.”
The article discusses Jian clay bodies, glaze composition and the
crystalline development of oil-spot and hare’s-fur surfaces.

The paper lists Cai Bingsheng together with Cai Wei and Cai Jie and
identifies their affiliation as the Jianyang Cai Family Jian Kiln and
Jian Zhan Research Institute.

Book • 《建盏技艺》

Cai Bingsheng is also credited as the author of
《建盏技艺》, a book devoted
to Jian Zhan craftsmanship.

Honors & Recognition

2011 • Recognized as a
representative inheritor of Jian kiln and Jian Zhan firing technique
at the Nanping level.

2013 • Named among Nanping’s
first group of Arts & Crafts Distinguished Artisans.

2015 • Received recognition
as a Fujian Folk Arts & Crafts Master.

2016 • Named a Nanping Arts
& Crafts Master.

2017 • Recognized as a
Fujian Ceramic Art Master.

2018 • Officially included
in Fujian Province’s fourth group of representative intangible
cultural heritage inheritors for
建窑建盏烧制技艺.

Awarded & Collected Work

《银油滴盏-1》 • Silver Oil Spot Bowl
Recorded as receiving a gold award at the 2014 China (Putian)
Strait Craft Expo.

《银油滴盏-2》
Recorded as receiving a silver award at the same exhibition.

《油滴笔洗》 • Oil Spot Brush Washer
Received a gold award in the 2015 Huayi Cup arts-and-crafts competition.
The work applies Jian glaze technology to the traditional brush-washer form.

《油滴盏》 and 《油滴洗》
Recorded as entering the collection of the Fujian Arts & Crafts
Treasure Museum in 2015.

Marks & Identification

One base mark documented on Cai Bingsheng pieces uses the final two
characters of his name:

Because Cai has worked for several decades and across different glaze
and firing styles, identification should consider the complete piece,
foot, clay body, base mark, certificate, packaging and provenance rather
than assuming every genuine example must look identical.

Current Heritage Status

Fujian Province officially lists Cai Bingsheng as a
provincial representative inheritor
of the intangible cultural heritage project
建窑建盏烧制技艺,
Jian kiln and Jian Zhan firing technique.

Fujian Province’s evaluation of provincial representative inheritors
for 2024, published in December 2025, continued to list Cai Bingsheng
under the Jian Zhan project and recorded his transmission activity as
qualified 合格.

Collector Notes

Cai Bingsheng is part of the early generation of modern Jian Zhan
craftsmen whose careers connect directly with the revival period.

He is the youngest of the well-known Cai brothers associated with
Jian ware production in Shuiji.

Silver-blue oil spot is one of the strongest recurring associations
with his work.

Fire Phoenix 火凤凰 is particularly useful for identification because
it is a modern named glaze closely associated with Cai’s own development.

English listings sometimes separate his given name as
Cai Bing Sheng. Standard
pinyin normally renders the two-character given name together as
Cai Bingsheng.

References & Further Reading