When it comes to porcelain, we can't help but talk about glaze. The earliest colored glaze was produced in Shang and Zhou Dynasties. It was a kind of high-temperature glaze that was fired with the utensils themselves. In Han Dynasty, a low-temperature glaze of about 700℃ was invented.
Speaking of porcelain, we must not forget pottery. However, although porcelain comes from pottery, there are essential differences between them. Experts summarized the following four points:
1. Different tire materials. The tire material of pottery can be ordinary clay, and the tire material of porcelain must be porcelain clay with kaolin as the main component and feldspar, quartzite and mullite as the components. Ceramic tires contain more than 3% iron and are generally opaque, colored, gray, red and brown. The iron content of porcelain tires is usually below 3%, and the tire color is white or near white, transparent or translucent.
2. The firing temperature is different. The firing temperature of pottery is generally around 900℃, and the firing temperature of porcelain must be around 1300℃.
3. The glaze is different. Pottery is not glazed or glazed at low temperature, but the glaze applied to the surface of real porcelain must be glass glaze fired with the matrix at high temperature.
4. The fetal quality is different. The ceramic tire is rough and soft, with high water absorption in cross section and no brittle knocking sound. The ceramic tire is compact and hard, with water absorption less than 1% or no water absorption, and gives off a crisp and pleasant metallic sound.
Over the next 500 years (since the Sui Dynasty), white porcelain developed rapidly. About 600 years ago, that is, at the end of Sui Dynasty and the beginning of Tang Dynasty, the situation of colored porcelain with blue in the south and white in the north (which has a great relationship with the natural main colors that people in the two regions like) was formed. The famous kilns at that time were Yue Kiln and Xing Kiln. The former produces celadon while the latter produces white porcelain. At this time, the daily necessities of porcelain gradually replaced the status of bronze. The aesthetic feeling of blue and white porcelain was highly appreciated by the literati at that time. "The tea fragrance lasts forever, and the bowl is beautiful." "The porcelain burned in Dayi is light and strong, and it is like a legend of mourning Yucheng. Your white bowl is better than frost and snow, and it is pitiful to send it to Mao Zhai in a hurry. " There are many hymns.
Porcelain-making technology was developed in the Tang Dynasty, and there was a vigorous development situation in which the producing areas were all over the country. Blue and white porcelain was invented in the late Tang Dynasty. It is particularly worth mentioning that Changsha Kiln broke through the single glaze color of Xing Kiln and Yue Kiln after the middle Tang Dynasty, and created a decorative technique integrating painting and die printing, showing a variety of artistic effects. At that time, Changsha Kiln was able to paint on, in and under the glaze, and people, flowers and birds, poems and other fine works were generally painted under the glaze. What is even more rare is that Changsha Kiln can produce copper-red glazed porcelain with uniform glaze layer and bright color. It was also the first time that Changsha Kiln integrated poems, books and paintings and burned them on porcelain. The most vivid poems describing the scenery can be found on a yellow glazed teapot unearthed at Wazhaping kiln site in Wangcheng County, Hunan Province. There is a cloud in the poem: "Spring water and spring pool are full, and spring grass grows in spring. Spring people drink spring wine and spring birds sing spring sounds. " At present, the only porcelain found in the Tang Dynasty that integrates poetry, calligraphy and painting is a blue-glazed, brown-green "Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest" poetry crock unearthed from Changsha kiln site in 1983. Changsha Kiln, as one of the famous porcelain kilns in Tang Dynasty, contains huge cultural capacity. For the first time, porcelain and tea, porcelain and wine, porcelain and painting, porcelain and calligraphy, porcelain and poetry are integrated to form a diverse and complex cultural complex. In the history of China ceramics, it was Changsha Kiln that made later generations appreciate the richness and glory of porcelain culture earlier. In the Tang Dynasty, three-color ladies-in-waiting, horses and other colored porcelain were very famous. In particular, the secret porcelain fired by Yue Kiln in Tang and Five Dynasties has become a rare treasure with its exquisite style and clear color. Its artistry can be compared with gold and silver vessels, and it is often sacred, and people are not allowed to touch it. It is really "the autumn wind opens the kiln and wins a thousand peaks."
The Song Dynasty was another glorious period in the history of China porcelain development, and its artistic attainments made it reach the second peak in the history of China porcelain. The black glazed flower-picking jar in the Song Dynasty, the celadon-wrapped peony pattern bottle in Yaozhou kiln and so on are already very beautiful works of art, and the official kiln porcelain does not hesitate to spend money and strive for perfection. Folk kiln porcelain is bold and original. The two complement each other and complement each other. Folk kilns in the Song Dynasty developed unprecedentedly, forming a new pattern of coexistence of various kiln systems and competition among famous kilns. "Ru, Guan, Ge, Ding and Jun" were the five famous kilns at that time, as well as Yaozhou Kiln and Longquan Kiln, which are famous for firing celadon, Cizhou Kiln and Jizhou Kiln with colorful decorative techniques, and Jingdezhen Kiln, which is famous for firing celadon. During this period, Jingdezhen kiln experienced more than 400 years of experience accumulation and technological innovation, and attracted a large number of porcelain-making talents who moved south because of the war. On the basis of absorbing the advantages of famous kilns in past dynasties and various places, it has been developed and improved. From the initial position of being almost neck and neck with famous kilns around the country, it gradually developed into a dominant position, becoming the center of the national porcelain industry in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, representing the highest level of the porcelain industry. The "100-garbage-broken" porcelain produced by Geyao in the Southern Song Dynasty is also unique, characterized by thick glaze and many cracks.
The biggest progress and improvement of porcelain in Yuan Dynasty is that the decorative patterns are more exquisite, the cultural connotation of the pictures is deeper, the artistry is stronger and the taste is higher. Historical allusions are often displayed on porcelain, such as Guiguzi going down the mountain and Xiao He chasing Han Xin under the moon. Blue and white porcelain reached its peak in this period. On July 12, 2005, Christie's auction house in London, England, auctioned a piece of "Yuan blue-and-white guiguzi going down the mountain" at1568 ~ 80,000 pounds (251066 ~ 300 million RMB), which shows the high value of Yuan blue-and-white porcelain. Jingdezhen porcelain workers also invented underglaze red porcelain in the Yuan Dynasty.
Compared with the Yuan Dynasty, the porcelain industry in Ming Dynasty was more developed, with more shapes, richer colors and richer, more exquisite and unique decorative patterns. Such as porcelain Buddha statues, cricket pots, flat pots with two ears with western characteristics, and decorative patterns with Islamic cultural and artistic characteristics are constantly emerging. The blue-and-white porcelain of Yongle and Xuande in Ming Dynasty reached its peak and was unique. It is different from the hardships of the Yuan Dynasty and the exquisiteness of the Qing Dynasty. It releases nobility, sacredness and elegance, and has profound artistic connotation. Experts call it a wonderful work. Yongle has also created and fired pure yellow glazed porcelain, which is soft and delicate in color, which is consistent with the "bright yellow" on the emperor's robe. Since then, due to technological innovation and upgrading, yellow glazed porcelain has changed from daily-use porcelain used by ordinary people to the highest sacrificial vessel in the royal court, becoming a symbol of royal etiquette, that is, the real "royal yellow porcelain"! During Chenghua period in Ming Xianzong, Doucai Porcelain was also invented (a decorative process of colored porcelain combining underglaze blue and white and underglaze color tones-using blue and white to draw the outline of the whole or main body on the porcelain body, then covering it with transparent glaze, firing it in a kiln at high temperature, filling and dyeing various colored materials in the outline of underglaze blue and white to complete the color pattern, and then re-firing it in a furnace). Glaze and blue and white in the Ming Dynasty are also very delicate and unique. In terms of kiln mouth, although the whole Ming Dynasty was a city of officials and people, Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln was basically the only one that stood out.
Blue and white porcelain
Blue-and-white Ghost Valley Downhill Figure Blue-and-white Jade Pot Spring Bottle Blue-and-white Twist Lotus Pattern Appreciation Bottle
Blue and white porcelain is an important variety of colored porcelain in China, which was created and fired in the Tang Dynasty. Durable, porcelain is not broken and does not fade; Using cobalt oxide as colorant and pigment, the pattern was directly drawn on the porcelain tire, and then it was fired at one time with high temperature reducing flame after glazing. The ancients in China called black, blue, cyan and green "cyan", hence the name "blue and white porcelain". Blue and white glaze is crystal clear, thorough and elegant. The green substance is dissolved between the fetal glazes, and the hair color is green. Although the tone is single, it feels rich.
Hunan Dexing Porcelain Industry is willing to give you a more detailed explanation, witty0413 @163.com.