China porcelain evolved from pottery, and the original porcelain originated more than 3000 years ago. In the Song Dynasty, famous kilns were spread all over most of China, which was the most prosperous period of porcelain industry. At that time, Ru kiln, Guan kiln, Ge kiln, Jun kiln and Ding kiln were also called the five famous kilns in the Song Dynasty, and Chai kiln and Jian kiln were also famous at that time. Blue-and-white porcelain produced in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, known as the porcelain capital, became the representative of porcelain. Blue-and-white porcelain enamel is as transparent as water, the tire is thin and light, and white porcelain is painted with blue patterns, which is elegant, fresh and full of vitality. Once blue and white porcelain appeared, it was all the rage and became the crown of Jingdezhen's traditional famous porcelain. Blue-and-white porcelain is also called the four famous porcelain, including blue-and-white exquisite porcelain, pastel porcelain and glazed porcelain. In addition, there are porcelain carvings, thin-walled porcelain and multicolored fetal porcelain, all of which are exquisite and unique.
Colored porcelain is one of the great inventions in ancient China. "Porcelain" and "China" are the same word in English, which fully shows that China's exquisite porcelain can be regarded as the representative of China. The production of high-grade porcelain is much more difficult than ordinary porcelain, so the ancient royal family collected a lot of exquisite porcelain. Porcelain, as one of the luxury products in ancient China, has spread to various countries through various trade channels, and exquisite ancient porcelain has been collected by a large number of collectors as an antique with collection value. Some ancient China porcelains have been sold at sky-high prices, but some national treasure porcelains are not in China. When Europeans and Americans get married, they especially like to send high-grade porcelain tea sets.
Classification of porcelain producing areas
1. Yueyao
This name was first seen in Lu Guimeng's poem "The Secret Color Qi Yue" in the Tang Dynasty, which is a general term for ancient Yuedi celadon kilns on the south bank of Hangzhou Bay. It was formed in the Han Dynasty, experienced the Three Kingdoms and the Western Jin Dynasty, reached its peak in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, and declined in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty. The center of origin is located in the middle reaches of Cao 'e River in Shangyu, and always focuses on producing high-quality celadon. When commenting on the quality of the tea bowl in the Four Instruments of Tea Classics, Lu Yu wrote: "If porcelain is silver, if porcelain is jade, it would be silver; It is better to promote porcelain snow than porcelain ice. " China is white, but the bluer the porcelain, the more brownish green it is. Xing is not as good as Yue San. Lu Yu cooked and drank green tea, so he was full of praise for Yue porcelain.
2. Yao Xing
In today's Neiqiu and Lincheng areas of Hebei Province, the Tang Dynasty belonged to xing zhou, hence the name. The kiln began in Sui Dynasty and flourished in Tang Dynasty. It mainly produces porcelain with delicate texture and white glaze. It was once accepted as imperial porcelain, and it was once as famous as Yue kiln celadon, known as "white in the south and white in the north". In the Book of Tea, Lu Yu thinks that Xing is not as good as Yue, and he mainly drinks steamed green cake tea. If he uses safflower as a metaphor, or reflects the true color of tea soup, the result is just the opposite. Therefore, both have their own strengths, and the key lies in whether they conform to the nature of tea.
3. Ruyao
One of the five famous kilns in the Song Dynasty, located in the area of Liang Qing Temple in Baofeng, Henan Province, was named after Ruzhou in the Northern Song Dynasty. Celadon was fired by the court at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, and it was the first official kiln in ancient times, also known as the official kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty. The glaze color is mainly azure, and the calcium-alkali glaze firing technology is adopted. Glaze is wider, the tire is gray and black, and the tire bone is thinner.
4. Jun kiln
One of the five famous kilns in Song Dynasty. In Yuxian County, Henan Province, this place was named after Zhou Jun in the Tang and Song Dynasties. It began in the Tang Dynasty, flourished in the Northern Song Dynasty and declined in the Yuan Dynasty. Mainly firing copper red glaze, but also firing a large number of opaque glazed porcelain such as sky blue and moonlight white, and still producing various artistic porcelain.
5. Ding kiln
One of the five famous kilns in Song Dynasty. In today's Runci Village and Yanshan Village in Quyang, Hebei Province, Dingzhou was named in the Tang and Song Dynasties. White porcelain was fired in the Tang Dynasty, and it developed greatly in the Five Dynasties. The glaze layer of white porcelain is slightly green, and the glaze flows like tears. In the late Northern Song Dynasty, the overburning method was created, and the edges of bowls and plates were not glazed, which was called "Mangkou". During the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty, some palace porcelains were fired, and the inscriptions of "official" and "new official" were on the bottom. In the Song Dynasty, besides white porcelain, black glaze, sauce glaze and blue glaze were also fired.
6. Southern Song Dynasty official kiln
One of the five famous kilns in the Song Dynasty, after moving south in the Song Dynasty, a kiln dedicated to firing palace porcelain was set up. In the early stage, it was located in Longquan (now Dayao, Jincun and Xikou in Longquan, Zhejiang Province), and in the later stage, it was located in the suburb of Lin 'an (now at the foot of Wugui Mountain in the southern suburb of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province). It is difficult to distinguish between the characteristics of the glaze and the tire fired in the two kilns. They are all black and gray thin tires. The glaze layer is rich, with pink, beige, cyan and other colors; The glazed surface is open, and the mouth edge and feet of the utensils are exposed, which is called "purple mouth and iron feet". /kloc-at the end of 0/6, Longquan celadon appeared in the French market, causing a sensation throughout France. Because there is no suitable language to call it at the moment, it has to be compared with the blue robe worn by Sheraton, the heroine in the famous European drama Shepherd Girl, so Sheraton has become synonymous with celadon. Today, Longquan kiln has a new development. The Southern Song Dynasty Imperial Kiln Museum was established in the ruins of the Southern Song Dynasty Imperial Kiln in Hangzhou.
7. Ge Yao
One of the five famous kilns in the Song Dynasty, the site has not yet been discovered. Some documents refer to Longquan official kiln in Zhejiang as Ge kiln, which is actually a myth. Geyao porcelain handed down from ancient times has black, dark gray, light gray, khaki and other colors, and the glaze color is mainly gray blue, but also beige and milky white. Because there are a lot of bubbles, unmelted timely particles and anorthite crystals in the glaze, it has a strong sense of opacification. Glaze has large and small lines, fine lines are yellow, and coarse lines are dark brown, commonly known as "gold thread". Judging from the glaze color, pattern and shape of porcelain, it is different from Longquan official kiln in Song Dynasty.
8. Building kilns
Jianyang in Fujian today. Since the Tang Dynasty, some celadon was fired in the early stage, and it was famous for making rabbit black glazed teacups in the Northern Song Dynasty. Rabbit hair pattern is glazed crystal with yellow and white colors, which is called gold and silver rabbit hair; Some glaze crystals are oil droplets called crane pigeon spots; There are also a few kiln glazes, and blue luster appears around the oil drop crystals. When tea cups were introduced to Japan, they were all called "Tianmu Bowl", such as "Obsidian Tianmu" and "Oil Dropping Tianmu". Now they have become Japan's national treasures, which are very precious. The black porcelain produced in this kiln is black, so it is called "iron tire" because of its inferior glaze color and thick tire, and its iron content is as high as 10%. Cai Xiang, a famous calligrapher and tea scientist in the Song Dynasty, said in the Book of Tea: "The color of tea is white, and it should be black. Jian 'an's maker is black, with a grain like rabbit hair and a slightly thicker blank. X, it takes a long time to heat, and it is most important to use it when it is difficult to cool. Those who go out of town, whether thin or purple, are not as good as them. "It's a blue and white light, so don't try it yourself." It can be seen that the tea bowl produced in the kiln is regarded as the best tool in the Song Dynasty.
9. Jingdezhen Kiln
In Jingdezhen, Jiangxi today. It was first burned in the Wude period of the Tang Dynasty. The products are celadon and white porcelain. Celadon is gray and white porcelain is pure. It is known as "white as jade, as thin as paper, as bright as a mirror and as loud as stone". Mainly fired in the Song Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty, blue-and-white porcelain was burned for the court, with the words "Shufu" on it, and blue-and-white porcelain, underglaze red and other varieties were also burned. In the Ming Dynasty, it became the national porcelain firing center, and set up a workshop dedicated to firing court tea ceremony tea sets. At this time, blue and white porcelain developed greatly, and Zhuguang Murata, the father of Japanese tea ceremony, loved it very much. At this time, glaze, bucket color, plain tricolor, multicolor and other varieties appeared one after another, and various rare blue, red and sweet white glazed porcelain were also fired one after another. In the Qing Dynasty, many new varieties such as enamel and famille rose were created. Since the Song Dynasty, Jingdezhen porcelain has been exported to Japan and imported into Europe in large quantities in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. At the same time, it established the status of "porcelain is suitable for pottery".
10. Yixing kiln
In today's Dingshu Town, Yixing, Jiangsu. As early as the Han and Jin Dynasties, celadon was fired, and the decorative patterns of products were influenced by Yue Kiln, resulting in loose fetal quality, yellowish glaze and common glaze peeling. Pottery was burned in the Song Dynasty, and it was famous for producing purple sand in the Ming Dynasty. According to "Yangxian Tea Pot System" written by Zhou in the late Ming Dynasty, the founder of Zisha Pot was a monk in Jinsha Temple, who started with Gong Chun, a servant of Wu Yishan. During Zheng De's reign in the Ming Dynasty, when Wu Yishan was studying in Jinsha Temple, he imitated the old monk and made a spring pot and a ginkgo tree gall pot, which are now in the Chinese History Museum, but the original lid has been lost. A melon cover was made in the Qing Dynasty, and was later seen as "true" by the famous painter Huang, so the famous pot maker Pei Shimin made a new one. After the spring festival, four famous pot makers appeared. They were HanDong, Zhao Liang (A Zhao Liang), Yuan (A Yuan) and Zuo Peng. Li Maolin, another famous artist contemporary with the "Four Masters", invented the method of burning pots with saggers (tiles), which has been used ever since. From the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, Shi Dabin (the son of a friend) was recognized as the first pot maker. He, Gao Zu (son of Li Mao Lin) and Xu Youquan are the oldest, and they are called the "Big Three Pot Makers". Shi Dabin has four other disciples, namely (aka), Shao (aka Xiang Yu), Jiang Shiying and Ou. At the same time, there are also important figures in the history of teapot art, such as Chen Zhongmei and Hui. The capacity of "Four Treasures of Tea Making" to drink oolong tea is only 50? 100 ml teapot is called Chen Meng jar, which is named after its professional production. In the early and middle period of Qing Dynasty, Chen Mingyuan was the first artist, and other famous artists included Shao Maolin and Shao Xumao. From the middle and late Qianlong period to Daoguang years, Chen Hongshou was the most influential figure in the history of Zisha Pot. Chen Hongshou, a famous man, has designed many pots, which were designed by Yang Pengnian and Yang Fengnian. He left a big blank on the pot and carved it himself. Later, it was called the full pot style. Learn more from it. Later, famous pot makers appeared, such as Huang Yulin, Pei Shimin and Zhu Kexin. Gu Jingzhou pushed the art of pot-making to the peak, and was known as "a great master" like Shi Dabin. In addition, there are a group of ceramists such as Jiang Rong, which keeps the ceramic art at the highest level.
1 1. Dehua kiln
The production of Dehua porcelain in Fujian began in the Neolithic Age, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and its craft is unique and has not been broken so far. It has always been an important foreign trade product of China, enjoying a world-renowned reputation together with silk and tea, and has contributed to the spread of porcelain-making technology and cultural exchange between China and foreign countries. Now Dehua county preserves kiln sites such as Wanping and Qudou Palace in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. It can be traced back to the Neolithic Age, when printed pottery was fired. Celadon was fired in the Tang Dynasty. White porcelain and celadon produced in the Song Dynasty were very delicate, and porcelain products began to be exported in large quantities. In the Yuan Dynasty, Dehua porcelain and plastic Buddha statues were tribute to the court and were appreciated by the emperors. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Dehua porcelain was widely spread to Europe, and its ivory white glaze (also known as milky white) had a great influence on European porcelain art.
He Chaozong, a Dehua porcelain artist in the Ming Dynasty, used local high-quality kaolin to make exquisite Dehua porcelain sculptures by eight techniques, including kneading, molding, carving, scraping, splicing and pasting. The glaze is milky white, like jade, and its color is elegant. It enjoys the reputation of "ivory white", "China white" and "the pearl of international porcelain altar" and has become the representative of China white porcelain. Among Zheng He's porcelains, Dehua porcelains in Fujian were included. Kyle Polo, a famous Italian traveler, praised Dehua ceramics when he visited Quanzhou, Fujian, and took them overseas. Therefore, Dehua ceramics are famous in the world or white porcelain produced in Ming Dynasty is the most distinctive and influential. It can be said that Dehua's Ming dynasty porcelain-making technology reached the highest level in history; In plastic arts, it has reached an unprecedented height and become a natural, beautiful and unique work of art in the ceramic world. It was exported to Europe in the Qing Dynasty. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Dehua porcelain industry emerged in large numbers. They inherited the excellent techniques and styles of their predecessors, and constantly innovated and developed, which made Dehua porcelain firing technology glow with new vitality.