From the perspective of the historical development of the female figure, the glazed ceramic female figure belongs to the rising star, the ceramic female figure has appeared in the embryonic form as early as the Han Dynasty, and the glazed ceramic female figure did not appear until the Ming Dynasty. Before the Ming Dynasty, the ceramic women's figure did not show a prosperous trend, but there was a certain development, but there was no glaze color type in the ceramic lady figure before the Ming Dynasty, which was mainly underglaze color and blue and white type. Although there are obvious differences between the underglaze color female figure, the blue and white ceramic female figure, and the glazed ceramic female figure, it has laid a solid foundation for the rise and prosperity of the glazed ceramic female figure in the Ming Dynasty.
First, the bud - Han portrait brick ceramic lady figure
The mainland has a long and splendid history of the development of ceramic art, as early as the Neolithic period dating back to nearly 10,000 years, the faience pottery process has appeared, and has made remarkable achievements, almost all painting subjects can find the prototype in faience pottery. So, does this include the prototype of the ceramic lady figure? This is an issue that needs to be explored in depth.
When the Neolithic period was still a matriarchal society, women were responsible for agricultural production and reproduction, and their dominant position must be reflected in faience pottery. The female figure in Neolithic faience pottery appears in a sculptural form, not an image. Some of these sculptures are human head-shaped faience vases, and some are monolithic female sculptures, and their posture is mostly characterized by fat buttocks to emphasize the cult of fertility. Although these female figures are only the buds of ceramic female figure sculpture, in the case of artistic communication, they can provide certain inspiration and reference for the emergence of ceramic female figures.
Judging from the lofty status of women at that time, the figures in the faience pottery were all female figures. For example, the Majiayao faience pot (Figure 1-1), the pot depicts a group of dancing figures, although it is impossible to distinguish their gender, but considering that the picture may represent a dance celebrating the harvest, it is likely to be a female figure. Another example is the peculiar combination of fish-patterned faience pots (Figure 1-2) in the Banpo culture. Fish has a beautiful meaning of reproduction in traditional Chinese culture, combining the human face with the fish, that is, representing the female image in a totemic way.
From the Spring and Autumn Warring States period to the Qin and Han dynasties, a large number of ceramic figurines appeared, including a large number of female figure figurines, and the female figures in these figurines still belong to the sculptural form rather than the image, and the exact image nature appeared in the portrait bricks of the Han Dynasty. Han Dynasty portrait bricks are large-scale architectural bricks made of stencils, paintings, carvings and other techniques, mainly used in the tomb chamber, which can be used as a burial chamber material and can play its decorative role, reflecting the thick burial style at that time. The image subjects on the Han portrait tiles are extremely rich, which is a true reflection of the social life and production conditions at that time. The figures in the Han portrait tiles are expressed in a realistic way, which can identify their genders, both male and a large number of female figures. Therefore, it can be said that the female figure in the Han portrait brick is the embryonic form of the ceramic female figure.
The Han Dynasty was a feudal era, and the Han portrait bricks contained three types of female figures: one was a woman in a mythological story; the other was a woman with a certain identity; and the third was an ordinary working woman. Mythical and legendary female figures, such as the Queen Mother of the West (fig. 1-3), Nuwa, etc., such portrait bricks are completely composed and exquisitely drawn. There are also some female figures for welcome, women who feast and drink, sing and dance, and these are likely to be aristocratic women. In addition, there are a large number of working female figures in the Han portrait bricks, most of which appear in the form of "female weavers", including mulberry picking, spinning thread, weaving and so on. In addition to "female weavers", there are also many female figures in production scenes such as farmland labor, winemaking, and car making, and their forms are relatively simple. Judging from the female figures in the Han portrait tiles, they have full autonomy and actively participate in production activities, and are not weak women who teach their husbands and godsons under feudal etiquette.
Although there are distinct female figures in the Han portrait bricks, there are few female figures with independent significance, and their purpose is not to show female images, but to express the social life and production through women, so as to present the picture of the tomb owner's life. At the same time, although The Han portrait bricks are called portrait bricks, most of them are expressed in the form of carving and stencifiers, and only a few are painted. Therefore, from the overall point of view, the ceramic female figure of the Han portrait brick still belongs to the embryonic stage.
Second, the beginning - Tang Dynasty Changsha kiln ceramic female figure
Although there are already more images of ladies in the Han portrait bricks, scholars agree that the Changsha kiln in the Tang Dynasty was the beginning of the ceramic female figure. Since the primitive faience pottery, Chinese ceramic painting has entered a period of silence, from the black pottery of the late Neolithic period to the celadons of the Han, Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties, and its painting performance is very rare. It was not until the middle and late Tang Dynasty that ceramic painting rose on a large scale in the southern folk kiln "Hunan Changsha kiln", which is of landmark significance in the history of Chinese ceramic painting. The Changsha kiln of the Tang Dynasty mainly used high temperature brown color and green color for ceramic painting performance, and its subject matter was rich and colorful, mostly flower and bird themes, and landscape and character themes were rare. Although scholars believe that the ceramic lady figure began in the Tang Dynasty Changsha kiln, from the current collection and excavation situation, the image of the lady is quite rare in the Tang Dynasty Changsha kiln.
Judging from the fragments of the Tang Dynasty female figures, the Tang Dynasty female figures can be roughly divided into two major types: one is the local female figure, and the other is the exotic female figure, that is, the so-called Hu Ren Shi Female Figure. The local ladies have plump faces, graceful postures, and bare necks and shoulders, showing the aesthetics and clothing culture of women in the Tang Dynasty who were fat and beautiful. As shown in Figure 1-4, the Fragment of the Tang Dynasty Changsha Kiln Lady Figure, although this is only a fragment, only the head and a small part of the body are visible, but its face is round, its eyes are round, and its cherry mouth is small, but it has very vividly displayed the characteristics of tang dynasty female beauty. Exotic ladies are mainly female figures with the characteristics of the Islamic region of the Middle East, although they have curly hair, but they still maintain the characteristics of Tang Dynasty ladies plump and full. Figure 1-5 shows a fragment of an exotic couple ornament from a Changsha kiln in the Tang Dynasty. The emergence of exotic women, on the one hand, shows that the Tang Dynasty is deeply open to the outside world, and on the other hand, it further confirms that the Changsha kiln porcelain of the Tang Dynasty used the Middle East Islamic region as the main export market.
In addition, there are some images of ladies in the Changsha kiln of the Tang Dynasty that are expressed in the method of stencil appliqués. The image of the molded appliqué lady is similar to the bas-relief form, which is printed by a mold and then pasted to the utensil, which is not a painted form. Molded appliqués mainly include two kinds of Huxuan dance mold print appliqués and Feitian mold print appliqués: Hu Xuan Dance is a dance full of the atmosphere of ethnic minorities in the Western Regions; Feitian is a western fairy image found in the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang. These two kinds of mold-printed appliqué female figures once again show that Changsha kiln porcelain in the Tang Dynasty was mainly used for export production purposes.
In the Tang Dynasty, although the number of Changsha kiln female figures was small, it was enough to become the beginning of the ceramic female figures. The reason why the Changsha kiln in the Tang Dynasty can become the beginning of the ceramic female figure is mainly due to the following reasons:
First, although the Changsha kiln of the Tang Dynasty was a folk kiln, the kiln workers created a variety of high-temperature glaze painting techniques, and reached a high level in craft techniques and artistic aesthetics, so as to flourish in the cracks of major kilns, providing a foundation for the development of ceramic women's drawings.
Second, the Tang Dynasty was one of the peak periods in the development of Chinese painting, of which the achievements of female painting were particularly prominent. During this period, famous female painters such as Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang appeared, who created a large number of female paintings, which could provide a blueprint for the emergence of ceramic female figures in Changsha kiln. The plump image of the lady in the picture of the porcelain lady in the Changsha kiln is the same as the image of the lady in the painting of the lady at that time.
Third, the Tang Dynasty was also one of the golden ages for the development of pottery figurines, and a large number of painted female figurines emerged. In particular, the Tang Sancai female figurines are colorful and graceful, which also provides important inspiration and models for the emergence of ceramic female figures in Changsha kilns. It is likely that the kiln workers in Changsha came up with the idea of creating female figures based on various types of painted female figurines.
Overall, the development of the Tang Dynasty Changsha kiln ceramic female figure is still very insufficient and imperfect. Mainly manifested in: First, in the huge number of Changsha kiln ceramic heirlooms, the number of ceramic female figures is very rare, such as the "Black Stone" shipwreck found more than 50,000 pieces of Tang Dynasty Changsha kiln porcelain, of which no female figure was found; second, in the depiction technique is still young, ordinary kiln workers from the folk are not mature enough in terms of techniques and artistic expression. The insufficient development of the Tang Dynasty Changsha kiln ceramic female figure shows that the ceramic female figure of this period is still in its infancy.
3. Chuxing - Song, Jin, Yuancizhou kiln ceramic ladies
After the Song Dynasty, the Cizhou kiln in the north continued the ceramic painting tradition of the Changsha kiln of the Tang Dynasty, the difference is that the Cizhou kiln mainly uses underglaze black color as a painted pigment, that is, the so-called "white ground black flower". Since the underglaze black color is similar to the color of ink painting, the ceramic painting of Cizhou kiln is closer to Chinese ink painting. The white and black flower porcelain of the Cizhou kiln is not as short-lived as the Changsha kiln porcelain of the Tang Dynasty, but still exists from the Northern Song Dynasty, through the Jin Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty, and even until the Ming Dynasty. The cizhou kiln white ground black flower porcelain theme of the Song, Jin and Yuan dynasties is rich and colorful, all-encompassing, and its character diagram can be said to greatly surpass the Tang Dynasty Changsha kiln in terms of quantity and drawing level. However, from the perspective of ceramic female figures, the female figures in the Cizhou kiln are still rare, mainly concentrated in the character story chart, and lack of a separate sense of the female figure.
Cizhou kiln ceramic female figures mostly appear in porcelain pillows, and are expressed as female figures in character story diagrams. Roughly speaking, there are mainly the following types of ceramic ladies in Cizhou kiln. First, ethnic customs. There are not many such works in the Cizhou kiln ceramic lady figure, such as "Zhaojun Out of the Plug", as shown in Figure 1-6 is a Yuan Dynasty Cizhou kiln porcelain pillow "Zhaojun Out of the Plug", showing the story of Wang Zhaojun marrying the Xiongnu and his relatives. The whole team was dressed in ethnic costumes and full of ethnic customs. Second, the aristocratic female class. Cizhou kiln ceramic lady figure part of the performance of the noble feudal prince aristocratic female image, mainly to show the noble women out of the luxury lineup, as shown in Figure 1-7 for a Yuan Dynasty Cizhou kiln porcelain pillow, showing the luxury scene of Yang Guifei's travel. Third, the "female morality" category. There are also works in the Cizhou kiln ceramic women's picture that show the feudal female moral norms, that is, "female morality" works, in order to reflect the female virtuousness, chastity, strict adherence to women's morality, etc., as shown in Figure 1-8 Of the Cizhou kiln porcelain pillow is the story of Cao E's filial piety. Fourth, the love class. There are also works in the Cizhou kiln ceramic lady picture that show the love story of loyalty, the most common is the scene in the story of "West Chamber", such as the cizhou kiln porcelain pillow in Figure 1-9, which shows the story of "Cui Yingying Listening to the Piano" in "West Chamber".
Although the number of ceramic ladies in the Cizhou kiln is not much, it mainly appears in the porcelain pillow of the Cizhou kiln in the Yuan Dynasty, but the characteristics are distinctive. Specifically, its characteristics are mainly two points: First, the Cizhou kiln ceramic female figure is not a ceramic female figure in an independent sense, but appears in the form of a character story diagram, and the female is only a character in the character story diagram, so it is not an independent ceramic female figure expressed in the form of a close-up; second, the Cizhou kiln ceramic female figure is depicted in the way of white brush stroke, neither applying color, nor rarely using the way of blending to enhance the sense of layering. The reason for these two characteristics is mainly because these printmaking illustrations are limited by the printmaking technology of the time and are presented in the form of white strokes. Of course, the Cizhou kiln itself has not achieved colorful performance in the pigment process, and it can only be used in the form of white painting due to the limitation of the pigment process. Xiqu was a popular art form for the people of the Song, Jin and Yuan dynasties, and many opera stories were engraved and printed into books, including many prints and illustrations. As an ordinary folk porcelain kiln, Cizhou kiln uses the printmaking illustrations of opera character stories as a performance theme, which can better meet the aesthetic preferences of ordinary people.
In general, although the number of ceramic female figures in Cizhou kiln is rare and limited to the character story diagram and lacks independence, it is far superior to the Changsha kiln of the Tang Dynasty in terms of technology, showing that it has made some progress in the development of ceramic female figures, so it can be said that it is in the initial stage of ceramic female figures.
Fourth, the development of the Yuan Dynasty to the middle of the Ming Dynasty blue and white ceramics female figure
During the Yuan Dynasty, although the white and black flower porcelain of the Northern Cizhou Kiln System still maintained a relatively prosperous situation, it had actually become the end of the crossbow, and the Jingdezhen Kiln in the south had risen, and the blue and white porcelain was proud of the crowd and became the leader of ceramic painting art. Although blue and white porcelain has been discovered in the Tang Dynasty, it was Jingdezhen in the Yuan Dynasty that really made it rise and become a national porcelain. The typical Yuanqinghua of Jingdezhen takes the Su ma liqing material imported from the Middle East, with bright hair and some rust spots, and the yuanqinghua may be the Cizhou kiln painters in the north and south, so some people joke that the rise of Yuanqinghua is just the Cizhou kiln painter who changed the "black ink" to "blue ink". However, from the actual painting situation, although the yuan qinghua is inseparable from the Cizhou kiln, it is quite different from the Cizhou kiln. It can be said that the painting techniques and artistic expressions of Yuan Qinghua are far beyond the Cizhou kiln, and this is also very clear in the ceramic female figure.
The number of ceramic female figures in Yuan Qinghua is relatively small, and like the ceramic female figures of Cizhou kiln, they appear in the appearance of character story diagrams, but there are great differences in artistic expression between the two. The most typical of the Yuanqinghua ceramic ladies is the Yuanqinghua large pot "Zhaojun Out of the Plug" (Picture 1-10) hidden in the Izumitsu Museum of Art in Japan, as well as the Yuanqinghua large jar "Kinkatsu Pavilion" sold for HK$47.16 million at Christie's auction in 2015, and the Yuanqinghua Large Jar "Hundred Flowers Pavilion" in the Mano Museum. Although the number of ceramic female figures in Yuan Qinghua is small, it can be said that they are exquisite. Its composition is exquisite, the character structure is accurate, the work is meticulous, although it has only a single color like the cizhou kiln ceramic lady figure, but through the smudge dyeing, the characters produce a three-dimensional sense, which is not the same as the female figure depicted by the cizhou kiln white drawing technique. Moreover, the porcelain tire of Yuan Qinghua is a high-quality Jingdezhen porcelain tire, the tire quality is firm and delicate, and the enamel is warm as jade, which is far better than the loose tire glaze of cizhou kiln. Therefore, although the Yuan Qinghua and the Cizhou kiln ceramic female figure are the same out of the character story diagram, or the same from the print illustration, compared with the Cizhou kiln ceramic female figure, the Yuanqinghua ceramic female figure can be described as a qualitative leap, becoming a model for future generations, directly triggering the rise of the ceramic female figure in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Although the Ming Dynasty has appeared in the glaze color depicted ceramic female figures, but it appeared in the late Ming Dynasty, that is to say, from the early Ming Dynasty to the middle of the Ming Dynasty, there is still no glaze color ceramic female figures, and the dominant ceramic female figures occupy the late Yuan Dynasty. The blue and white ceramic female figure in the early Ming Dynasty continued the style of the Yuan Qinghua ceramic female figure, still using Su Ma Li Qing material as the paint, mainly in the form of character story diagrams, depicting neat and meticulous, paying attention to layered blending and so on. In the early Ming Dynasty, there were more blue and white ceramic female figures in the Xuande period, and these blue and white ceramic female figures did not use the large jars commonly seen in the Yuan Dynasty as the carrier, but mainly used bowls, plates, cups and other small utensils as the carrier, as shown in Figure 1-11 for a Ming Xuande qinghua female figure bowl, showing the picture of the female night tour.
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, there are still more blue and white ceramic female figures, to a certain extent, the Ming Dynasty Xuande blue and white ceramic female figure style, due to the exhaustion of Su Ma away from the green material, the main use is the faint color of the domestic equal green, the painting also tends to be fresh and elegant, rich in a certain freehand charm, showing the Ming Chenghua, Hongzhi two dynasties of the literati temperament. As shown in Figure 1-12, it is a Ming Chenghua blue and white female picture plate, the composition is sparse, the hair color is light, and it has a unique charm. In addition, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, there were also figures of women in the blue and white ceramics of the folk kiln, whose paintings were casual and free, the painting style was light and elegant, and it was full of folk colors.
The rise and development of the blue and white ceramic female figure in Jingdezhen in the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty paved the way for the prosperity of the ceramic female figure, and also laid a solid foundation for the rise of the glazed ceramic female figure.