China, a country with one of the most ancient civilizations in the world, has a time-honored history of producing pottery and porcelain. Pottery wares dating back morethan 10,000 years have been discovered at Nanzhuangtou in Xushui County, HebeiProvince, and shards of pottery dating back 11,000 years have been unearthed at the siteknown as the Immortal's Cave on Mount Huifeng, Lishui County, Jiangsu Province.Porcelain is one of China's most important ancient inventions.

Archaeological data indicate that the original potters were women. The oldest wayto produce pottery is the coiling method （Line Drawing 1）, which was developed on thebasis of the technique of weaving bamboo containers. The process involved kneadingthe clay into a long strip which was coiled upon itself spirally around a stone ball orpottery mold, the potter holding the clay strip with one hand and the mold with the other.This was done from the bottom right to the mouth rim, making the embryo of the potteryvessel. A few years ago, another ancient pottery-making method was discovered inDadiwan, Gansu Province, i.e., kneading the clay into lumps and then sticking themtogether. It was not until the late New Stone Age that the simple potter's wheel appearedin China. In the earliest stages it was a wooden pillar propping up a wooden disc （LineDrawing 2）. Pottery wares were widely used for cooking, eating, drinking and storingfood, which greatly improved the people's living conditions. Food cooked in potteryding and fu （Line Drawing 3） tastes and smells better, and becomes more delicious andnutritious.