About Kuei-Wei Chang 
張桂維簡介

Kuei-Wei Chang has been interested in literature and philosophy since childhood; during his college years especially he read works in Chinese and western philosophy extensively, which has helped cultivate his character. Over the last decade, he has focused on the I Ching and Taoist philosophy, which deeply impacted his pottery creations.

Since 2004, he has undertaken numerous experiments, adjusting the proportions of the glazes and testing different firing temperatures in the trial-and-error process. Finally in 2010, he was inspired by the Chinese Taiji Diagram and came up with the firing control method, applying the Yin and Yang concept from the Taoist philosophy to the oxidation and reduction firing process. Using this method, he successfully created the Golden Iridescence Oil Spot Tenmoku Teacup; its glaze was the first in the world at the time. Soon after, he was invited to attend an international tea bowl exhibition in Boston. It was the beginning of annual international exhibitions and speech invitations. 

Kuei-Wei Chang was intrigued by the poem Moon of the West River - Tea by Huang Tingjian, the well-known Sung calligrapher and painter, in which Huang praised the hare’s fur pattern: “Precious tea bowl in hare’s fur with traces of gold, in the wind through the pine trees, the boiling water with its formation of crab-eye bubbles is ready for the tea.” He imagined what the golden hare’s fur pattern glaze would be. There are no pictures of such bowls in any pottery literature, nor in museums. He started to experiment with the concept of deduction. After five years, in May 2015, he successfully created the golden hare’s fur pattern glaze tea bowl. His creations were collected by the British Museum and the V&A Museum in June and November 2015. He became aware that the Tenmoku tea bowl’s reflections of light were like the deep starry night, in the spirit of “clarify the mind to discover one’s own nature” and “learning from nature” of Neo-Confucianism in the Sung period. Viewing the rich patterns, smooth lines, and lucent color of the tea bowl brings a calming introspection that leads to harmony, purity, and tranquility of mind.

張桂維自幼就對文史哲學領域極感興趣，尤其在大專期間閱讀了許多中外哲學論說，這對他的個人心性琢磨極有助益，近十年他研讀中國易經與老莊學說也對他在陶藝燒製境界產生了深遠影響。

2004年之後，經過無數次配方調整與火侯調控，燒毀作品不計其數，直到2010年，張桂維從中國太極陰陽圖中悟出了火候調控的方法，太極圖的陰陽雙生共濟道理恰恰與燒窯中的氧化與還原火侯相通，他以極陽抱陰，極陰守陽的概念來控制窯火，終於燒製出金彤油滴，在當時這種光澤的油滴屬舉世首見，不久就被美國波士頓一個國際性茶碗博覽會邀請參展，從此開啟了張桂維連續每年受邀至歐美各國展覽與演講。  

張桂維對於宋代著名書畫家黃庭堅寫的一首詩中讚道：「兔毫金絲寶碗，松風蟹眼新湯」的意境中想像到底是什麼樣的金絲兔毫？陶瓷文獻或者是世界各大博物館都從未見過真正的金絲兔毫傳世，他以「捨去法」實驗，歷經五年終於2015年5月間成功燒製出金絲兔毫寶碗，並且在同年6月與11月陸續榮獲大英博物館與英國V&A 國家博物館正式典藏金絲兔毫與金曜油滴茶碗作品。張桂維領會到天目茶碗呈現的深邃星空現象，光影流轉幻映，直如宋代理學闡明的“明心見性”“法天自然”等境界，透過茶碗展示圓潤斑爛、條理分明的絲滑、晶瑩剔透的光紋，感悟出定靜安慮得的內省思維，而這種知覺會將人引領至一種平靜、純淨與祥和。