*Photo from 1953: Gu Jingzhou (left) with Dai Xiangming (center) and Lu Guangyi (right) at Rengong Diaotai in Yixing* From late 1955 to early 1956, Yixing's ceramics industry achieved public-private joint management, "merging and reorganizing the workshops and enterprises of 175 capitalists into eight public-private joint factories."[1] With this, the "socialist transformation" of Yixing's pottery industry was essentially complete, and the means of production underwent a transition to public ownership. Simultaneously, the production methods for Zisha pottery gradually shifted from the previous scattered individual operations toward collectivization and large-scale production. The factory-based production model under the collective system brought corresponding changes to personnel recruitment and training methods, eliminating the traditional conservative mentality of "greeting fellow craftsmen at the door while hiding clay blanks and chatting idly," thereby preparing a relatively solid workforce for the great development and prosperity of Zisha pottery. In 1955, Gu Jingzhou was appointed as a technical instructor. In October, the Zisha Craft Cooperative recruited its first batch of twenty-six students for the craft training class. Among them, "Li Changhong, Shen Zhonghua, Gao Yongjin, Bao Xiuyun, and Xu Xuan (who left the cooperative in 1956 to apply for school)"[2]—these five individuals became disciples of Gu Jingzhou, following Xu Handang. In 1956... --- [1] Xu Xiudang and Shan Gu, *Master of Zisha: Gu Jingzhou* (Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, April 2013 edition), p. 77. [2] Chen Jianming, ed., *Dingshu Town Gazetteer* (Beijing: China Books Publishing House, September 1992 edition), p. 199. [3] Xu Xiudang and Shan Gu, *Master of Zisha: Gu Jingzhou* (Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, April 2013 edition), p. 188.