Ming Hongwu, Ming Taizu reign lasted for 30 years from 1368 to 1398 AD. Shortly after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Taizu established an imperial kiln factory in Zhushan, Jingdezhen, which became the earliest official kiln in Jingdezhen during the Ming Dynasty. But so far, the Hongwu blue and white official kiln wares have not been dated. The only signed object is a plum vase, with the word "Chun Shou" written in seal on the shoulder. There is also no year mark on the blue and white wares from folk kilns. The Nanjing Museum once discovered a blue and white cloud pattern fragment and some other blue and white fragments at the Yudaihe site of the Forbidden City of the Ming Dynasty. Although they are fragments of porcelain, judging from the fineness of their production, they should be Hongwu official kiln wares. A large number of them have been unearthed in Nanjing and Jiangxi. Physical specimens from folk kilns.
Generally speaking, the blue and white porcelain of the Hongwu Dynasty inherited the style of the Yuan Dynasty in all aspects. The shape of the vessel is thick, the carcass is thick, the blue and white color is grayish, and the pattern decorative lines are thick and bold, changing the style of the Yuan Dynasty with many layers and full patterns, and tending to leave more white space. Hongwu blue and white is a generation of products that inherits the past and links the future, but it is more neat and has not changed much. The main shapes are plates, bowls, and pots. The fetal bones of the utensils are not as thick as Yuan porcelain, but compared with Yongle and Xuande blue and white porcelain, they are still thicker and thicker. Some are thin, and folk kilns are more bulky. The rim of the bowl and plate is lipped and outward, and the plate is often hard and bent at the waist, with a large diameter. Compared with Yuan porcelain, the porcelain body texture of the Hongwu period was denser. There are many forms of soles, the common ones are round and thick soles, high feet, sloping inner and outer sloping feet, etc. However, during this period, the new feature of flat-cut feet appeared on bowls and other utensils. This method of processing the feet was inherited by Yongle and Xuande porcelain later.
The blue and white glaze of the Hongwu period was bluish white. The body color is beige, sometimes beige, and official kiln porcelain is relatively white and delicate. Generally, the base is painted with white glaze slurry, and the thin parts are yellowish, and the thick parts are milky white or cyan, and the gloss is not strong. Except for the jade pot spring vase, the jade pot spring holding pot and the large bowl with a diameter of about 20 centimeters, the rest are all with a tire bottom. There are red tire-protecting glazes on the bottoms of plates, bowls, etc., and most of them have obvious brush lines. Judging from the handed down products and specimens found at the Jingdezhen kiln site, the blue and white rough porcelain from folk kilns during the Hongwu period, which was mainly bowl-type, had no glaze at the bottom and had spike-like protrusions. It still retained the characteristics of the Yuan Dynasty's beveled feet.
Hongwu blue and white is different from the typical green and bright blue and white of Zhizheng, and also different from the rich color of typical Yongle and Xuande blue and white, but has its own characteristics. The blue and white flowers of this period mainly used domestically produced green materials with low iron content and insufficient refinement. The color was mostly gray-blue with inconspicuous black crystal spots. Later, people discovered that if the blue and white material is not covered under the glaze and fired, it will be black after firing. If it is fired under the glaze, the finished product will be gray-blue.
The blue and white decorations of the Hongwu period used more dots and strokes, such as the word "福", which was dark at the beginning and light at the end. In particular, the blue and white porcelain decorations of folk kilns inherited the tradition of Chinese calligraphy and painting and created the "one-stroke-dot-stroke" style of the early Ming Dynasty. In addition to text, it mainly described nature and was simple and unpretentious. The layout of the decorations is sparse and clear, changing the style of the Yuan Dynasty where the blue and white decorations had too many layers and complicated patterns. Compared with Yuan porcelain, the blue and white of this period tended to have white edges and simple patterns, and it was popular to use themed patterns on the interiors of utensils, bowls and plates.
The decorative patterns selected for Hongwu blue and white are monotonous compared with those of the adjacent dynasties. Various broken branches and entwined flowers and flowers are used. The flat chrysanthemum pattern is the most used, and some animal patterns, such as dragon and phoenix patterns, are also used. In addition, courtyard lake stones, stone fence plantains, Suihan Sanyou, Yuanyang pond, Ganoderma lucidum patterns, etc. are also common. The traditional drama stories and patterns of algae and fish swimming in the Yuan Dynasty are rare. On the bottom of the bowl and plate are the words "Fu" and "Shou" written in cursive script. There is also a method of using Yangwen printing on the inside of the vessel and blue and white decoration on the outside.
The main body patterns include dragon pattern, mountain stone pattern, peony pattern, plum blossom pattern, bamboo pattern, pine tree pattern, chrysanthemum pattern, camellia pattern, rose pattern, lotus pattern, banana pattern, sea water pattern, etc. Auxiliary patterns include curly grass pattern, twining Ganoderma lucidum pattern, double-layered lotus petal pattern, honeysuckle pattern, fretboard pattern, Ruyi cloud pattern, Baoxiangtuan pattern, etc.
Compared with the patterns of the Yuan Dynasty, the Hongwu blue and white has shown some of its own characteristics of the times, such as the reduction of decorative levels, the stems of camellia leaves and banana leaves left blank and not filled with color, and the passion flower leaves and Peony leaves are generally reduced, obviously thin, and deformed, and some leaves have obvious tips. The chrysanthemum pattern is mostly painted in a flat oval shape, which is very characteristic of the times. The lotus patterns with broken branches or entwined branches are mostly in the shape of screws, while the lotus patterns with entangled branches in the Yuan Dynasty are mostly in the shape of gourds. At the same time, the leaf shape was larger in the Yuan Dynasty, with large flowers and large leaves. By the Hongwu period, it was significantly smaller, and the large leaf decoration of the past no longer appeared. The layout of patterns gradually became sparse and clear, and began to change the multi-layered, full-pattern style of decoration in the Yuan Dynasty.
Most of the dragon patterns are decorated with cloud dragon patterns, and their images are not as fierce as those in the Yuan Dynasty. The dragon has a small head, a thin neck, a python body, and a soaring shape. The head is simply painted with one or two horns. Most of the dragon heads have swept back hair, and in later periods, there are vertical hair. The claws have three to five claws, with more three claws, and the claws are drawn farther apart, forming a wheel shape. The scales are in the shape of small arcs with white edges, giving them a strong three-dimensional feel. Often accompanied by cloud patterns, the clouds are thick and short, arranged in a Z-shaped arrangement, and curved to one side.
The painting technique of mountain and stone patterns is basically similar to that of the Yuan Dynasty, slightly thinner, and one side of the lotus petals at the top of the flower is left blank to show the spacing between the petals and the layers of the flower. The flowers and leaves are thinner screw-shaped curled leaves, which are more realistic than those of the Yuan Dynasty.
The banana leaf with banana pattern is wide and plump. The main stem veins in the center of the banana leaf are drawn with double lines to form parallel vertical lines. The middle is left blank and not filled with color. There is a banana leaf stacked between the two banana leaves. The tip is slightly rounded, the edges of the leaves are painted into fine and dense jagged shapes, and the outlines are rendered with a compound pen.
The stamens of the lotus pattern are pomegranate-shaped and round, with round stamens painted with beads around them. The petals are painted in the shape of wheat grains or deformed lotus petals. The leaves are thinner and smaller than those of the Yuan Dynasty, like screws. Most of the chrysanthemum patterns are flat chrysanthemums. The flat chrysanthemum pattern is round, and the center of the flower is painted in an oblique mesh or spiral shape. The outside of the stamen is outlined with double lines. There are two and three layers of petals. The innermost layer is a small white petal, which is only drawn with lines without coloring; the outer petals are filled with color, and the top and side of each petal are left white to show the layers of the petals. Chrysanthemum leaves are usually painted in the shape of gourds, with one or two branches on each side of the leaves, making the painting more lively.
Compiled and written by Liu Sheng, Hong Kong Gibran International Collection Office