Deng Hanneng

deng.hneng@gmail.com

ALMOST every surface of Chen Yuhua’s home is covered with China roses: roses made of soft clay, glazed rose sculptures that glitter mysterious colors, and porcelain roses on pottery jars that have the beauty of a three-dimensional oil painting.

Liu Quanhui, general manager of well-known Shenzhen porcelain brand Yong Feng Yuan, was moved by what he saw when he visited Chen’s home in Suining, Sichuan Province, last September.

“Most ceramic factories in China make only pottery or porcelain. Few factories make both, because porcelain and pottery are made using very different techniques. But as an amateur I would like to try new things. People said I would not succeed, but I did,” Chen said.

Chen could create rose porcelain art that even professionals could not make. From rose growing to rose painting to rose sculpture, Chen, 76, has devoted his whole life to China roses.

A life in roses

Chen’s lifelong love toward China roses can be dated to more than five decades ago. When he graduated from Beijing Industrial University, which is now Beijing Institute of Technology, in 1958, he was condemned as a rightist. He lost his job as a teacher and became a factory worker.

During this time he developed a hobby of planting roses. Chen was taught by China’s “Madame Rose” Jiang Endian and successfully grew lavish gardens of roses. The gardens attracted the visits of many celebrities such as Deng Yingchao, wife of late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.

In 1979, Chen became vice director of the Beijing China Rose Association, which is the first nongovernment gardening society in China. He set up North Rose Co., one of the first Chinese companies to offer flower services. He co-wrote “China Rose,” which became the most popular China rose textbook of the time.

Chen studied machinery at university, but he also has a talent for art. He loves to paint roses. Well-known philosopher Zhang Dainian said Chen’s paintings of roses are an excellent combination of Chinese and Western arts. Many masters, including Shen Congwen, Bing Xin, Zhong Jingwen, Ji Xianlin, Huang Zhou, and Qi Gong have written poems about his paintings. “A Heritage of Roses,” a book published in Britain in 1989, wrote about his story and included a painting of Chen. Chen’s paintings were exhibited in the Great Hall of the People in 1996 and in the UNESCO in 2001.

Chen came to Shenzhen in the mid-1980s upon retirement. Shortly after arriving, he planted roses in winter, but was not successful. However, he has lived in Shenzhen for more than 20 years to take care of his wife Yang Baili, who is paralyzed due to illness.

Rose sculptures

In 2008, Chen returned to his hometown, Suining City in Sichuan Province, to take care of his sick mother. Following his advice, the city planted roses along its main river and main streets. The resulting flowers attracted many tourists to the city.

The idea of making rose sculptures occurred to Chen when he was passing through a pottery factory in Gaoping, Sichuan. The pottery factory made pottery vases that preserve vegetables, but as fresh vegetables had become more popular, the factory faced closure. Chen thought: “Why not make roses with clay of Gaoping?”

Chen soon bought a kiln and began an experiment. With his skilled hands and deep understanding of roses, he could easily make vivid roses with clay, but what came out from the kiln, to his surprise, was an ugly, broken thing.

Chen did not let this get him down. After several attempts, he was able to make eye-catching rose porcelain and pottery jars.

After initial success, Chen became passionate about making rose porcelain. He bought four kilns, and the highest temperature of the kilns reached 1,250 degrees Celsius. He collected clay and glaze from all over China. He found that the varieties of rose porcelain are limitless.

“After spending most of my life growing, painting and researching China roses, I finally found the best way to depict the beauty of roses — to make rose sculptures with clay and glaze,” he said.

Chen has been invited to the World Federation of Rose Societies Convention to be held in 2015 in France. His rose sculptures and paintings are being exhibited at the Manhattan headquarters of American Rose Society.

“After spending most of my life growing, painting and rsearching China roses, I finally found the best way to depict the beauty of roses — to make rose sculptures with clay and glaze.”