What a Beginner Should Know about Chinese Porcelain

Chapter I    Classification 

Section I   How to Classify

 

A beginner should know how porcelain wares are classified. They are classified in four ways.

1.   Time of Production

To classify or name porcelain wares is a most common approach. We have to mark out, first of all, in which dynasty they were produced, for instance, they were produced in Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming or Qing Dynasties. Secondly, in which period of that dynasty, for instance, if they were produced in the Ming Dynasty, were they produced in the Hongwu Period or Xuande Period.

2.   Place of Production

Porcelain wares are also classified according to place of production. For instance, if they were produced by the “Yue Kilns—Yuè Yáo—Ô½Ò¤”, it is the Shaoxing area of Zhejiang Province. If they were produced by the “Yaozhou Kilns—Yàozh¨­u Yáo—Ò«ÖÝÒ¤”, it is the Tongchuan area of Sha’nxi Province.

3.Five Major Factors

Quality of the inner body, glaze, patterns, form and inscription are the five major factors that compose

apieceofporcelain. Among them, glaze is the most crucial one. In glaze, there are single color glaze and multi-color

glaze.Single color glaze can be blue, white, red, yellow, green and black. Multi-color can be a surface of patches ofdifferentcolors, and patterns painted by different colors, such as blue and white, and porcelain with painted patterns. Multicolors can also be divided into above-glaze, under-glaze and double layer glaze.

4.   Production Kilns

There have been official kilns and civilian kilns in China. Official kilns were set up and run by the governments, their

products are of exquisite quality and dignified and sumptuous appearance.

  

Section II   Names of Porcelain

1.   Celadon: In Chinese it is called “Qíng Cí” and written as “Çà´É”. It is in bluish green color because of ferrous content. Owing to the poor reducing atmosphere technique, the color looked a bit yellowish or brown. However, “Qíng Cí” first appeared in the Eastern Han period and had been the main type of porcelain product in ancient China for a long time. 

2.   Pale Blue Porcelain: In Chinese it is called “Pi¨£o Cí” and written as “çδɔ. It is bluish white color. It is an early celadon first appeared in the Jin Dynasty. 

3.   White Porcelain: In Chinese it is called “Bái Cí” and written as “°×´É”. It is a general term for porcelain wares with both a white inner body and a white glaze. It first appeared in the Northern Dynasty and matured in the Tang Dynasty.

4.   Bluish White Porcelain: In Chinese it is called “Q¨©ng Bái Cí” and written as “Çà°×´É”. It is porcelain in the color between blue and white. It is also called “shadow blue”—“Y¨«ng Q¨©ng—Ó°Çà”. It was an original product of Jingdezhen in the middle period of Northern Song.

5.   Black Porcelain: In Chinese it is called “H¨¥i Cí” and written as “ºÚ´É”. It is a general term for porcelain with a black glaze. It first appeared in the Eastern Han period in Shangyu and Ningbo in the south. The north only began producing it after the Eastern Jin Period.

6.   Porcelain with Plain Colors: In Chinese it is called “Sù Cí” and written as “ËØ´É”. It is a general term for porcelain without colored glaze or patterns. Before the Ming Dynasty porcelain with plain colors took up a greater portion of the products. The development of colored porcelain prospered in the Ming Dynasty. That’s why we regard the pre-Ming period as plain color period and post-Ming period as colored period.

7.   Colored Porcelain:In Chinese it is called “C¨£i Cí” and written as “²Ê´É”. It includes colored dots, under-glazed colors, above-glaze colors and blending of colors.  It originated in the Jin Dynasty and flourished in the Ming Dynasty. 

8.   Blue and White Porcelain: In Chinese it is called “Q¨©ng Hu¨¡ Cí” and written as “Ç໨´É”. It is the most important variety of China’s porcelain. It was originated in the Yuan Dynasty. Its color does not easily fade and durability is longer. It used cabaltous oxide as the colorant. Patterns were directly painted onto the inner body and burnt after glaze was applied on it.

9.   Transparent Porcelain: It is called “Líng Lóng Cí” in Chinese and written as “Ááçç´É”. It was developed on the basis of skeleton technique some 500 years ago in the Ming Dynasty. Being one of the four traditional porcelain products of Jingdezhen, it has a thin inner body and regularly lined tiny holes on it. Multiple layers of glaze were applied over the holes, and after burning they seem to be transparent.

10. Transparent Blue and White: It is called “Q¨©ng Hu¨¡ Líng Lóng Cíin Chinese and written as “Ç໨Ááçç´É”. Blue and white and transparent porcelain were combined in the Qing Dynasty.

11. Porcelain with Colored Glaze: In Chinese it is called “Sè Yòu Cí” and written as “É«ÓÔ´É”. It is a single color glaze. Having gone through the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, it climbed to its peak in the Qing Dynasty. Because of contents of oxides, colors of grey, brown, red and blue all come out on the surface while kiln transmutation and cracks inject vigor into the ware; it has been regarded as the “mother of colored porcelain” and has occupied an important position in the history of porcelain.

12. Porcelain with Dappled Glaze: In Chinese it is called “Hu¨¡ Cí” and written as “»¨´É”. On such wares, sky blue, milk and brownish green dots are applied over black or yellow glazes. These dots, which look like clouds or tree leaves, are usually placed in the middle part of the ware.

13. Sweet White Porcelain: In Chinese it is called “Tián B¨¡i C¨©” and written as “Ìð°×´É”. Transparent glaze, which has no or very little ferrous content, is applied onto the white inner body and then burnt in high temperature. The glittering and moist white looks sweet, that’s why it is called “sweet white.”

14.Thin Porcelain: In Chinese it is called “B¨­ T¨¡i Cí” and written as “±¡Ì¥´É”. The wall of these type of porcelain is as thin as the wings of a cicada. When the inner body becomes hard, glaze was applied on one side of the wall. When the glaze dried up, the workman would scrape the other side of the wall. This would be done for over a hundred times, and 2-3 cm thick wall would be reduced to a thin wall like an egg shell. Afterwards, it has to be burnt in a high temperature of 1300¡æ without cracks or transmutations. Thin porcelain first came into being in the Yongle Period of the Ming Dynasty.

15. Porcelain Made of Mixed Clay: In Chinese it is called “Jia¨¯ Tái Cí and written as “½ÊÌ¥´É”. It is so named because white clay was mixed with brown clay, and the inner body was made of the mixed clay. It first appeared in the Tang Dynasty.

 16.  Porcelain with Mixed Glaze: In Chinese it is called “Jia¨¯ Yòu Cí” and written as “½ÊÓÔ´É”. It first appeared in the Tang Dynasty as well. It was so named because colorants were added into the glaze.

17.  Porcelain with Goose Egg White: In Chinese it is called “Sh¨± F¨³ Cí” and written as “Êฮ´É”. It came into being in the Yuan Dynasty. It was so named because its glaze looked like that of a goose egg. “Êฮ” in Chinese means “Privy Council”. As a matter of fact, such porcelain was ordered by the Privy Council and was for its exclusive use.

18. “Mi” Color Porcelain: In Chinese it is called “Mì Sè Cí” and written as “ÃØÉ«´É”. It was produced by the Yuè Kiln in the W¨±yuè State and was for the exclusive use of the ruling family. “MìÃØ” in Chinese means “secrecy”. The glaze was greyish blue and dull.

There were other names such as Porcelain with Its Opening Unglazed,

Bone Ash Porcelain, Porcelain Made of Clay Mixed with Sea Shell Powder, Porcelain with Pattern of Images, Porcelain Pieces Inlaid on Furniture, New Colored Porcelain and Porcelain with Cracks and Veins. We shall not go further into them, because the above are the most important ones.

 

Chapter II  The Inner Body, Glaze and Colors

 

Section I   The Inner Body

 

The inner body decides what kind of porcelain it is. In Chinese it is called “Tái” and written as “Ì¥”. However, before it was burnt, it is called “P¨©” and written as “Å÷”, which means a “base”. The base of porcelain is usually made of silica, alumina, aluminium oxide and ferric oxide, and a small amount of calcium, sodium and magnesium. The inner body is divided into thin ones and thick ones.

Section II   Glaze

Glaze is one important material in porcelain production. It first appeared on pottery in the Shang Dynasty. It is a vitreous layer over the clay body and is made of feldspar, quartzite and clay. There are the following kinds of glaze in China:

1. Single Color Glaze: In Chinese it is called “Yán Sè Yòu” and written as “ÑÕÉ«ÓÔ”. It is pure and elegant. Its color is decided by the content of chemicals. If it contains ferric, the color might be blue; if it contains copper, the color might be red or green.

2. Blue Glaze: In Chinese it is called “Qíng Yòu” and written as “ÇàÓÔ”. Iron was its colorant and calcium oxide was its solvent. Being the first glaze ever appeared in China, it is not purely blue, but a mixture of yellow, green and blue.

3.Plum Green Glaze: In Chinese it is called “Méi Z¨« Qíng Yòu” and written as “÷×ÓÇàÓÔ”. It is a glaze of celadon produced at Lóngqu¨¡n Kiln in the Southern Song Period. The color is green and moist as that of a plum. The material making the glaze was lime alkali, which did not flow easily under a high temperature. The glaze surface is highly vitreous and glittering.

  

Tiny bottle in plum green glaze made in the Southern Song Period

4. Bluish Green Glaze: In Chinese it is called “D¨­ng Qíng Yòu” and written as “¶«ÇàÓÔ”. Porcelain with such a glaze was produced at the Eastern Kiln of the Capital of the Northern Song Dynasty. That was how the glaze was named, for “¶«” means “east”. It is also called in Chinese “¶¬ÇàÓÔ”£¬ “¶¬”is pronounced the same as “¶«”. The earliest porcelain with “D¨­ng Qíng Yòu” that we can see today was produced in the Y¨¯nglè Period of the Ming Dynasty. Green glitters in the blue background on such wares. The layer of glaze was thick with tiny bubbles. During the Xu¨¡ndé Period, the inner body became thicker, there was no orange-skin like glaze and there was almost no bubbles. When it came to the Y¨­ngzh¨¥ng Period of the Qing, the surface of the glaze became very smooth and the color was very stable thanks to the high level reducing atmosphere technique.

5. Bean Green Glaze: In Chinese it is called “Dòu Qíng Yòu” and written as “¶¹ÇàÓÔ”. It was one of the major glazes used by the Lóng Qu¨£n Kiln of the Song Dynasty, and it was a derivative of blue glaze. It is a bit yellowing and not as bright as light bluish green and plum green glazes.

6. Bluish White Glaze: In Chinese it is called “Y¨«ng Qíng Yòu” and written as “Ó°ÇàÓÔ”. The ferrous content in such glaze is under 1%, and the whiteness can reach up to 70% after being burnt at a reducing atmosphere from 1200 ¡æ. Ó°” means “shadow”, so it could also be called in English “shadow white” to differ from “blue and white—Ç໨” even though the color is really white and blue.

 7. Sky Blue Glaze£ºIn Chinese it is called “Ti¨¡n Qíng Yòu” and written as “ÌìÇàÓÔ”. It was a special glaze burnt by the R¨³ Kiln in Henan Province in the Song Dynasty for the exclusive use of the imperial court

8.Light Bluish Green: In Chinese it is called “F¨§n Qíng Yòu” and written as “·ÛÇàÓÔ”. The color is bluish green, a glaze used by the Lóng Qu¨£n Kiln of the Song Dynasty. The glaze was applied onto the inner body before burning at a degree between 1180-1230 ¡æ. It looks different from vitreous glazes because of the tiny bubbles and guartzite granules.

 

A Light Bluish Green Bowel of Yongzheng Period of the Qing Dynasty.

9.   Pale Blue: In Chinese it is called “Pi¨£o Sè” and written as “çÎÉ«”. It is a glaze that has a color like a pale blue cloth.

10. Imitation of Longquan Glaze: In Chinese it is called “F¨£ng Lóng Qu¨£n Yòu” and written as “·ÂÁúȪÓÔ”. A variety of blue glaze that was made during the periods of Y¨¯nglè and Xu¨¡nd¨¥ of the Ming Dynasty to immitate that of the Lóng Qu¨£n Kiln. The  Y¨¯nglè period immitations were a bit greenish and had many tiny bubbles to the contrary of those made in the Xu¨¡nd¨¥ period.

 11.Under-glazed Red: In Chinese it is called “Yòu L¨« Hóng” and written as “ÓÔÀïºì”. Being one of the most precious varieties of Chinese glaze, it first appeared in the Yuan Dynasty with copper as its colorant. But, the firign is most difficult for copper, under high temperature, is easy to evaporate. Both fresh rend and ruby red in the Ming Dynasty were top grade glazes.

12. Jun Kiln Red: In Chinese it is called “J¨±n Hóng” and written as “¾ûºì”. This is the earliest red glaze produced at the J¨±n Kiln in the Song Dynasty. Because there were other metal contents in the glaze other than copper, the color was purple red, like the color of rose and begonia. Therefore it is also referred to as “begtonia red”. Ruby red, rainbow red of the Ming Dynasty and Láng Kiln red of the Qing Dynasty were based on J¨±n Kiln red.

13. Rainbow Red: In Chinese it is called “Jì Hóng” and written as “ö«ºì”. It is so named because it looks like the red in the rainbow. It first appeared in the K¨¡ngx¨© Period of the Qing Dynasty and prospered in the two later periods—Y¨­ngzheng and Qi¨¡nlóng Periods. For your knowledge, there are also the following red color glazes: Applied Red, Cowpea Red, Fresh Red, Lang Kiln Red, Bauxite Red, Flame Red and Rouge Water.

14. Green: In Chinese it is called “L¨¸ Yòu” and written as “ÂÌÓÔ”. It is a lime glaze that contains copper oxide, which in the oxidative atmosphere, is green. Ever since the Ming Dynasty, there have been high temperature green and low temperature green glazes. The “peacock green” glaze produced in the Chénghuà Period of the Ming is most precious.

15. Turquoise Green: In Chinese it is called “S¨­ng Shí L¨¸” and written as “ËÉʯÂÌ”. Being a low temperature green glaze, it used copper oxide as the colorant and was first produced in the Y¨­ngzheng Period  and developed in great strides in the Qi¨¡nlóng Period of the Qing Dynasty.

16. Water Melon Green: In Chinese it is called “Gu¨¡ Pí L¨¸ Yòu” and written as “¹ÏƤÂÌÓÔ”. So named because of the samilarity of color to that of the peel of the water melon. It is a vitreous low temperature glaze, first appeared in the early Ming and became matured in the Qing Dynasty

17. Apple Green: In Chinese it is called “Píng Gu¨¯ L¨¸ Yòu” and written as “Æ»¹ûÂÌÓÔ”. It is also called “Láng Kiln Green” because it is a change of color inside the kiln when burning red glaze in the Láng Kiln, and it is more precious than the Láng Kiln red.

18.Parrot Green: In Chinese it is called “Y¨©ng G¨¥ L¨¸ Yòu” and written as “ðиçÂÌÓÔ”. It is also called “G¨¥ L¨¸”. It is a single color glaze, which is applied onto a white glaze and being burnt at a degree of 800 ¡æ. The green is darker than the pea green, is similar to the green on the weather of a parrot. The cracks and veins on the surface is identical to that on the wares producecd by the G¨¥ Kiln.

 

A K¨¡ngx¨© Period Vase in G¨¥ L¨¸ and painted patterns.

19. Blue: In Chinese it is called “Lán Yòu” and written as “À¶ÓÔ”.

Its first appearance was as one of the Tang Tri-colors, which was a low temperature glaze. It was only in the Yuan Dynasty that high temperature blue glaze became a fact. It is lime with an appropriate amount of cobalt as the colorant, and is burnt at 1280-1300 ¡æ inside the kiln.

20.       Foreign Blue: In Chinese it is called “Húi Q¨©ng” and written as “»ØÇà”. It refers to only those produced in the Ji¨¡jìng and Wànlì Periods of the Ming Dynasty. The imported colorant was mixed with a little of local blue called “Shíz¨«q¨©ng” and the color is pale.

 21.       Rainbow Blue: In Chinese it is called “Jì Lán Yòu” and written as “ö«À¶ÓÔ”. It is a high temperature glaze, widely used in the Xu¨¡ndé Period of the Ming Dynasty. There are, for your knowledge, also Blue with White Dots, Peacock Blue and Sky Blue.

22. Yellow: In Chinese it is called “Huáng Yòu” and written as “»ÆÓÔ”. The technique of producing it only became matured in the Hóngzhì Period of the Ming. There are also high and low temperature glazes. The yellow comes from the ferric oxide in the reducing atmosphere. Its first appearance was in the Tang Dynasty. There are Tender Yellow (Jiaó Huáng—½¿»Æ)¡¢Wax Yellow £¨Mì Là Huáng—ÃÛÀ°»Æ£©¡¢Egg Yellow £¨Dàn Huáng Yòu—µ°»ÆÓÔ£©and Eel Yellow (Shàn Yú Huáng—÷­Óã»Æ).

23. White: In Chinese it is called “Bái Yòu” and written as “°×ÓÔ”. In ancient China, people didn’t add white  colorant into the glaze, rather, they selected clay that contained less than 0.75% iron, and any clay that contains that little iron is white. What was applied onto the inner body was only transparent glaze. The white glaze produced in the Y¨¯nglè Period of the Ming Dynasty has been considered the best in history.

24.Egg White: In Chinese it is called “Lu¨£n Bái Yòu” and written as “ÂÑ°×ÓÔ”. It is a high temperature glaze, in which blue is hidden, and the color resembles that of a goose egg. It was first produced at J¨«ngdézhèn in the Yuan Dynasty

25. Sweet White: In Chinese it is called “Tián Bái Yòu” and written as “Ìð°×ÓÔ”.

26.Ivory White

27.Black

28.Glaze of Tree Leaf Pattern

29.Oil Drop

30.Rabbit Hair Pattern

31.Hawksbill

32.Partridge

33.Black Gold

34.Mixed Colors

35.Soybean Source

36.Sesame butter

37.Purple

38.Eggplant Peel

39.Glass

40.Multiple Colors

41.Unpredictable Color Change in Kiln

42.The Glaze of Jun Kiln

43.Crystal

44.Minced Tea Leaves

45.Iron Rust

46.Low Temperature Glaze

47.Rouge Red

48.Peacock Green

49.Encaustic

50.Low Temperature Glaze imitating Jun Kiln

51.High Temperature Colors

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