PORCELAIN IN CHINA

Porcelain is a type of pottery made from

kaolin, a fine whitish clay composed of quartz and feldspar, that becomes hard, glossy and
nearly transparent when it is fired in a kiln. The word "porcelain" reportedly is derived from
the Italian word porcella, meaning little pig, or possibly from a similar word meaning female
pig genitals. The name was given first to a smooth, white, cowrie shell, and then to the
smooth, white finish on porcelain pottery. The term “porcelain” was used in Marco Polo’s
writings. Porcelain pieces can be dated by their inscribed reign marks.

"Porcelain" generally refers to an object whose body is made from clay containing kaolin, is
covered with a glaze, and is fired at a high temperature so that the body material fuses and the
resultant object is impervious to liquids and is resonant when struck. True porcelain is made of
fine kaolin clay and feldspar, also known as petuntse or Chinese stone. It is white, thin and
transparent or translucent. Before it is shaped the kaolin is mixed, filtered and vacuum pressed
into slabs for aging. Blue and white porcelain has traditionally been made from kaolin clay
mined near Jingdezhen, a town in southern China, and mixed with a particular kind of cobalt
imported from Persia. Other kinds of porcelain include underglaze red, underglaze blue,
copper red (used for imperial ceremonies), "sweet-white," peacock blue and celadon green.

Professor Derk Bodde wrote: “Porcelain, as indicated by its popular name of "china," is another
major product of China. Earthenware bowls, plates, and vases have been baked from clay by
almost all people since time immemorial, but porcelain is justly acclaimed as a product of
Chinese genius alone. True porcelain is distinguished from ordinary pottery or earthenware by
its hardness, whiteness, smoothness, translucence when made in thin pieces, nonporousness,
and bell-like sound when tapped. The plates you eat from, even heavy thick ones, have these
qualities and are therefore porcelain. A flower pot, on the other hand, or the brown cookie jar
kept in the pantry are not porcelain but earthenware.[Source: Derk Bodde, Assistant Professor
of Chinese, University of Pennsylvania, November 8, 1942, Asia for Educators, Columbia
University afe.easia.columbia.edu]

“Two mineral ingredients are necessary to give porcelain its peculiar characteristics. The first is
the white clay known as kaolin. It is an aluminum silica compound which takes its name from
the Chinese term kao-ling (gow-ling), meaning "high hill." The latter is the name of a place
where the clay was obtained in early times, lying twenty miles northeast of the famous
porcelain kilns at Ching-te-chen in Central China. The second essential ingredient in porcelain is
petuntse, a mineral resembling kaolin, but more glassy in character. Its name originates from
the Chinese term pai-tun-tzu (by-doon-dse), meaning "white bricks." The name describes the
brick-like blocks into which this mineral is kneaded by the Chinese porcelain workers before
being mixed with kaolin, shaped into various objects, and then baked to become porcelain.

In China, porcelain was produced to be enjoyed on three levels: aesthetic, technical and
symbolic. The ways the painted subject on porcelain interact often portrayed a meaning
beyond the symbols. A five-claws dragon superimposed on tangerines and pomegranates, for
example, links the royal family with fertility (pomegranates) and prosperity (tangerines).

See Separate Article CHINESE CERAMICS factsanddetails.com ;

CELADONS factsanddetails.com ; JIANGDEZHEN AND ITS PORCELAIN, KILNS AND GLAZING AND
PAINTING TECNIQUES factsanddetails.com ; HAN DYNASTY ART: BRONZE MIRRORS, JADE SUITS
AND TOMB FIGURES factsanddetails.com TANG HORSES AND TANG ERA SCULPTURE AND
CERAMICS factsanddetails.com ; SONG DYNASTY CERAMICS — PORCELAIN, JU WARE AND
CELADON — AND CRAFTS factsanddetails.com ; YUAN DYNASTY CRAFTS AND
CERAMICS factsanddetails.com MING DYNASTY PORCELAIN factsanddetails.com QING
DYNASTY ART, CULTURE AND CRAFTS factsanddetails.com

Websites and Sources: 1) China Museums Online: chinaonlinemuseum.com ; 2) Guide to

Chinese Ceramics: Song Dynasty, Minneapolis Institute of Arts; artsmia.org features many
examples of different types of ceramic ware produced during the Song dynasty, including ding,
qingbai, longquan, jun, guan and cizhou. 3) Making a Cizhou Vessel Princeton University Art
Museum artmuseum.princeton.edu. This interactive site shows users seven steps used to
create Song- and Yuan-era Cizhou vessels.

History of Porcelain in China

The Chinese made the earliest known porcelain around A.D. 700 and held a global monopoly
on its production for over a thousand years. Chinese porcelain didn't reach Europe until the
14th century and the art of making porcelain wasn’t developed in Japan until the 16th century
and in in Europe until the 17th century. Porcelain from the various Chinese dynasties can be
identified by looking at their glaze, motifs, forms, craftsmanship and firing techniques.

Porcelain evolved step-by-step from 5,000-year-old painted pottery through a process of

refining materials and manufacturing. A greenish glaze applied to stoneware was developed in
the early Han (206 B.C. to A.D. 220) dynasty. A glaze that resembled the sort used on porcelain
was made in the early Sui dynasty. Celadons evolved during the Six Dynasties period (A.D. 220-
589). It is green porcelain made with a slip and glaze, sometimes with incised and inlaid
decorations. It is associated with both China and Korea. Proto-porcelain evolved during the
Tang dynasty. It was made by mixing clay with quartz and the mineral feldspar to make a hard,
smooth-surfaced vessel. Feldspar was mixed with small amounts of iron to produce an olive-
green glaze.

Professor Derk Bodde wrote: ““The word tz'u, which is the present-day Chinese term for
porcelain, occurs for the first time in the poem of a Chinese writer who died in the year A.D.
300. This poem speaks of a wine pot which is said to be of "blue-green tz'u." Yet it is unlikely
that the new word here refers to a genuine porcelain. Several centuries were still to elapse
before patient experimentation gradually evolved the real porcelain with which we are familiar
today. In this experimentation it is probable that Chinese alchemists played a vital part. In their
eager search for the elixir of immortality, they carried on constant experiments with many
kinds of minerals, of which kaolin seems to have been one. Thus kaolin is mentioned in
Chinese literature as a medicinal drug before it is referred to in connection with porcelain
itself. Incidentally, it is not at all impossible that this Chinese alchemy was the inspiration of
the alchemy of the Arabs and, through it, of medieval European alchemy, from which our
modern chemistry eventually comes. [Source: Derk Bodde, November 8, 1942, Asia for
Educators, Columbia University]

According to the National Palace Museum, Taipei:“ The art of porcelain-making “reached its
pinnacle during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The town of Jingdezhen (Jingde Zhen, Ching-te-
chen), in Jiangxi province, became the center for imperial Ming kilns and still is known for its
excellent porcelain production. By comparison, the English did not 'discover' the secret of
making hard-paste porcelain until the mid-18th century. During the 16th century, traders
transported tens of millions of pieces of Ming - and later, Qing porcelain to the West. Chinese
porcelain techniques and designs greatly influenced future developments in European and
Near Eastern ceramic wares. The Ming blue and white porcelain was highly prized by wealthy
Chinese, Europeans, Arabs and Asians - which led to an explosion in the trade of the porcelain
wares. [Source: National Palace Museum, Taipei, npm.gov.tw]

Pottery Versus Porcelain

Major difference between pottery and

porcelain: 1) pottery is made with ordinary clay with an iron content higher than three percent
and fired at temperatures less than 1000 degrees C, using a low-temperature glaze or no glaze
at all; 2) porcelain is made with porcelain stone and clay with an iron content of less than three
percent. It is fired at temperatures above 1200 degrees C using a high-temperature glaze that
also works at temperature over 1200 degrees C.

Pottery and porcelain are materials made from earth and water and their forms are shaped by
kneading clay. Due to firing, changes occur to the physical as well as the chemical properties of
clay. Materials used to make pottery are easy to obtain and high temperatures are not
required in the firing process. As a result, most ancient civilizations in the world are known to
have produced pottery with their own unique characteristics. Due to its porous nature, pottery
is permeable even when covered by a coat of low-fired glaze. When struck, pottery makes a
dull sound. In ancient china, pottery was often used as building material, or for the creation of
funerary objects and containers for sauces, minced meat, wine, and water. [Source: Shanghai
Museum]
Porcelain are made from a refined clay known as kaolin, that is first covered with a coat of
gloss glaze, then fired at high temperatures. Abundant in kaolin clay, China was among the
earliest civilizations to discover the secret of firing kaolin. Over time, varieties such as green
wares and white wares appeared as different techniques developing gradually such as the
application of under glaze and over-glaze, incised or pattern-imprinted moulds used to create
decorative motifs. When stuck, they make a clear sound. Porcelain wares generally serve as
dining utensils, containers, and decorations for display. They are also often used at ceremonies
and religious events.

After sintering, the body and glaze of ceramics do not deteriorate easily as time goes by. As a
result, shards from ancient sites can be seen as records of remote cultures. Researchers are
also able to learn about ceramic-making techniques of various regions in different time periods
by observing the marks left during the processes of production

Porcelain-Making Techniques and Types of Kilns

Porcelain-Making Techniques and Kilns: 1) Pulling clay to form an object: To put the kneaded
clay on the center of the potter’s wheel, then to pull the clay to form an object while the wheel
is moving. 2) Trimming: To put the dry object upside down on the wooden stake in the center
of the wheel, then to trim the surface of the body with a knife. 3) Impressing: To put the half-
dry object on the clay model, then to revolve the object slowly and pat it at the same time.
This is a special process for round objects. 4) Glazing: To coat the object with glaze. Round
objects are usually glazed in two ways: the inside and the bottom are glazed with the shaking
method; the outside is glazed with the dipping method. 5) Painting (underglaze blue): To paint
various designs on the surface of the finished objects with blue pigment by brush. Usually, the
inside wall is painted and glazed before the outside wall is painted. [Source: Shanghai
Museum]

Mantou Kiln (or round kiln) is a type kiln traditionally found in north China. It is named for its
shape, like a steamed bun. The earliest examples, derived from the primitive cave kilns, were
built in the early Shang period (ca. 16th — 11th century B.C.). It developed into a semi-down-
draft kiln in the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618-907), and matured in the Song dynasty (A.D. 960-1127).
The firing, in reduction or oxidation flame with coal as fuel, could reach 1300 degrees Celsius.
The model here shows a mantou kiln in Shaanxi area of the Northern Song dynasty (A.D. 960-
1127).

Egg-shaped Kiln (or cai kiln), shaped like half an egg lying horizontally, is a type long used at
Jingdezhen. It developed from the gourd-shaped kilns of the late Yuan and early Ming period,
and became especially popular in the Ming period. The kiln is 7-18 meters long, high and wide
in the front, low and narrow in the rear. The firing is in reduction flame with wood as fuel. The
model here shows the front part of Jingdezhen’s egg-shaped kiln of the Qing dynasty (A.D.
1644-1911).

Dragon Kiln is a type mostly seen in southern China since antiquity. It is shaped like a dragon.
The earliest known examples date from the Shang period (ca. 16th — 11th century B.C.), and
the well improved ones appeared in the Song period (A.D. 960-1279). The dragon kiln was
usually built on the side of a hill, rising at an angel of 8 to 20 degrees with a length of 30-80
meters, and had a natural draught easy for temperature raising. The firing, with wood as fuel,
is mainly in reduction flame. The model here shows a part of the dragon kiln in Zhejiang area of
the Song dynasty (A.D. 960-1279).
Development of Porcelain Painting

Porcelain has been made in China since the 8th century AD, during the Tang Dynasty. In the
13th century, during the Yuan Dynasty, Chinese porcelain artisans were exposed to Persian
hand-painted ceramic wares, which utilized bright blue colors. When cobalt blue (sometimes
referred to as Mohammed blue) was obtained by the Chinese in the 14th and 15th centuries
from Persian sources, Chinese potters perfected a method of painting with the cobalt blue
under a transparent glaze. [Source: National Palace Museum, Taipei, npm.gov.tw]

The blue cobalt pigment is applied through decorative brush painting by highly skilled artisans
directly on the biscuit (pre-kiln baked clay which has been molded into various items) before
glazing. After firing in the kiln, the pigment melts in between the biscuit and glaze creating a
crystalline glaze and the bluish designs. Ming artists also excelled in painting over the glaze,
using brilliant enamel colors.

Chinese porcelain was strikingly different from the pottery made in Europe in the same period.
The porcelain paste was translucent, and when tapped it rang like glass. It was admired for its
whiteness and the fact that although it was much thinner than pottery, it was at the same time
much harder and did not easily crack or chip. Moreover the designs were bright and the glaze
did not wear away with use.

During the Ming dynasty the flourishing of culture led to the painting techniques were very
delicate and elegant, resulting in highly artistic and very fine quality blue-and-white porcelain.
Ancient Chinese techniques of brush painting were used to decorate the distinctive Ming
ceramic wares. Designs chosen for the various pieces were based on the symbolism so
prevalent in Chinese culture and arts. Other important developments in porcelain production
during the Ming dynasty included the wide usage of multicolor glaze, and the practice of
putting the artist's signature, kiln's title and the year the piece was made at the bottom of each
piece.

Proto-Porcelain in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties

A fine white pottery was made during the Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 B.C.) . Many vessels were
similar in size and shape to bronze vessels made during the same period. Scholars believe the
bronze vessels were likely copies of ceramic vessels.

According to the Shanghai Museum:“Proto-celadon appeared no later than the Shang period
and was produced in large quantities during the periods of the Western Zhou, the Spring and
Autumn and the Warring States ((11th-3rd century B.C.). In the second and first centuries B.C.
production declined. Proto- celadon contains essential features of porcelain but still displayed
some primitive characteristics, which represented the initial stage of porcelain production. The
quality was not that great as water absorptivity was high and there were many air bubble.
[Source: Shanghai Museum, shanghaimuseum.net]

“Glazed high-fired porcelain first appeared in the Shang dynasty. By the late Spring and
Autumn period, ritual and ceremonial wares with evenly applied green glaze developed in the
Zhejiang area. However, large-scale production of porcelain did not begin until the Three
Kingdom period and the Jin dynasties. As porcelain became associated with refined tastes and
grew in popularity among high-ranking officials, ci, the Chinese character for porcelain, began
to appear in poetry and essays.
“Celadon Zun (wine vessel) with String Pattern”, at the Shanghai Museum, is an example of
proto-porcelain and early celadon porcelain. It is molded with clay with an iron content of
about 2 percent, and then fired in 1200 high temperature after manual glazing. This Zun looks
noble and stylish in both shape and glaze and shares the same style with the pottery
unearthed from the tombs of Yin Ruins Culture, Shang dynasty. It should be the drinking vessel
used by the Shang royal family and a typical proto-porcelain of the Shang dynasty.

Celadons

Celadon is a bluish, grayish green porcelain made with a slip and glaze, sometimes with incised
and inlaid decorations. Evolving during the Six Dynasties period (A.D. 220-589), it is associated
with both China and Korea.. The color of celadon results from natural iron oxide in the glaze,
which produces the green hue when fired in a reducing atmosphere kiln.

Soyoung Lee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art wrote: “The term celadon is thought to
derive from the name of the hero in a seventeenth-century French pastoral comedy. The color
of the character Céladon’s robe evoked, in the minds of Europeans, the distinctive green-
glazed ceramics from China, where celadon originated. Some scholars object to such an
arbitrary and romanticized Western nomenclature. Yet the ambiguity of the term celadon
effectively captures the myriad hues of greens and blues of this ceramic type. [Source:
Soyoung Lee, Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2003]

Some of the most beautiful porcelain ever produced was made during the Song dynasty (960-
1279), when world-famous monochrome porcelains, including celedon, were produced. Ju
ware, a kind of celadon from the Northern Song dynasty that ranges in color from blue to
green, is the rarest of all forms of porcelain. Only 65 pieces of it exist and 23 of them are
possessed by the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

See Separate Article CELADONS factsanddetails.com

First Real Porcelain

Professor Derk Bodde wrote: “The first description that seems to point definitely to porcelain
from a source outside China is that of the famous Arabic traveler, Suleyman, in his account
dated 851 of travels in India and China. There he speaks of certain vases made in China out of a
very fine clay, which have the transparency of glass bottles. [Source: Derk Bodde, November 8,
1942, Asia for Educators, Columbia University]

According to the National Palace Museum, Taipei: “ During the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-
907), kilns thrived in both northern and southern China. White-glazed porcelains from the
Hsing kilns in Hebei as well as the Ting kilns enjoyed broad popularity. Anhwei, Hunan, and
Shanxi were especially known for their celadons. The Yüeh-chou region, an area surrounding
present-day Lake Shang-lin in Tz'u-hsi County, Zhejiang, was the reigning center of porcelain
production. Wares of the region delivered to the imperial court after the mid-Tang were
characterized by a quality called "mi-se (mysterious color)". [Source: National Palace Museum,
Taipei, npm.gov.tw]

The culture of drinking tea predominated during the Sui and Tang (581-907), and descriptive
phrases on porcelains abounded, such as "the white glaze of Hsing wares glistens like silver
and is as white as snow," and "the glaze of Yüeh celadons is green like jade and as translucent
as ice." The appreciation of porcelain rose to the level of passionate debate, and porcelains
were discussed in formulations of aesthetic theory. Multi-colored splashed glazes and painting
found on the surface of Ch'ang-sha wares brought even greater attention to the study of
ceramics and porcelains and to further invention in the realm of their imaginative
embellishment.

“The ruling house of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) doted on refinement and the elegant
accoutrements of culture, and it accordingly gave priority to the fine arts. Under this
stimulation, the manufacture of porcelain progressed, and it was at this time that several
famous types of wares were produced. From the Tang dynasty (618-907) into the Sung, Ting
ware succeeded Hsing ware, Lung-ch'uan ware carried on the tradition of Yuah ware, and both
the white wares and the green wares made great strides in terms of quality and quantity. In
addition, the production of dignified shapes and harmonious glazes reached a full maturation
in Kuan ware, Ju ware, Ko ware, and Chua ware. The porcelain industry at Jingdezhen in Jiangxi
province was also forging ahead at this time with Ying Qing wares, white wares and Tz'u-chou
type wares being sold throughout the north. Pieces with black ground and white decoration or
white ground and black decoration are particularly lively and exuberant, expressing the special
spirit of the people. Among the black-glazed wares, Chien wares from Fujian province and Chi-
chou wares from Jiangxi province are the most famous.

Jiangdezhen

Jiangdezhen (140 kilometers northeast of, and 2½ hours by train, from Nanchang) is regarded
as the "Porcelain Capital of China" and has been called the "Porcelain City" of China. The home
of a centuries-old porcelain industry, it produces four famous kinds of porcelain: "blue and
white," "rice pattern," "family rose" and "monochrome and polychrome glaze." Many other
kinds of porcelain and porcelain sculptures are also produced here.

Jingdezhen was known in the Song period (960–1279) for its bluish-white qingbai porcelain,
which rapidly came to dominate porcelain production after it began to mass-produce
underglaze blue in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). “Vase with Underglaze Blue Design of
Interlaced Peonies” is a piece at the Shanghai Museum that dates to the Yuan period.
According to the museum: Decorated with blue-and-white patterns all over with rich layers,
this vase is an exquisite work of underglaze blue porcelain of the Yuan dynasty. The Yunjian
design of the decoration band on the shoulder is almost at the same level of the band of
interlaced branches and peony sprays at the belly part, highlighting two different themes.
[Source: Shanghai Museum]

Located on the eastern bank of the Yangtze River and bordering Anhui province to the north,
Jiangdezhen is where porcelain was invented and first fired from kaolin clay mined nearby.
Official kilns dedicated to the production of imperial wares were established at Jingdezhen in
the early Ming period, and these kilns introduced a large number of fine wares. In the Qing
period many more new wares were created, drawing on the long experience of both folk and
imperial kilns. By that time Jingdezhen was famous for porcelain throughout the world.

See Separate Article JIANGDEZHEN AND ITS PORCELAIN, KILNS AND GLAZING AND PAINTING
TECNIQUES factsanddetails.com

Porcelain from Places Other Than Jiangdezhen

According to the Shanghai Museum:“Famous products include white Dehua wares from Fujian
Province, Yixing Zisha ("purple clay") wares from Jiangsu Province,Shiwan wares from
Guangdong Province,and white Zhangzhou wares from Fujian Province. In northern
China,Fahua pottery in Shanxi Province and porcelain of Cizhou kiln in Hebei Province were
also well known for their mass production. [Source: Shanghai Museum]

“White Glazed Statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with ‘He Chaozong’ Mark” is an example of
Dehua white-glazed ware of the Ming dynasty. It has a yellowish glaze taking on a color of milk
white and a texture of smooth and plump, enjoyed high popularity among European people,
also reputed as ivory white, lard white, China white and so on. Dehua porcelain of the early
Ming usually takes on flesh pink, translucent under the light, and shows delicate and crystal
luster like glutinous rice under a magnifying glass.

He Chaozong, also known as He Lai, was a Chinese porcelain artist in the Ming dynasty. With
an elegant, solemn and generous style, He Chaozong’s work presents a strong feeling of
texture. Depending solely on the beauty in sculpture and in the texture of the glaze and body
other than applying color glaze, his statue finds nothing comparable in the porcelain world. His
work absorbed strengths of ancient sculpture works, especially the art style of Tang Buddha
statues. The statues of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and Bodhidharma he created are full of the
charm of the Tang dynasty, with the image looking dignified and solemn, as well as
approachable. This is one of his masterpieces.

“Kettle in Shape of a Semi-circular Roof Tile Designed” by Chen Mansheng in Yixing This teapot
was a ‘Mansheng Pot’ jointly made by famous seal artist Chen Hongshou and renowned Zisha
kettle artist Yang Pengnian of the Qing dynasty. Chen Hongshou, literary named Mansheng,
was a famous Zhejiang School seal artist of the Qing dynasty. Since he was passionate for Zisha
craft, he asked the famous craftsman Yang Pengnian to make Zisha kettles based on his own
design and carved the inscription on the pot in person, known as ‘Mansheng Pot’. This teapot
imitates the shape of a roof tile of the Han dynasty and is inscribed with Han roof tile script.
Featuring primitive and elegant modelling, refined, stiff and smooth craftsmanship, with its
fluent lines and mild texture, the teapot possesses a strong culture identity.

Song Dynasty Porcelain

Some of the most beautiful porcelain ever produced was made during the Song dynasty (960-
1279), when world-famous monochrome porcelains, including celadon, were produced.
Celadon is green porcelain made with a slip and glaze, sometimes with incised and inlaid
decorations. It is associated with both China and Korea. Wonderful crazed or cracked glazed
pottery, produced by the shrinking and cracking of the glazes due to rapid cooling, appeared
during the Song period. The earliest pieces with this kind of glazing were probably made by
accident in the firing process but later was developed into an art form that had a great impact
outside of China, influencing the famous tea ceremony ceramics of Japan. Ju ware, a kind of
celadon from the Northern Song dynasty that ranges in color from blue to green, is the rarest
of all forms of porcelain. Only 71 pieces of it exist and 23 of them are possessed by the
National Palace Museum in Taipei.

In the time of the Liao, Song and Jin dynasties (10th — 13th century) major porcelain-making
kilns were widely distributed in both the south and the north. In addition to celadon and white
porcelain, many other wares were popular, such as qingbai (porcelain with a bluish-white
glaze), black-glazed ware, and porcelain with painted designs. A wide variety of porcelain-
making techniques competed vigorously. [Source: Shanghai Museum, shanghaimuseum.net]

According to the Shanghai Museum:“ During the Song dynasty, five well known kilns, Ru, Guan,
Ge, Ding and Jun, manufactured exquisite porcelain wares for royal families. In addition, folk
kilns both in the south and the north produced many unique wares of high quality. Porcelain
manufacture of the Liao and Xi-Xia regimes in northern China provided many distinctive
products with ethnic style and craftsmanship. Meanwhile, production of blue-white porcelain
at the Jingdezhen greatly promoted its position in China. [Source: Shanghai Museum,
shanghaimuseum.net]

According to the National Palace Museum, Taipei: “After the Sui and Tang dynasties, the
spread of kiln firing technique allowed for porcelain to become available to both the rich and
the poor. Amongst the most popular were the green wares of the Yue kilns in the South and
the white wares of the Xing kilns in the North. Furthermore, Ding ware and Changsha ware
were exported in large quantities, reaching as far as Egypt and Mesopotamia. [Source: National
Palace Museum, Taipei, npm.gov.tw]

The ruling house of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) doted on refinement and the elegant
accoutrements of culture, and it accordingly gave priority to the fine arts. Under this
stimulation, the manufacture of porcelain progressed, and it was at this time that several
famous types of wares were produced. From the Tang dynasty (618-907) into the Sung, Ting
ware succeeded Xing ware, Lung-ch'uan ware carried on the tradition of Yuah ware, and both
the white wares and the green wares made great strides in terms of quality and quantity. In
addition, the production of dignified shapes and harmonious glazes reached a full maturation
in Kuan ware, Ju ware, Ko ware, and Chua ware. The porcelain industry at Jingdezhen in Jiangxi
province was also forging ahead at this time with Ying Qing wares, white wares and Tz'u-chou
type wares being sold throughout the north. Pieces with black ground and white decoration or
white ground and black decoration are particularly lively and exuberant, expressing the special
spirit of the people. Among the black-glazed wares, Chien wares from Fujian province and Chi-
chou wares from Jiangxi province are the most famous. [Source: National Palace Museum,
Taipei, npm.gov.tw]

See Separate Article: SONG DYNASTY CERAMICS — PORCELAIN, JU WARE AND CELADON —
AND CRAFTS factsanddetails.com

Yuan Porcelain
In the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) floral motifs and cobalt blue paintings were made under a
porcelain glaze. This was considered the last great advancement of Chinese ceramics. The
cobalt used to make designs on white porcelain was introduced by Muslim traders in the 15th
century. The blue-and-white and polychrome wares from the Yuan Dynasty were not as
delicate as the porcelain produced in the Song dynasty. Multi-colored porcelain with floral
designs was produced in the Yuan dynasty and perfected in the Qing dynasty, when new colors
and designs were introduced.

With the invention of underglaze blue porcelain in the Yuan period (1271-1368), Jingdezhen in
Jiangxi province made itself the pre-eminent center for porcelain production, a position it held
throughout the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. Celadon and white
porcelain were superseded by porcelain with decoration painted under or over the glaze and
by various wares with monochrome glazes. Porcelain decoration became richer and more
colorful than ever before. [Source: Shanghai Museum, shanghaimuseum.net]

According to the National Palace Museum, Taipei: In the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) Jingdezhen
became the center of porcelain production for the entire empire. Most representative of Yuan
dynasty porcelain are the underglaze blue and underglaze red wares, whose designs painted
beneath the glaze in cobalt blue or copper red, replaced the more sedate monochromes of the
Song Dynasty. At the same time, from the standpoint of the shape of the objects, Yuan dynasty
porcelains became thick, heavy, and characterized by great size, transforming the refinement
of Song Dynasty shapes. From this we can get some idea of the differences between the eating
and drinking customs of the Sung and Yuan dynasties. [Source: National Palace Museum,
Taipei, npm.gov.tw]

During the Song, Jin and Yuan dynasties from the tenth to fourteenth centuries, the firing of
stoneware are widespread. Famous stonewares were named after the locations at which they
were produced. Various kilns in different places came to establish their own independent
styles as each excelled in the forms, glazes, skills for decorating and techniques of production
for which they became known.

The world record price paid for an art work from any Asian culture is $27.8 million, paid in
March 2005 for a 14th century Chinese porcelain vessel with blue designs painted on a white
background. The vessel contains scenes of historical events in the 6th century B.C. and has
unique Persian-influenced shape. Only seven jars of this shape exist in the world. The buyer
was Giuseppe Eskenazi., the renowned dealer of Chinese art, acting on behalf of a client. The
previous record for porcelain was $5.83 million paid for a14th-century blue-and-white
porcelain vessel called the pilgrims vessel in September 2003.

See Separate Articles YUAN DYNASTY CRAFTS AND CERAMICS factsanddetails.com

Ming Porcelain

Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) ceramics were known for the boldness of their form and decoration
and the varieties of design. Craftsmen made both huge and highly decorated vessels and small,
delicate, white ones. Many of the wonderful decorations and glazes — peach bloom,
moonlight blue, cracked ice, and ox blood glazes; and rice grain, rose pink and black
decorations —were inspired by nature.

In 1402, the Ming Emperor Jianwen ordered the establishment of an imperial porcelain factory
in Jingdezhen. It's sole function was to produce porcelain for court use in state and religious
ceremonies and for tableware and gifts. Between 1350 and 1750 Jiangdezhen was the
production center for nearly all of the world's porcelain. Jiangdezhen was located near
abundant supplies of kaolin, the clay used in porcelain making, and fuel needed to fire up kilns.
It also had access to China's coast, which was used for transporting finished products to places
in China and around the world. So much porcelain was made that Jingdezhen now sits on a
foundation of shards from discarded pottery that over is four meters deep in places.

According to the National Palace Museum, Taipei: “The imperial porcelain factory was
established at Jingdezhen at the beginning of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), and from this
time the position of Jingdezhen as the center of porcelain production became consolidated.
The imperial wares that were specially manufactured for use at court were made particularly
exquisitely and were marked with the reign mark of the emperor himself. In addition to the
monochromes and the underglaze blue porcelains that continued to be produced among the
official wares of the Ming dynasty, innovations appeared throughout the period.Ceramic
production was an important state affair in the Ming dynasty. In early Ming, the ceramics
industry was mainly based at the Longquan kilns in Zhejiang province and the Jingdezheng kilns
in Jiangxi province. Their products not only circulated all over China but also reached overseas
markets. Furthermore, both of these kiln sites produced official wares. [Source: National
Palace Museum, Taipei, npm.gov.tw]

See Separate Article MING DYNASTY PORCELAIN factsanddetails.com

Qing Porcelain

Qing dynasty (1644-1912) porcelain was famous for its polychrome decorations, delicately
painted landscapes, and bird and flower and multicolored enamel designs. Many of the subject
had symbolic meanings. The work of craftsmen reached a high point during the reign of
Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722)

During a rebellion in 1853, the imperial factory was burned. Rebels sacked the town and killed
some potters. The factory was rebuilt in 1864 but never regained its former stature. With the
end of the Qing dynasty in 1912, the long history of Chinese porcelain making drew to a close.

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