Overview of Ding Kiln Porcelain
Ding Kiln is one of the five famous kilns in the Song Dynasty in my country, and is the first of the five famous kilns. It is a new type of white porcelain produced by the Xing Kiln in the Tang Dynasty. Large porcelain kiln system. The main production areas are in the Jianci Village, Dongyanchuan Village, and Xiyanchuan Village in Quyang County today. Because this area was under the jurisdiction of Dingzhou during the Tang and Song Dynasties, it was named Dingyao. Ding kiln was originally a folk kiln, but it began to produce porcelain for the palace in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty.
Kiln site
The largest and most concentrated kiln site in Ding Kiln is located in the north of Jianci Village in Quyang County today. There are more than a dozen tall piles here, with the highest 15 meters long, there are numerous porcelain pieces, kiln furniture, slag, porcelain clay, etc. piled up. Judging from the superimposed relationship between the strata of the site, the site is divided into three periods: the late Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty. In 1986, it was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit.
History
Ding kiln was built in the late Tang Dynasty. From this time until the Five Dynasties, Ding kiln porcelain was still relatively rough and simple, with bowls as the main shapes, and was in the transition stage to fine porcelain. But in the middle and late Five Dynasties, Ding kiln white porcelain made a fundamental leap. The fired porcelain is no longer coated with clay, and the body and glaze are fine and white. The whiteness of some objects even exceeds the fine white porcelain of Xing kiln.
The Northern Song Dynasty was the heyday of the development of Ding kiln, and there were many creations and advances in porcelain making technology. In the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, Ding kiln was selected by the Song government as porcelain for the palace due to its excellent porcelain quality, elegant color and beautiful patterns. This greatly increased its value and made its products very popular.
After the "Jingkang Incident" in the late Northern Song Dynasty, Ding kiln gradually declined and was abandoned due to successive military disasters. After the Jin Dynasty ruled northern China, the Ding kiln porcelain industry was quickly restored, and the production level of some products was no less than that of the Northern Song Dynasty. Judging from some utensils decorated with dragon and phoenix patterns, Ding kiln products were also the porcelain variety favored by the rulers of the Jin Dynasty. By the Yuan Dynasty, Ding kiln finally gradually declined.
By the 1970s, Dingci entered a period of recovery after years of silence. Quyang Ding Porcelain Co., Ltd. has gone through hundreds of research experiments and successfully developed more than 200 kinds of handicraft products in three series of antique, fine art and daily life on the basis of antique. The products have won many awards in domestic exhibitions and have been It is exported to more than a dozen countries and regions such as the United States, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, and Hong Kong.
Variety
Ding kiln products are mainly white porcelain, but also produce sauce, red, black and other valuable varieties, such as black porcelain (Hei Ding), purple glaze (Zi Ding) ), green glaze (green set), red glaze (red set), etc., are all covered with a layer of high-temperature colored glaze on the white porcelain body. "Gui Qian Zhi" written by Liu Qi of the Yuan Dynasty said, "The flower porcelain pots in Dingzhou are the whitest in the world." It can be seen that Ding kiln ware was not only deeply loved by people at that time, but also had a large output. When the great poet Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty was in Dingzhou, he once used the poem "Dingzhou flower porcelain is carved with red jade" to praise the splendor and color of Ding kiln porcelain.
Ding Kiln is also divided into North Ding and South Ding. Before the Northern Song Dynasty, the Ding Kiln kiln was located in Dingzhou in the north, and the items it fired were called Beiding. After the Song Dynasty moved south, some of the Ding kiln workers went to Jingdezhen and some to Jizhou, which was called Nanding. The glaze produced in Jingdezhen has a pink-like color, also known as Fending.
Use shape
Ding kiln has a large production scale and a wide range of varieties. Most of them are bowls, plates, bottles, plates, boxes and pillows. Pure bottles, conches and other Buddha offerings are also produced, but the quantity is very small, and they are mainly entered into the palace as tributes. The "Dingzhou White Porcelain Children's Pillow" collected by the Palace Museum is one of the representative works of Ding kiln porcelain.
Glaze and body quality
The body quality of Ding kiln is thin and light, the color of the body is white and slightly yellow, relatively firm, not very transparent, the glaze is beige, and the glaze is extremely thin and can See the fetus. The glaze is white and crystal clear, and many of the accumulated glazes are shaped like tears, known as "wax tears", with a faint yellow-green color. In the thin glaze on the outer wall of the object, you can see the spinning marks on the tire, commonly known as "bamboo silk brush pattern". In the early Northern Song Dynasty, Ding kiln products had glazed rims. In the late Northern Song Dynasty, the rims of the utensils were mostly unglazed, which was called "Mangkou". The rims were often inlaid with gold, silver, or copper rims to cover up defects in the rims. This was a special feature of Ding kiln. Great feature.
Unique technology
The most important achievement of the porcelain kiln firing technology in the Song Dynasty was the invention of the over-firing method and the "fire technique". Ding kiln widely adopted the over-firing method and also used A washer type combined box body. The advantage of this firing method is to maximize the use of vacant space, which can not only save fuel, but also prevent the deformation of the appliance, thereby reducing costs and greatly increasing output. It has had a great impact on both the northern and southern porcelain kilns, and has It has played an important role in promoting the development of my country's porcelain industry.
Decorative patterns
Ding kiln ware is deeply loved by people for its colorful pattern decoration. The decorative techniques are mainly white glaze printing, white glaze carving and white glaze scratching, as well as white glaze carving and gold color tracing. The patterns are beautiful and elegant. In the early Northern Song Dynasty, the carvings, compositions and patterns of Ding kiln became simpler, with the majority of them being heavy lotus petals and decorated with the beauty of low relief. The carvings and decorations in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty are exquisite and unique. Decorative patterns are commonly used in printing, scratching and stacking, making them beautiful and elegant. The printed patterns are cleverly deformed from the natural form and have a rigorous composition; the carved flowers are more lively and unique than the printed ones.
Decoration
Decoration is one of the main decoration methods of Ding kiln porcelain in the Song Dynasty. Usually, grate-like tools are used to draw simple patterns, with strong, smooth and dynamic lines. The lotus petal pattern is the most common scratched pattern on Ding kiln wares.
There is one flower blooming alone, two flowers blooming together, lotus flowers and lotus leaves intertwined, and some even have duck patterns. The decoration is simple and full of changes. Most of the decorative patterns on standing objects are carved, and carved ones are relatively rare. Among the early Ding kiln wares, some of the scratched patterns were added with the lotus petal pattern and the intertwining chrysanthemum pattern. The overall layout seemed uncoordinated. This was a new decorative technique that was still in its infancy at that time. It also gave Ding kiln wares Dating provides a basis.
Engraving
Engraving is developed on the basis of scratch decoration technology. Sometimes used together with scratching technology. For example, carve the outline of broken branches or twisted branches of flowers in the center of the plate or bowl, and then use single-tooth, double-tooth, or comb-like tools to score multiple lines within the outline of the flowers and leaves. The most common decorative pattern is the double flower pattern, which is vivid and natural, has a strong three-dimensional effect, and is usually symmetrical. Ding kiln carvings often draw thin lines on one side of the contour lines of flowers, fruits, lotuses, ducks, clouds and dragons to enhance the three-dimensional effect of the decoration.
Printing
The most expressive of Ding kiln decorations is printing. This craft began in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty and matured in the late Northern Song Dynasty. The most exquisite decorations on Ding kiln objects are in the center of plates, bowls and other utensils. Few of these types of utensils have decorations on the inside and outside. The decoration of Ding kiln artifacts is characterized by clear layers. The outermost circle or the middle is often separated by patterns. The overall layout of the decoration has clear lines, the shape is cleverly transformed, complex but not chaotic, the layout is rigorous, symmetrical, distinct, clear lines, neat and elegant, and the artistic level is very high. Ding kiln prints are mostly printed on the inside of bowls and plates, and utensils with patterns both inside and outside are extremely rare.
Flower patterns are the most common printing themes in Ding kiln, mainly including lotus, chrysanthemum, daylilies, peonies, plums, etc. The layout of flower patterns mostly uses methods such as wrapping branches and folding branches, and pays attention to symmetry. Some bowls and plates have a petal-shaped rim, and a blooming flower is printed on the inside of the bowl. At the same time, the outer wall is engraved with the outline of the flower pedicle and petals. This method of combining sealing and engraving techniques on an object and unifying the interior and exterior decoration makes the shape and pattern decoration of the object integrated into one, which is very exquisite. Secondly, Ding kiln also has a large number of animal decorations, mainly including cattle, deer, mandarin ducks, unicorns, dragons and phoenixes, lions and flying dragons. The flying dragon pattern of Ding kiln is generally decorated in the center of lying utensils such as plates, dishes, bowls, etc., surrounded by auspicious clouds, most of which are single dragons. There is no symmetrical double dragon pattern yet. The flying dragon has a strong body shape, soaring among the auspicious clouds with its head held high. The dragon's tail and hind legs are entangled, the dragon's mouth is toothy, and it wants to swallow fireballs. There are fins on the back, the body is engraved with fish scale patterns, the dragon's whiskers are fluttering, the dragon's elbows are hairy, and the three claws are sharp. Lifelike. The Ding kiln standing pieces are only decorated with deformed dragon patterns, and their level of decoration is far from the dragon patterns on plates and dishes. Bird decorations mainly include phoenix, peacock, egret, mandarin duck, wild goose, duck, etc. Beautifully crafted flying phoenixes are relatively rare.
Most of the most exquisite decorations on Ding kiln porcelain are concentrated on plates and dishes, with many decorations reaching up to four layers. The decorations on each layer are rich in changes. The outer ring decorations are mostly geometric patterns or deformed lotus petal patterns. The center is a combination of animal and flower decorations, full of relief and rich in artistic flavor. The Ding kiln children's pillow of the Song Dynasty is a famous product of the kiln. Its shape, appearance and decorative craftsmanship are all of the best.
Influence
Due to the popularity of Ding kiln, its shape, decoration and firing methods were imitated by porcelain kilns from all over the world. During the Northern Song Dynasty, various places imitated Ding kiln. This gave birth to imitators such as "Tuding", "Xinding", "Beiding", "Nanding" and "Funding". The quality of products in many areas is not inferior to that of Quyang, Hebei. Ding kiln has had a profound impact on the porcelain making industry in later generations of our country: the world-famous Jingdezhen was deeply influenced by it, and the Longquanwu kiln in Beijing and Pingding in Shanxi formed the Ding kiln system; it can be found in cultural relics in Egypt, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Relics of Ding porcelain.