Looking at the Evolution of Chinese Ceramics |
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The history of Chinese ceramics truly begins with the first known Chinese civilization, and the art form rapidly flourished for several reasons. The quickness with which the Chinese discovered the many types of ceramics and glazes is due in part to the vastly rich clay soil that had the perfect combination of loess, kaolin, and albite to create both earthenwares and stonewares very easily. Another factor in the creative force behind the development of ceramics in China was the knowledge gained from working in bronze. Oftentimes clay molds were made for bronze vessels, and the artisans learned to manipulate both mediums at the same time. |
![]() From a more mechanical and less aesthetic viewpoint, the Yangshao potters began the long tradition of combining function, form, and painting into their ceramics. The Yangshao had a small repertoire of shapes that included bowls and jars. The usual baking temperature was 1000-1500°C (39). Both the coarser gray ware and the highly burnished pottery were hand built. The gray ware was built “with coils of clay, and smoothed over to conceal the joins” (Blunden 53). The burnished pottery was built up in a similar fashion but was of a higher quality of workmanship. Much of the decoration on the burnished pottery was painted on with slips, which are solutions of metals. The Yangshao used “colours deriving from iron and manganese producing black, dark brown, and maroon. A later addition was the white slip which heightened the decoration in a striking manner” (Hook, 387). From these discoveries, decoration blossomed, and even in this early time of Chinese culture embellishment upon the pottery was “highly stylized, yet it exhibits the vitality and rhythm which is to characterize all Chinese art” (Morton 12).
The Shang dynasty is considered a part of the Chinese Bronze Age and therefore ceramics during this time period are generally not spectacular. Nigel Wood, an expert of Chinese ceramics, states, “Ceramics from China’s early Bronze Age are generally considered inferior, both in design and finish, to the Neolithic ceramics” (14). Wood suggests that the quality decreased because of the increased use of bronze vessels in rituals and mortuary practices. Instead of showcasing a particular style of pottery, the coarse gray ware with cord markings continued to dominate, and much of the ceramic wares found from the Shang are molds for bronzes.
The Qin dynasty was extremely short, only fifteen years, lasting between 221 and 206B.C. Obviously this short amount of time was not enough to create a unique style of ceramics or glaze, but the Qin dynasty is noteworthy because of the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China. Qin Shi Huangdi’s tomb is outfitted with an entire division of infantry and cavalry that consists of over “7,000 life-size earthenware soldiers equipped with real weapons, real chariots, and pottery horses” (Huang 37). The tomb is an awesome archeological find due not only to its size, but also its accuracy. Each soldier has a unique facial expression, hairdo, armor, and stance. Qin Shi Huangdi’s tomb represents a breakthrough in production of earthenwares and showcases the creative capability of thousands of anonymous artisans. The Han dynasty (202 B.C.-220 A.D.), which follows the Qin, exhibits an intriguing dichotomy because great unity and peace was brought to China with the establishment of the new dynasty, yet the Han’s most important contribution to the history of China’s ceramics is the fact that this time period brings about the first noticeable difference in Northern and Southern wares. According to The Cambridge Encyclopedia of China, “In the north lead-glazed ceramics tended to be simply cheap substitutes for bronzes and intended for tombs, but in the south ceramics were developed more in their own right”(Hook 404). The common wares were often red or gray with high-fired glazes. Wares used for funerary purposes often used glazes that were “reminiscent of bronze in its various states of patination and early Han lead-glazed vessels often followed the shapes of Han bronzes” (Wood 191). Han discoveries were the early prototypes for glazes used during the Tang and Song dynasties in sancai wares.
Although the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.) is best known for its blue
and white porcelain, many types of unique ceramics The hallmark of the wares of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.) was production
over aesthetics or form. Eventually the imperial kilns exchanged
the blue and white wares for the polychrome enamelwares. Two main
types of enamelwares were This paper represents over 7,000 years of ceramic history from the Yangshao’s
simple burnished vessels to the Qing’s technical perfection of production
of porcelain. Although each dynasty certainly has its own unique
features, every style is undeniably Chinese. Aesthetics and function
meld together seamlessly in every object to allow for pleasing yet useful
objects that continue to astound people around the world.
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The importance of the art of ceramics cannot be overlooked because it is such an essential part of people’s lives. Each dynasty had everyday wares that the commoners and elite alike could use, but there was always a special type vessel that served a ritual or social function. These wares often served a primary role in mortuary practices, or in the case of Qin Shi Huangdi, to protect the spirit as it traveled to the other world. Chinese ceramics always seem to pull together the aesthetic and functional parts of life and mould them into a perfectly harmonious union that is unequal elsewhere. In the long term, ceramics cannot only help define
the influence the West had China, but vice versa. Depending on the
size, shape, and decoration on a particular piece, archaeologists can determine
how Sinicized or Westernized an era or dynasty was. In the West,
reign marks can give a definite age to many of the pieces that traveled
to Europe during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Ming dynasty really
began the massive export of ceramics. At the end of the Ming, “at
least three million porcelains were being shipped to Europe each year”
(Selvage). Ceramics were just one more type of wares the West wanted
from China when it demanded that ports be opened.
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Blunden, Caroline and Elvin, Mark. The Cultural Atlas of the World: China. Stonehenge: Alexandria, 1991. Gernet, Jacques. A History of Chinese Civilization. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1972. Hook, Brian(Ed.). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of China. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1991. Huang, Ray. China A Macro History. M.E. Sharpe, Inc.: Armonk, 1997. Morton, W. Scott. China: Its History and Culture. Lippincott & Crowell: New York, 1980. “Northern Song/Ming/Yuan.” China 5,000 Years. 6 Nov 2002.
Selvage, Nancy. “Spheres of Influence, Cycles of Change, Widening Circles
of Colleagues.”
Tharp, Lars. “Chinese Ceramics.” BBC Collector’s Guide. 6 Nov
2002.
Wood, Nigel. Chinese Glazes. A & C Black: London,
1999.
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http://www.boltonmedia.com/internationalporcelain/ip_definitions.html Contains a list of terms and definitions regarding ceramics and glazes. http://www.bbc.co.uk/antiques/expert_advice/ceramics_china.shtml
http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/past_exhibitions/china/ceramics/n_song_ming_yuan.html
http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/eastcer/eastcer-53063.0.html
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~ofa/spectrum/1998/sep98/china.html
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