Guimei Yang - Illustrated Brief History of Chinese Porcelain: History - Culture - Aesthetics

Fig. 1 Large Lidded Jar with Pierced Panels Decorated in Underglaze Blue and Red (see )

Fig. 2 Ru-Ware Celadon Plate (see )

Fig. 3 Qingbai-Glazed Figurine of Water-Moon Guanyin from Jingdezhen (see )

Fig. 4 Cizhou-Ware White-Glazed Pillow with Design of Children at Play in Black Pigment

Song dynasty

Height 10 cm, length 25 cm, width 18.5 cm

Haidian Museum, Beijing

This was a common type of domestic porcelain item in the Song dynasty. The style of decoration in black on a white ground is characteristic of Cizhou ware.

(Illustration from: Haidian Museum ed., Masterworks of Haidian Cultural Relics [Haidian wenwu jingxuan ji], Beijing: Cultural Relics Press [Wenwu chubanshe], 2014.)

Copyright 2021 Shanghai Press and Publishing Development Co., Ltd.

All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction, in any manner, is prohibited.

This book is edited and designed by the Editorial Committee of Cultural China series.

Text and Image by Yang Guimei

Translation by Alison Hardie

Cover Design by Wang Wei

Interior Design by Li Jing and Hu Bin (Yuan Yinchang Design Studio)

Editor: Wu Yuezhou

Editorial Director: Zhang Yicong

Senior Consultants: Sun Yong, Wu Ying, Yang Xinci

Managing Director and Publisher: Wang Youbu

ISBN: 978-1-60220-173-6

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Fig. 5 Ru-Ware Celadon Plate (see )

P ottery is made by shaping clay and firing at a high temperature. The origin of pottery is closely related to agricultural production. The earliest potteryearthenwarediscovered through archeological excavations in China survives from the cultures of the neolithic period, such as the earthenware of the Peiligang culture from Xinzheng in Henan Province, from Xianrendong in Wannian, Jiangxi (), or from Zengpiyan in Guilin, Guangxi, dating as far back as six to eight thousand years ago.

Porcelain developed out of earthenware. The main differences between the two lie in the materials, firing temperature, and use of glazes. From the appearance of earthenware to the emergence of a primitive form of porcelain in the late Shang dynasty (1600 1046 BC), a period of development took place lasting three to five thousand years. In this gradual process of development, people were constantly experimenting, acquiring experience and improving their techniques; after reaching the highest level in the production of earthenware, they advanced step by step to the initial and then the mature stages of the age of porcelain.

Fig. 6 Earthenware Pot

Neolithic period

Height 18 cm, rim diameter 20 cm

National Museum of China

About ten thousand years old, this is the earliest earthenware vessel so far found in China.

In China, the neolithic period was also the time when the culture of earthenware developed and reached its peak. The regional cultures defined by archeologists are based on variations in the earthenware of this period. The earthenwares from the neolithic cultures of each region each have their own distinctive shapes, styles, and forms of decoration. The colored pottery, black pottery, and white pottery which are particularly notable in this period all have clear differences in artistic style.

Neolithic culture in China can be divided into six main regional cultures: Yanliao culture, the cultures of the Central Plains (zhongyuan), Shandong, Gansu-Qinghai, Jiangsu-Zhejiang, and of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. These varying cultures were formed by primitive tribes or clans, and the making of pottery was part of the agricultural life of these tribes. The techniques of making pottery at this time mainly consisted of the following elements:

Raw materials. Pottery was mostly made from yellow, red, or black clay which had been naturally washed by river water and left to settle, while some cooking vessels also included sand or gravel, powdered lime, ground rice-straw, broken pottery, or other ingredients used to improve the heat resistance of the vessels body, so that it would not crack at high temperatures. The ingredients of the clay affected the thickness and color of the vessel; the iron oxide content was particularly important for the color. The raw material of the white pottery characteristic of the Dawenkou and Longshan cultures was already very similar to the kaolin used for making porcelain, while the iron oxide content was far lower than that of other types of pottery, so that when fired at a high temperature it turned white. The emergence and spread of white pottery was an important stage in the transition from earthenware to porcelain.

Techniques for forming the vessels. At this period the techniques for forming earthenware vessels consisted of both hand-shaping and turning on a wheel. Hand-shaping was more common in the early stages of earthenware development. For example, wide-mouthed bowls, jars, and cylindrical jars (guan) which bear clear marks of hand-shaping also tend to be uneven in thickness and not entirely symmetrical. In addition, some zoomorphic pieces, such as pottery owls, bird-shaped flasks, and other earthenware sculptures, were also hand-shaped. Wheel-turned vessels could include those built up from strips of clay by coiling or those cast in molds and then finished by turning, or could be entirely wheel-thrown. Vessels made by coiling were produced by forming the clay into strips and then building these up layer by layer according to the desired shape and size; they were then smoothed on both inside and outside. Molded vessels could be made with either an internal or an external mold. Generally speaking, bowls, jars, basins and other vessels with a wide mouth and ring foot would be shaped with an internal mold. A slow wheel was used for hand-shaping and finishing of earthenware vessels. In the technique of throwing on a fast wheel, the rapid turning of the wheel makes it possible to draw up the clay and form it into the desired shape. The technique of wheel-throwing not only increased the speed and reduced the cost of production; it also gave the vessels a more regular shape and even thickness. In later times it became the most important technique for the shaping of porcelain vessels.