History of Jingdezhen Ceramic Manufacturing

Four characteristics

"White as jade, bright as a mirror, thin as paper, and sound like a chime" are the four characteristics of Jingdezhen ceramics, which are ranked according to people's feelings when observing porcelain from far to near.

White as jade: Jingdezhen porcelain is milky white, soft and warm like jade. It was called "fake jade" in the Tang Dynasty.

Bright as a mirror: Jingdezhen porcelain glaze is smooth, crystal clear, like a mirror, and radiant.

Thin as paper: Jingdezhen porcelain is thin and light, moist and transparent, like an eggshell, thin as a cicada's wing, and light as silk. As the saying goes, "I am afraid that the wind will blow it away, and I am also worried that it will be burned by the sun." Hao Shijiu of the Ming Dynasty created the "Liuxia Cup" and "Luanmu Cup". The Liuxia Cup is as bright as cinnabar, like the sunset flying across, radiant. The Luanmu Cup is as thin as a cicada's wing, white and lovely, and weighs only half a baht (about 1.1 grams). People from all over the world are willing to pay a high price for it.

Sound like a chime: Jingdezhen porcelain has a crisp body. When you tap it with your fingers, you can hear a crisp "dong" sound, just like the beautiful chime sound played by an instrument, which is very touching.

Four famous porcelains

Jingdezhen porcelain has many varieties, but blue and white, pastel, colored glaze and exquisite porcelain are the most famous, and are known as the "Four Famous Porcelains of Jingdezhen". The four famous porcelains are each good at their own strengths: blue and white is simple and elegant, with a far-reaching artistic conception; pastel is colorful, bright and soft; colored glaze is ingenious and colorful; exquisite and clear, and translucent.

⑴ Blue and white porcelain. Also known as white-ground blue and white porcelain, often referred to as blue and white, is one of the mainstream varieties of Chinese porcelain and belongs to underglaze colored porcelain. The original blue and white porcelain was already seen in the Tang and Song dynasties, and the mature blue and white porcelain appeared in the Hutian Kiln in Jingdezhen in the Yuan Dynasty. Blue and white porcelain became the mainstream of porcelain in the Ming Dynasty, and reached its peak during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, blue and white five-color, peacock green glaze blue and white, bean green glaze blue and white, blue and white red color, yellow ground blue and white, brother glaze blue and white and other derivative varieties were created.

Blue and white porcelain is made of cobalt ore containing cobalt oxide as raw material, and patterns are painted on the ceramic body, and then covered with a layer of transparent glaze, and fired once in a high-temperature reducing flame. After firing, the cobalt material is blue, with strong coloring power, bright color, high firing rate, stable color, not easy to wear, and no drawbacks such as lead dissolution.

Representative work: Yuan blue and white plum vase with the picture of Xiao He chasing Han Xin under the moon. The bottle was unearthed from the tomb of Mu Ying on Jiangjun Mountain, Jiangning District, Nanjing, and is collected in the Nanjing Museum. It is a national treasure-level cultural relic, and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage prohibits the exhibition of cultural relics abroad. Height 44.1 cm, diameter 5.5 cm, belly diameter 28.4 cm, bottom diameter 13 cm. The shape is dignified and elegant, and the belly is painted with the historical story of "Xiao He chasing Han Xin under the moon". The images of Xiao He, Han Xin and the boatman are painted with personality, and with pine, bamboo, plum, banana and rocks as the background, a vivid historical picture scroll is unfolded. There are five groups of decorative belts outside the picture. The whole plum bottle is decorated with elaborate decorations, and the layout of the decorative belts is dense and sparse. It is the essence of blue and white porcelain in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty.

⑵ Pastel porcelain. Also known as soft color porcelain, it is a porcelain variety with pastel as the main decorative technique. Pastel is a painting method of overglaze painting fired at low temperature. Pastel porcelain is a new variety created in the late Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty on the basis of five-color porcelain, influenced by the production process of enamel colored porcelain. From the late Kangxi period to the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, it has been perfected day by day and has been popular in the later dynasties. Emperor Yongzheng had a special liking for pastel, so the craftsmen at that time were very particular about the shape, color and lines of pastel porcelain, thus achieving the glory of "Yongzheng pastel".

Representative work: Qing Yongzheng pastel bat peach pattern olive bottle. The body of the vase is painted with eight pastel peaches and two bats, because peaches symbolize "longevity" and bats are the homophone of "blessing", which means both happiness and longevity. According to research, this kind of porcelain was used by emperors and concubines to celebrate their birthdays. Wang Qingzheng, President of the China Porcelain Association and Deputy Director of the Shanghai Museum, commented: This is the only porcelain vase of this kind in the world, which can be called peerless.

⑶ Colored glaze porcelain (colored glaze porcelain). There are many types of colored glaze porcelain: those with a single color throughout the body are called monochrome glaze, those with multiple colors are called flower colored glaze, those with a firing temperature above 1200 degrees are called high-temperature colored glaze, and those below 1000 degrees are called low-temperature colored glaze. The production process of colored glaze porcelain is to add some kind of oxidized metal to the glaze. After roasting, it will show a certain inherent color. This is the colored glaze, which can be described as "a myriad of colors".

The colored glaze on porcelain originated from the yellow glaze of Shang Dynasty pottery. In the late Han Dynasty and early Jin Dynasty, green glaze porcelain was created. In the Tang Dynasty, three colors mainly yellow, purple and green were created. In the Song Dynasty, sky blue glaze, powder blue glaze, red gem glaze, purple gem glaze and black glaze appeared. In the Ming Dynasty, there were precious colored glazes such as Junhong, Jihong, Langyaohong, Rougehong and Meirenzui.

Representative work: Qing Qianlong Tea Dust Glaze Ribbon Ear Gourd Bottle. The bottle is 26 cm high, 3 cm from the mouth, and 8 cm in bottom diameter. It has a straight mouth, short neck, waist, and a gourd-shaped body. There are twelve lotus petals carved above and below the string pattern on the waist. Symmetrical ribbon-shaped double ears are suspended between the upper and lower abdomen. The body of the bottle and the two ears form a contrast between stability and elegance, thickness and emptiness. The overall appearance shows a faint "Ji" shape, also known as the "Daji" bottle, which implies auspicious meaning. The bottle body is covered with tea-leaf glaze, the glaze surface is even and clean, and it is opaque. The dark green glaze is flashing with yellow spots, which is dignified and beautiful without losing the mysterious elegance.

⑷ Linglong porcelain. Through the carving process on the porcelain body, many regular "Linglong eyes" are carved, and then these holes become translucent bright holes after glaze firing, which is very beautiful. Linglong porcelain is often accompanied by blue and white patterns, called blue and white Linglong porcelain. This kind of porcelain has both the art of carving and the characteristics of blue and white. It is simple and fresh. It combines superb firing skills and exquisite carving art, and fully reflects the wisdom and artistic creativity of ancient ceramic artists. The main objects include Linglong furnace, Linglong covered bowl, Linglong pen holder and Linglong incense box.

Representative work: Blue and white exquisite porcelain from the Republic of China.