While many Chinese recognise the quality of Wuchang rice, far fewer understand the generations of farming knowledge, craft and human labour behind it. For Wuchang rice producer, Qiao Fu Da Yuan, it was important that if agriculture feeds a nation, the people and the knowledge behind it must not be forgotten.

Mother Shanghai stepped in with a solution – a cultural art project called The Harvest Bowl, created with the School of Design & Art at Jingdezhen Ceramic University. The artwork traces the evolution of the Chinese rice bowl across six significant periods of history, from Neolithic pottery to contemporary porcelain, drawing thousands of years of craftsmanship and cultural memory into a single object.

The bowl itself was created by ceramic artist and Jingdezhen Ceramic University associate professor, Kong Zhengzhen. It combines fragments inspired by those six distinct eras. Through the technique of gold repair, the fragments are reunited into one vessel that symbolically carries the story of Chinese agriculture across generations.

Alongside the artwork, Qiao Fu Da Yuan has released a 60-second hero film featuring a conversation between founder, Qiao Wenzhi, recognised as one of “China’s Top Ten Farmers”, and Kong Zhengzhen. Together they reflect on the relationship between agriculture, craftsmanship and cultural inheritance, and on how farming knowledge is passed from one generation to the next.

While the original artwork exists as a single exhibition piece, the project also extends into a limited collection of 200 individually numbered bowls. Created using the same design philosophy and historical references, each piece serves as a tribute to the generations of farmers whose labour and wisdom continue to shape everyday life in China. Each bowl comes in a specially designed collector’s box set, accompanied by a publication documenting the agricultural tools, farming practices and cultural stories represented by the different ceramic fragments.

At its core, the project communicates a simple belief that hard work deserves to be seen, and wisdom deserves to be passed on because the people who feed us deserve both.

“The story of Chinese agriculture is often told through harvests, statistics and outcomes. We wanted to tell it through something more human: a bowl,” said Winson and Wanshi, Partners & CCOs at Mother Shanghai. “For thousands of years the bowl has sat at the centre of daily life. It carries food, but it also carries memory, culture and the relationship between people and the land. The Harvest Bowl is our way of paying tribute to the generations of farmers whose work continues to sustain all of us.”

The project is running across Qiao Fu Da Yuan’s owned channels in China, including WeChat, Weibo, Douyin and Xiaohongshu.

Credits:
Client: Qiao Fu Da Yuan
Agency, Creative & Strategy: Mother Shanghai

Director: Kyle
Production: INS Production
Producer: Yomo
Line Producer: Tu Wei
Talent (Film): Qiao Wenzhi, Kong Zhengzhen
DOP: Ziyu
1st AC: Li Shuai
Art Director: Sanshui
Aurora Studio Head: Liu Yang
Offline Editor: Meng Qi
Sound Design: Zaoyin Gongchang
Colourist: Kuro
Online Editor: Houzi
BTS Video DOP: Zhang Zheng
BTS Editor: Meng Qi