Mainland ceramic culture has a long history, dating back to a long time ago, in many archaeological operations have unearthed a variety of different styles of exquisite pottery, such as faience pottery and gray pottery and so on.
In the subsequent development, people have made new breakthroughs in the selection and refinement of raw materials, the improvement of furnace kilns and the improvement of firing temperature, as well as the discovery and use of glazes. Primitive porcelain was created more than 3,000 years ago in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. After a transitional period, the process of original porcelain was more mature, completed in the Eastern Han Dynasty or later in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and the transition from pottery to porcelain made the mainland the first country in the world to invent porcelain.
Types and characteristics of Chinese porcelain
Porcelain is made of porcelain stone, kaolin, quartzite, mullite, etc., and the appearance is coated with glass glaze or painted objects. The formation of porcelain is through high temperature firing in the kiln, and the glaze color on the surface of the porcelain will change various chemically due to different temperatures. As the first country in the world to burn porcelain, China has a long history and many types of porcelain.
So, what are the classifications of Chinese porcelain?
Different porcelain, firing methods are different
According to the process, it is divided into underglaze colors: such as blue and white, glaze red, are first painted and then glazed, and then fired in the kiln. Glaze color: that is, first add glaze into the firing, the vegetarian vessel is then painted on it, and then into the kiln low temperature baking. Doucai: It is a combination of underglaze color and overglaze color, and both times into the kiln are painted.
The more famous ones are Chenghua Doucai, single color on the glaze, three colors, and five colors. The last one is the color glaze, which is not painted, and a little oxidized metal is added to the glaze, and then in the oxidizing or reducing atmosphere, different colors are presented.
There are many kinds of porcelain
Goblet: Wine utensils. Because there is a high foot under the cup, it is named. The mouth is slightly skimmed, the near bottom is plump, the lower bearing is high, and the high foot has a bamboo knot shape, cylindrical shape, square and so on. The Ming and Qing dynasties were fired, and the varieties included blue and white flowers and doucai.
Yubi bottom bowl: popular in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the Ming and Qing dynasties also had a small amount of firing. The circle foot is wide, with a umbilicus, resembling a jade bi, hence the name.
Flower mouth bottle: fine neck micro skimming, round abdomen, skimming foot, because the bottle mouth is like an open petal, so named. In the Song Dynasty, Jingdezhen, Cizhou kiln and Yaozhou kiln were all fired, and the Ming and Qing dynasties were also imitated.
Plum bottle: small mouth, short neck, full shoulders, to the shin of the foot slightly narrower, because the caliber is small can only insert plum branches, so the name. Created in the Song Dynasty, the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties were all fired, but the name of the plum bottle began in the Qing Dynasty.
Kettle Spring Bottle: Named after the poem "Jade Kettle Pre-Spring". Skimming, thin neck, round abdomen, and circled feet form a soft bottle in a changing arc. Created in the Song Dynasty, Dingyao kiln, Yaozhou kiln, Cizhou kiln, Longquan kiln, Jingdezhen are all fired. Yuan, Ming and Qing Jingdezhen are still firing, and the varieties include blue and white, glazed red, five-color, bucket color, pastel, etc., which are typical utensils of Chinese porcelain modeling.
Celestial ball bottle: straight mouth, long neck, round abdomen, like a round ball, hence the name. Ming Yongle Xuande Jingdezhen kiln creation, mostly blue and white. In the Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng and Qianlong also fired blue and white glaze red, pastel and other varieties.
General Jar: straight mouth, short neck, full shoulders, bulging abdomen, flat bottom or shallow circle foot, because the jewel top button cover resembles the general's helmet, so named. In the early Qing Dynasty, Jingdezhen kilns were popular, mostly blue and white, multicolored utensils.
With this knowledge, we can simply distinguish the quality of porcelain!
China's top 10 porcelain
Jingdezhen Qingbai Porcelain: The Perfect Fusion of Blue and White Jingdezhen kiln, which began in the Tang Dynasty and the Ming and Qing dynasties were the peak period, was the main producer of Chinese porcelain and declined at the end of the Qing Dynasty.
Jian kiln: ice and snow for Rong Yu as a tire Building kiln, known for producing black porcelain, the Tang Dynasty began to burn, the Southern Song Dynasty for the heyday, to the End of the Qing Dynasty. During the Song Dynasty, it was used exclusively for the court nobles and literati to fight tea.
Longquan kiln: the peak of Chinese celadon Longquan kiln is famous for firing celadon porcelain, and the product style before the early Northern Song Dynasty was influenced by yue kiln, Ou kiln and Wuzhou kiln, and the characteristics were similar to the products of the three kilns. The tire quality is coarser, the carcass is thicker, the glaze color is light blue, and the glaze layer is slightly booked.
Yaozhou kiln: the source of northern celadon Yaozhou kiln, the representative of northern celadon porcelain, was created and burned in the Tang Dynasty, matured in the five generations, reached its peak in the Song Dynasty, and continued to burn in the Jin Yuan, ending in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. It is famous for its unique style of engraved and printed celadon and became the porcelain of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Ru kiln: the world's first kiln Ru kiln is the first of the five famous kilns of the Northern Song Dynasty, and there are more than 60 surviving works. "Ru kiln ware, out of the north, Song Dynasty burner." Light cyan, crab claw pattern is true, no wrinkles are especially good, the soil veins are charming, thin and even rare. ”
Official kiln: the suspense of ceramic archaeology refers to the porcelain fired by the imperial court officials of various dynasties, and the real sense refers to the porcelain fired by the official government during the Southern Song Dynasty, and there is no longer the name of the official kiln after the Southern Song Dynasty.
Ge kiln: foggy porcelain kiln The ge kiln is listed among the five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty and has a pivotal position in the history of ceramics. "Golden wire wire" is one of the main characteristics of the kiln, there are many types of utensils, in addition to bowls, pots, saucers and stoves, bottles, washing, etc., the production of the bottom is relatively rough, often seen at the bottom of the kiln have glaze and brown eyes.
Dingyao kiln: timeless white porcelain Dingyao was originally a folk kiln, the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty began to use porcelain for court firing, known for its abundant white kiln, there are also black glaze, green glaze porcelain, etc., is one of the most prosperous ceramic varieties in the Northern Song and Jin Dynasties. The Qianlong Emperor gave the poem "Precious Jade Run, Into the Night Quasi-Pearl", which metaphorically refers to the Ding kiln as beautiful jade and pearls, which shows the charm of the Ding kiln.
Jun kiln: brilliant celadon Jun kiln, influenced by the Song Dynasty, porcelain modeling follows a regular symmetry, meticulous. After the high temperature of 1350 degrees, the color of each piece of porcelain is different, and there is a saying that "one color into the kiln and one color out of the kiln".
Cizhou kiln: a representative of extravagant folk art Cizhou kiln is the largest folk kiln system in the ancient north of ancient China, which belongs to the treasures of traditional Chinese porcelain making technology, and there is a saying that "there is Jingde in the south and Pengcheng in the north".