Axie black pottery, one of the four wonders of Daocheng Yading!

The pottery of Ganzi Prefecture can be traced back to the Neolithic Age. Most of the pottery unearthed from stone coffin burials dates from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Qin and Han dynasties. Stone coffin burial is a funeral custom using stone as the tomb, which is distributed from the northeast, along the northern edge of North China (roughly demarcated by the Great Wall) to the west, turning southwest in Gansu and Qinghai, through the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, and reaching the Hengduan Mountains area in the northwest of Yunnan. The pottery of Ganzi Prefecture is mainly black pottery and grey pottery, and the emergence of pottery indicates the transition from nomadic to settled life at that time. The history of black pottery can be traced back to the Hemudu period of Yuyao, more than 7,000 years ago. The painted pottery jars prove that Ganzi Prefecture has been a place of ethnic exchange and integration since ancient times. The black pottery craftsmanship of Ganzi Prefecture has a long history, with the most representative being the Axie pottery of Axie Village in Daocheng Chitu Township and the Maisu pottery of Puma Township in Dege County. Axie has been a place of ethnic migration from south to north since ancient times. In memory of the great general who expelled demons, people adopted the general's favorite black color when making pottery. It is said that Axie pottery, when used to brew tea, retains the aroma for a longer time, and when used to hold flowers, it can also have a preserving effect, earning it the reputation as one of the 'four wonders' of Daocheng Yading. Black pottery is also an important prop during marriage proposals. If the woman's parents agree to the marriage, they will drink the Qingke wine from the black pottery on the spot. The traditional firing of black pottery is a performance art of time and temperature, with open-air low-temperature firing, and only a few potters are still persisting.