What are the meanings of "Tradition (Dento)" and "Transmission (Densho)" ?
In Japanese, these words are expressed by only two Chinese characters each. These words are explained in the Japanese large dictionary "Kojien" as follows:

[Tradition]: Faith, natural features, system, thought, learning, arts, etc. which have been fostered and conveyed by certain nation and/or society/party through their long history. Especially their central spiritual way that it should be.

[Transmission]: Things that learn from others. Things that hear from others and inherit to others. To inherit the whole of old tradition, system, faith, manners, customs, legend etc. or things that were handed down.

Longchuan is the cradle of celadon porcelains. Its tradition has been inherited (transmitted) today from olden times more than 1000 years ago. The tradition is to transmit also its spirit. No matter how long history it has, it will be ruined some day if it lacks spirit. Therefore, it is the transmission of spirit.

I would like to convey my feelings when I visited the city of Longchuan where is the birth place of Kokuryo (Korea) and Japanese celadon porcelains and met Master Xu Chao Xing and saw "tradition" and "transmission" in his art works which were displayed in his workshop ordinarily. For this reason, I made up my mind to open this web site with the permission and cooperation of Director of the Longchuan City Cultural Bureau, Director of Longchuan City Celadon Porcelain Museum and Master Xu Chao Xing. I would like to express my heartful gratitude for their cooperation.

April 2000
Shigenori Shimono