Cochin Ware

Cochin Pottery is also known as Koji Pottery (traditional Chinese: 交趾燒; Hanyu Pinyin: Jiāozhǐ shāo). The only long-time ceramic tradition that involved artistic considerations was Cochin ware, a folk craft originally from Kwangtung and brought to Taiwan in the 19th century.

At that time, Cochin ware consisted mainly of decorations for the walls and roof ridges of temples, including human figures, animals, birds, and flowers in bright, glossy colors. Today, there are only a handful of craftspeople who still possess the traditional Cochin skills, most of whom are in the central-island city of Chiayi. In the Japanese city of Kyoto the masters of the tea ceremony loved 'Kouchi' as small figures of animals, fish, flowers, dragons, the phoenix etc.