Author: O. du Sartel
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ISBN: 978-1-78160-957-6
“Prudence is the mother of porcelain.”
— William Wander
Table of contents
Chinese Dynasties Chronology
Introduction
I. Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E.-221)
II. Three Kingdoms Period (220-265) and Subsequent Dynasties
III. Tang Dynasty (618-907)
IV. Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1279-1368) Dynasties
V. Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
VI. Kangxi Period (1644-1722), Qing Dynasty
VII. Yongzheng and Qianglong Period (1723-1795), Qing Dynasty
List of Illustrations
2205-1767 B.C.E.: |
Xia Dynasty |
1767-1122 B.C.E.: |
Shang Dynasty |
1122-256 B.C.E.: |
Zhou Dynasty |
771-475 B.C.E.: |
Spring and Autumn Period |
475-221 B.C.E.: |
Warring States Period |
221-207 B.C.E.: |
Qin Dynasty |
206 B.C.E.-221: |
Han Dynasty |
220-265: |
Three Kingdoms Period |
265-420: |
First Jin Dynasty |
302-439: |
Sixteen Kingdoms Period |
420-589: |
Southern and Northern Dynasties |
581-618: |
Sui Dynasty |
618-907: |
Tang Dynasty |
690-705: |
Second Zhou Dynasty |
907-960: |
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period |
907-1115: |
Liao Dynasty or Khitan Empire |
1036-1227: |
Western Xia Dynasty or Tangut Empire |
1115-1234: |
Second Jin Dynasty of Northern China |
960-1279: |
Song Dynasty |
1279-1368: |
Yuan Dynasty or Mongol Empire |
1368-1644: |
Ming Dynasty |
1644-1911: |
Qing Dynasty or Manchu Dynasty |
1911-1945: |
Republic of China |
1949-today: |
People's Republic of China |
Introduction
Porcelain was certainly invented in China. This is acknowledged in England by the adoption of the word “china” as equivalent to porcelain. Even in Persia, the only country to which an independent invention of the material has been attributed by some writers and where Chinese porcelain has been known and imitated for centuries, the word chini carries a similar connotation.
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Octogonal Rhyton Supported by an Animal Head Tang Dynasty, 7th century Moulded porcelain, height: 9 cm The British Museum, London |
For the creation of a scientific classification of ceramic products, it may be necessary to define here the distinctive characteristics of porcelain. Porcelain ought to have a white, translucent, hard paste, to be scratched by steel, homogeneous, resonant and vitrified, exhibiting, when broken, a conchoidal fracture of fine grain and brilliant aspect.
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Tea Bowl Song Dynasty, 960-1279 Porcelain covered in speckled brown, also known as “hare’s fur” decoration, maximum diameter: 11.5 cm National Palace Museum, Taipei |
These qualities inherent in porcelain make it impermeable to water and enable it to resist the action of frost even when uncoated with glaze. Among the characteristics of the paste given above, translucency and vitrification define porcelain best.
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Pillow in the Shape of a Child Northern Song Dynasty, 960-1127 Monochromatic porcelain, 31 x 31.2 x 18.8 cm National Palace Museum, Taipei |
If either of these two qualities is absent, the material is considered a different kind of pottery. If the paste possesses all the other properties with the exception of translucency, it is stoneware; if the paste is not vitrified, it belongs to the category of terracotta or of faïence.
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Vase Song Dynasty, 960-1279 Ivory white porcelain, height: 25.2 cm National Palace Museum, Taipei |
The Chinese define porcelain under the name of tz’u, a character first found in books of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E.-221 C.E.), as a hard, compact, fine-grained pottery (t’ao); they distinguish it by the clear, musical note that it gives out on percussion and by testing that it cannot be scratched by a knife. They do not insist on the whiteness of the paste or on its translucency, so some pieces may fail in these two points when the fabric is coarse.
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Handled Gourd-Shaped Bottle with Floral Pattern Northern Song Dynasty, 960-1127 White monochromatic porcelain stoneware with chased and engraved enamel decoration, height: 23.5 cm Musée national des Arts asiatiques – Guimet, Paris |
However, it would be difficult to separate these elements from porcelain’s character. Porcelain may be divided into two classes: hard paste, containing only natural elements in the composition of the body and the glaze, and soft paste, where the body is an artificial combination of various materials fused by the action of the fire, in which a compound called frit has been used as a substitute for natural rock.
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Cup Northern Song Dynasty, 960-1127 White porcelain stoneware with underglaze engraved enamel decoration, maximum diameter: 23 cm Musée national des Arts asiatiques – Guimet, Paris |
All Chinese porcelain is of the hard paste variety. The body consists essentially of two elements: the white clay kaolin, the unctuous and infusible element that gives plasticity to the paste, and the feldspathic stone petuntse, which is fusible at a high temperature and gives transparency to the porcelain.
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Ju Ware Narcissus Planter Northern Song Dynasty, 960-1127 Monochromatic porcelain, 23 x 16.4 x 6.9 cm National Palace Museum, Taipei |
Teapot with Pouring Spout Song Dynasty, 960-1279 Monochromatic porcelain, height: 20.2 cm The British Museum, London |