Chapter 3
达变
Adaptation
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English Translation

Gu Jingzhou with Ms. Zhao Xiaodie of Hong Kong's Jinfeng Company In 1989, Gu Jingzhou at Hong Kong's Jinfeng Company. From left: Han Meilin, Gu Jingzhou, Hua Junwu, Liu Peijin With strong promotion from all sectors of society, what would later be called by Yixing people the "Four Major Trading Companies" of Hong Kong—Shuangyu Arts Company, Ocean Trading Company, Yingtai Trading Company, and Jinfeng Trading Company—were successively established and began operations. They held multiple specialized trade fairs in Hong Kong, adding momentum to the overseas sales of zisha pottery. Jinfeng Trading Company in particular, although it entered the Yixing zisha sales channel relatively late, rose to prominence as a latecomer, with business flourishing and achieving remarkable results. The female manager Zhao Xiaodie was even called the "Zisha Queen" by everyone. This was not only a personal honor for Zhao Xiaodie, but also a vivid reflection of the elevated status of Yixing zisha art. Of course, the booming zisha foreign trade business also brought generous returns to Jinfeng Company and Zhao Xiaodie. There was later a vivid description: she arrived by public bus and eventually left Yixing driving a Mercedes-Benz. In order to complete the task proposed by Mr. Lo Kwee-seong—to have the zisha factory organize personnel to reproduce historical masterpieces according to samples provided by clients, and then publicly display them globally in Hong Kong—the zisha factory specially established a Special Arts and Crafts Class (abbreviated as Special Arts Class). The Special Arts Class selected ten middle-aged technical talents and ten young technical prospects from the factory. Under the personal direction of Gu Jingzhou, starting from December 9, 1981, he taught classes for the Special Arts Class students, analyzing the technical difficulties in forming the supplied samples, and demonstrating the methods and techniques of production.