Onggi is a general term for earthenware and earthenware, and onggi is a pottery that does not have a glaze, and onggi is a pottery that is made of glaze, which corresponds to a narrow meaning.

Unglazed pottery was the main focus until the Goryeo Dynasty, but from the mid-Joseon Dynasty, black-brown pottery with onggi was produced, and glazed pottery became common in the late Joseon Dynasty.

Records show that large earthenware jars, called "Ong," were used to store or store liquids or foods such as alcohol, water, soy sauce, and salted fish before the Goryeo Dynasty. It was recently discovered that large quantities of pottery jars excavated from the Taean Mado Sea were used to store water or transport salted fish.

During the Joseon Dynasty, pottery craftsmen were referred to as "gongjang." According to the "Gyeonggukdaejeon" exhibition factory, 104 of them belonged to 14 central government offices and produced pottery needed by the royal family and government offices.

Pottery, including onggi, was used in a wide class from the royal family to the private sector and developed with regional characteristics in relation to climate or use.

Kim Il-man, who was designated as an intangible cultural asset in Gyeonggi Province in 2002, is from a family that has been making pottery for six generations and has devoted himself to making traditional pottery in Gyeonggi Province using three traditional kilns from the late Joseon Dynasty.

In 2010, he was promoted to the state-designated Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 96, and his sons, Kim Seong-ho and Kim Yong-ho, were designated as messengers, continuing the tradition of Onggi production in Gyeonggi Province.