Porcelain, also called 'fine
china', featuring its delicate texture, pleasing
color, and refined sculpture, has been one of
the earliest artworks introduced to the western
world through the Silk Road. The earliest porcelain
ware was found made of Kaolin in the Shang Dynasty
(16th - 11th century BC), and possessed the
common aspects of the smoothness and impervious
quality of hard enamel, though pottery wares
were more widely used among most of the ordinary
people. Anyway it was the beginning of porcelain,
which afterwards in the succeeding dynasties
and due to its durability and luster, rapidly
became a necessity of daily life, especially
in the middle and upper classes. They were made
in the form of all kinds of items, such as bowls,
cups, tea sets, vases, jewel cases, incense
burners, musical instruments and boxes for stationary
and chess, as well as pillows for traditional
doctors to use to feel one's pulse.
The development of porcelain in the Han Dynasty
(206 BC - 220) began to accelerate and before
long the artworks were introduced westward.
Celadon (like the color of jade) and black porcelain
wares were the dominant types at that time.
Styles of porcelain had formed and differed
based on regions by then. The Yue Kiln in Zhejiang
Province, which has enjoyed a good reputation
for over 2,000 years up to now, produced delicate
and hard celadon porcelain; while the De Kiln
became the earliest kiln that baked black porcelain.
During the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), a large
number of porcelain wares were in daily use
having been substituted for the ones made of
gold, silver, jade and other materials. With
export, Chinese patterns on these wares also
took on more exotic appeal. The Yue and De kiln
of Zhejiang Province had features that were
the most popular ones, and another one, Xing
kiln in Hebei Province was greatly prized for
its white porcelain as 'white like snow'. Kilns
baking porcelain for the royalty sprang up producing
elegant and dainty works.
Stepping into the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279),
a variety of genres of porcelain appeared and
it became a fashion that people showed great
interest in purchasing and collecting certain
wares suitable to their tastes. Ru, Ding, Ge,
Jun and the official kilns had been the representatives
of that age. Official kilns advocated concise
patterns of decoration; Ru kiln in Hebei Province
added treasured agate into glaze so that the
color and texture appeared to be uniquely daintily
creamy and could be compared with jade. Henan
Province had two famous kilns named Jun and
Ding kilns. Since the reign of Emperor Huizong
who liked art appreciation, porcelain of Jun
kiln was kept exclusively for the royal family
and common people had no right to collect it
no matter how much money they possessed. Since
the artisans made their porcelain wares separately,
there was no repetition among decorative patterns
and colors. Thus this made each porcelain product
more precious in its own right. Ding kiln boasted
its white porcelain which has a texture as delicate
as that of ivory with an adornment of black
and purple glaze. Distinctive from the other
four kilns which stressed color, this one was
quite good at engraving and printing flower
patterns. While the Ge Kiln produced porcelain
articles with various grains and produced an
amount of artworks greater than those of the
other four.
Well developed in the Yuan Dynasty (1271 -
1368), the blue and white porcelain (Qinghua
Ci), in the main stream of porcelain, was the
stylish artistic ware in the Ming and Qing Dynasties
and promoted this period to be the most prolific
in the field of feudal art. First it painted
on the basic body with brush natural cobalt
which would be turned blue after being in the
forge. Set off by the white glaze and covered
by the other level of clear glaze, the blue
flowers and other patterns showed their comely
charm and were widely welcomed among both refined
and popular tastes. With the diversity of cobalt,
theme, and style of painting, the blue and white
porcelains differed constantly, each being unique.
As we know, the features of porcelain lie in
texture of basic body, color of glaze, decorative
pattern, shape and style, while porcelain at
that time had sublimed to be at the most elegant.
The familiar rose porcelain was another highlight
that appeared during the reign of Emperor Kangxi
(1653 - 1722). The finished article appears
more stereoscopic, colorful, gentle and clean.
Nearly all the refined colored pigments were
utilized like ancient purple, magenta, ochre,
emerald, and so on.
Through the development of 4,000 years, now
it is still a brilliant art that attracts many
people's interest. Collect your favorite porcelain
article and place it in your room to enjoy the
pleasure of it. The Porcelain Capital, Jingdezhen
in Jiangxi Province which has been praised for
thousands of years, will be certain to satisfy
your esthetic appetite.
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