Building bridges out of broken pottery

Global collaboration

The gene bank has also established a collaborative, standardized framework that advances global ceramic scholarship.

"In English, ceramics are divided into earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain," says Li Baoping, honorary researcher at Oxford University. "In Chinese, there are only two categories: tao (pottery) and ci (porcelain)." This difference has long caused confusion in cross-border research.

China is now addressing that gap. Based on the gene bank, the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Institute is drafting the ISO TC349 standard for scientific characterization of ancient ceramics — a proposal already submitted and under ballot at the International Organization for Standardization.

"Standardized data will become a more internationally accepted research language," says Weng Yanjun, head of the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Institute. "It used to be hard to describe precisely what ruby glaze or cowpea red is. In the future, we can use exact values from the gene bank to describe and re-create them accurately."

International engagement is growing fast. In October 2023, the institute launched the Society of International Ceramic Studies, which has already held two academic conferences involving 89 institutions and over 200 scholars from 22 countries and regions. In December 2024, the SICS advisory committee was formed, bringing together renowned experts from China and around the world.

In June 2025, the English biannual Journal of International Ceramic Studies was launched, a dedicated English-language journal in this field, copublished by Elsevier Publishing Group and China Science Publishing and Media Ltd. Its first two issues feature 25 papers from 26 leading institutions across 14 countries and regions.

The institute is also building a World Ceramic Interactive Map, linking collections worldwide. By clicking any coordinate on the map, users will see local artifacts, their kiln sites, and global distribution routes — turning scattered archives into a connected story.

"Jingdezhen is uniquely placed, as it can serve as both a primary source of empirical data and a core hub for international cooperation," says Teresa Canepa, a member of the Council of the Oriental Ceramic Society in the United Kingdom. She is planning to integrate her decades of research on shipwreck ceramics into the map's backend system.

"When we pool all this data, and click somewhere in the Middle East or Europe and see links to the Jingdezhen kilns, the Forbidden City, Topkapi Palace or the Guimet Museum, people will be struck by the intertwined histories and memories that emerge," says Weng. The platform aims to gather over 10,000 data points and complete its framework by the end of 2026, with significant progress expected in the next three to five years.

Today, the map's rich cultural data is accessible to the public, inspiring ceramic enthusiasts around the world. These shards serve as storytellers that create a new bridge between modern science and ancient civilization.