Qiao Fu Da Yuan Celebrates 6,000 years of Chinese agricultural history

'The Harvest Bowl' is by Mother Shanghi

By Creative Salon

08 July 2026

Qiao Fu Da Yuan today unveils The Harvest Bowl, a cultural art project created in collaboration with Mother in Shanghai and the School of Design & Art at Jingdezhen Ceramic University.

The project takes its inspiration from a simple observation: while many people recognise the quality of Wuchang rice, far fewer understand the generations of farming knowledge, craft and human labour behind it.

For Qiao Fu Da Yuan, this raises a broader question. If agriculture feeds a nation, how do we ensure the people and the knowledge behind it are not forgotten? The Harvest Bowl was created as one answer.

Developed 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.

Created by ceramic artist and Jingdezhen Ceramic University Associate Professor Kong Zhengzhen, the bowl 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 Created using the same design philosophy and historical references, each piece serves as a tribute to the generations of farmers whose labour and wisdom continue to shape everyday life in China.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.

Rather than focusing solely on the harvest as an outcome, The Harvest Bowl seeks to recognise the people behind it. At its core, the project communicates a simple belief: 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 rolls out 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

Stylist: Chen Xia

Hair & Makeup: Chang Lin

DOP: Ziyu