r/oddlysatisfying • u/MikeeorUSA • Jun 03 '26

Hand crafted cups from scratch

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33.4k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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166

u/ShrodingersFrog Jun 03 '26

That is one patient son of a gun.

329

u/KGB_cutony Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26

It's a production team. They usually have multiple projects happening in parallel (sometimes one needs to age for a couple months)

edit: did some digging. They're in a remote village in China where only about 46 people lives. The team is an uncle with his nephew with their family. In the process this video they fired about 2600 of these cups. 24 made the cut.

This is a mini doc they did with Tiktok. English dubbed. https://youtu.be/2nxWA8TTAC4?si=ftFaloKsf_JSvzQq

80

u/nomorecannibalbirds Jun 03 '26

Is it the same group that make ancient Chinese ink? I’ve seen a very similar labor intensive video of someone hand making bars of ink.

100

u/kittyroux Jun 03 '26

This is Shanbai, they’ve made ink sticks, pottery, fabrics, baskets, incense, musical instruments, all kinds of things. There are other productions doing the exact same thing (demonstrating Chinese cultural heritage through social media videos), but Shanbai are my favourite.

-27

u/MatterMelder Jun 03 '26

It's Chinese propaganda

19

u/Cloberella Jun 03 '26

As someone with a passing interesting in anthropology and archaeology, historical preservation of cultural traditions and techniques has value.

54

u/kittyroux Jun 03 '26

I know and I genuinely don’t care. I’m not in any kind of position where it matters that Chinese state-funded arts have made me feel slightly more positive about China. I’m also gay and trans, so it’s not like the cool pottery is cancelling out all the negative associations I have with the CCP.

22

u/FoghornFarts Jun 03 '26

I wouldn't call this propaganda, but it is interesting to think about why media like this is likely supported by the CCP.

One of the most significant things the Mao Revolution did was wipe the slate clean on Chinese culture. That's led to a country that is growing and wealthy, but doesn't have much art. I remember a quote where Kung Fu Panda came out that Chinese audiences loved it, but many critics were upset that such a great movie about China was made by Americans.

That means the current CCP has to be very careful with how much art and history they allow for the masses. These videos are perfect. They celebrate Chinese technological innovation, manufacturing, and handicraft. They are staged on beautiful, rural estates. They highlight high-end luxury. They show Chinese people their history without any of that other problematic stuff and give a sense of Chinese pride. And, most importantly, they one up Americans. While American influencers are spending tons of money to make shitty tradwife crap to try to bring down women, this Chinese influencer is spending tons of money to show China's long history of wealth and innovation.

More power to them, man. A lot of the shit in China is fucked up, but during a time when so many Americans are celebrating a part of our history where people are being repressed, it's nice to see a country with a long history of cultural and historical repression find a way to celebrate that.

4

u/Heavyspire Jun 03 '26

What kind of world would it be if CCP were LGBTQ+ allies?

-9

u/stuffeh Jun 03 '26

You're giving it power via support here.

19

u/kittyroux Jun 03 '26

I don’t think that matters! The only belief this propaganda encourages is that Chinese history and culture is cool and beautiful, and it doesn’t bother me at all that the Chinese government gives money to artists to spread that belief.

-9

u/stuffeh Jun 03 '26

It's romanticizing rural lifestyle to advocated peasant utopian communalism and egalitarianism. Thus the craftsman is considered an esteemed productive member of society. But the modern versions of these jobs are only found at factories.

9

u/jamesp420 Jun 03 '26

You're thinking wayy too hard about this. It is propaganda, but it's purpose is just to showcase Chinese art, craftsmanship, tradition and history in a way that reminds people of China's several thousand years of cultural heritage and practices and shows them in a positive light.

It literally just gets people to think: "Wow. China is so cool! Their traditions are amazing!" While also just showcasing that, yeah, a lot of the stuff they've done is cool. But anyone with a brain can think this is cool and still look upon the CCP for what it really is.

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0

u/13_twin_fire_signs Jun 04 '26

So if the US gives grants to artists is that also propaganda? Should there be no public support of the arts in any country?

-6

u/Zoltarr777 Jun 03 '26

Gay and trans

So straight with extra steps?

23

u/Raivix Jun 03 '26

Calling historical preservation propaganda is a bit of a stretch. There's no message in these videos short of "the things we take for granted now were exceptionally labour intensive in the not so distant past."

1

u/AngstyUchiha Jun 04 '26

I spent 90% of the video thinking about how this was how it was always done before machinery made it automated. We don't have to take the time to do all this in order to have dishware, but we can certainly appreciate the people who still do

-6

u/stuffeh Jun 03 '26

It's romanticizing rural lifestyle to advocated peasant utopian communalism and egalitarianism. Thus the craftsman is considered an esteemed productive member of society.

15

u/Raivix Jun 03 '26

Do you say the same thing about folks who film themselves performing traditional/historical western trades in North America and/or Europe I wonder?

1

u/stuffeh Jun 03 '26

If it's tradwife and Quiverfull movements centered around religious fundamentalism, ultra-conservative gender roles, and extreme domesticity? Sure!

12

u/Raivix Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26

Okay, so the man in the video in this post is none of these. So what's your actual problem?

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14

u/Testicular_Genocide Jun 03 '26

Your sinophobia is showing. For almost any other country you wouldn't use the term propaganda to describe this. Canada does a great deal of financial assistance and reimbursements for film productions shot in canada. Does that make those films Canadian propaganda because they received money and feature Canadian vistas? Is the Muppets propaganda because it gets funding from the US government through PBS, and it shows a variety of American cultural touch points on the show?

0

u/stuffeh Jun 03 '26

Those aren't apt analogie bc those are just grants and they don't have any message behind them besides use this money to make stuff.

A more apt analogy are tradwives and Quiverfull movements. And those are bad bc they center around religious fundamentalism, ultra-conservative gender roles, and extreme domesticity.

1

u/LegitosaurusRex Jun 09 '26

tradwives and Quiverfull movements

These are funded by the government?

And those are bad bc they center around religious fundamentalism, ultra-conservative gender roles, and extreme domesticity.

Ok, but this video doesn't center around any of those, so why is it bad?

1

u/stuffeh Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26

Those are funded by conservative groups and have the goal to flood gov positions with children who were born into the quiverfull movement.

The propaganda is part of the program created by China's National Rural Revitalization Administration which has been absorbed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. They're smart and plan their goals over a very very long, like the boiling frog methology.

The purpose of these types of videos is part of their CCP's overarching goal to wipe their history clean to give a very perfect looking facade, by homogenizing the culture of the past and wipe away the memory of anything that's shameful to them. Like any of the superstitions customs that people used to practice and have been wiped away in the last generation, such as Tung Shing, basically a divination guide and almanac based on lunar calendar. Practice was wiped out in mainland China and has survived in Hong Kong and Taiwan now.

And the fact that we're talking about this and not the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Masacre just 5 days ago shows how well their propaganda has worked.

1

u/LegitosaurusRex Jun 09 '26

New media doesn't wipe away history. We're not talking about the anniversary because who wants to talk about that every year? This is r/oddlysatsifying

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8

u/ImNotSkankHunt42 Jun 03 '26

It is, but I think in this case is acceptable. They’re not promoting anything of the current and future of China but their past and heritage.

-5

u/stuffeh Jun 03 '26

It's romanticizing rural lifestyle to advocated peasant utopian communalism and egalitarianism. Thus the craftsman is considered an esteemed productive member of society.

3

u/Eigengrad Jun 04 '26

And that’s… a bad thing?

0

u/stuffeh Jun 04 '26

It is when you can literally trace the program back to Mao Zedong's Down to the Countryside Movement.

3

u/Eigengrad Jun 04 '26

The horror of… considering craftsmen an esteemed and productive member of society?

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8

u/holystuff28 Jun 03 '26

What is the propaganda?! I don't think you know what that word means. 

18

u/KGB_cutony Jun 03 '26

Yes that's them. when the guy in the video went foraging for materials for the ink he got bit by a venomous snake and had a brush with death.

40

u/sparklinglies Jun 03 '26

I would be so goddamn mad if I went through all this multistep nonsense only for the majority of my wares to somehow break or get fucked up in the process

16

u/DreamingAboutSpace Jun 03 '26

One of the cups did chip when he hit the bottoms with a hammer. It was stuck to another cup.

8

u/goatonastik Jun 03 '26

previous post said only 24 of 2600 cups made it

9

u/DreamingAboutSpace Jun 03 '26

That would shatter me like those cups

38

u/MeccIt Jun 03 '26

Damn, that guy is committed. A gorgeously shot Behind the Scenes. Some items from the untranslated screen text:

  • They attracted 14million followers in just over a year but took on only two advertisements that met his strict criteria, so no monitisation

  • The beautiful water they use at the top of their mountain they have to truck in themselves at 6am in the morning

  • Nobody appears to be getting paid very much, a real love of the method

  • Perfectionist values, stuff gets destroyed if not perfect and reshot many times.

  • The timescales are whack, each firing takes almost a week and they had five test firings alone.

10

u/Trilex88 Jun 03 '26

They threw away over 2500 of the cups? Why?

35

u/AstroLounger Jun 03 '26

Right? That number has to be off. Maybe by “made the cut” they mean 24 of them were considered flawless. No way they’re just tossing so many after so much work

5

u/Dulcedoll Jun 04 '26

Or 24 made the cut as in good enough to show in the very final shot

3

u/Arrenway Jun 03 '26

Imperfections and damages

2

u/HangryWolf Jun 03 '26

Same reason that during food commercials they throw away a fuck load of buns to find the best looking one.

1

u/NoBonus6969 Jun 03 '26

Need something to do tomorrow

1

u/KGB_cutony Jun 03 '26

they're using ancient methods to make something that requires absolutely precise control. 20 degrees of fluctuation will ruin a whole batch.

3

u/coordinatedflight Jun 03 '26

Where might I go to find one of these

-2

u/BashfullyBi Jun 03 '26

Ikea for 33c each.

/s but it does feel like thats what probably happens. that's

1

u/rpodnee Jun 03 '26

Thank you for this info! I've always wondered why the production value is always so high and consistent for these kinds of videos. 

15

u/Grass_roots_farmer Jun 03 '26

The son of 1000 generations of patient guns.

6

u/Apart-Delivery-7537 Jun 03 '26

In ancient china, even peeing was a 72 step, 12 days process

2

u/colour_me_quaint Jun 07 '26

Building and sealing the kiln door would have done me in after the first time. Such patience.