Tree-ear, a 12th-century Korean orphan, lives beneath a bridge with his crippled, old friend, Crane-man. When Tree-ear breaks an expensive piece of pottery created by an artist named Min, he works off his debt and becomes Min's assistant. Though Tree-ear dreams of making his own pots, Min seems bent on using him solely for menial tasks. When a royal buyer wants to see Min's work, Tree-ear offers to make the treacherous journey to the palace with the vases. Robbers attack Tree-ear and destroy Min's pottery, but Tree-ear continues the trip and presents a single shard of a broken vase to the king's emissary. The shard provides enough detail to convince the emissary to offer Min a royal commission. Tree-ear returns home and finds that Crane-man has died. Min and his wife invite Tree-ear to live with them and plan to teach him to be a potter.