Chinese Porcelain History
The history of Chinese porcelain can be traced back to the Neolithic Age, which has experienced thousands of years of technological innovation, and developed a wide variety of ceramic processes such as Tang Sancai, White Porcelain, Celadon Porcelain, Blue and White Porcelain, and Five Colors. In addition to referring to China, the word "China" in English means "porcelain", which shows the close relationship between China and ceramics. Chinese porcelain was not only widely used in ancient courts, but also from the ancient shipwrecks of the Southern Song Dynasty found on the southeast coast, it can be found that ceramics have been used as one of the main trade products at that time, and exported to Asia, Islamic cultural circles, and European countries, and its symbolism to China can be as famous as silk. The craftsmanship of Chinese ceramics has also gradually spread to all parts of the world in the long-standing international trade, which has had a profound impact on the development of ceramic production technology in the world.
Chinese porcelain is carefully selected kaolin or porcelain stone as raw materials, with superb craftsmanship such as: rationing, molding, drying and firing. Although porcelain developed from pottery, their raw materials, glazes, and firing temperatures were different. Compared to pottery, porcelain has a tougher texture, a more transparent texture and a more delicate luster. And it is superior to pottery in both practical and artistic terms. That's why it replaced pottery. It is called China in English because it was originally produced in China, which fully illustrates that porcelain with delicate porcelain is the representative of China.
The earliest porcelain (pottery), often referred to as "primitive porcelain", appeared during the shang dynasty. but the first celadon in the true sense of the word was fired during the eastern han dynasty. porcelain firing technology matured in the tang dynasty. during the song dynasty, many famous kilns emerged. among them, jun kiln, ge kiln, guan kiln, ru kiln and ding kiln are known as the "five famous kilns". in the yuan dynasty, the blue and white porcelain produced by the famous porcelain capital jingdezhen became a representative of porcelain after the song dynasty. the porcelain of the ming dynasty inherited and developed the tradition of song dynasty porcelain. during the chenghua period, the firing technology of colored porcelain appeared, and doucai porcelain fired in the jiajing and wanli periods was a well-known treasure. qing dynasty porcelain is classical, elegant, exquisite and gorgeous. the three colors and five colors of the kangxi period, as well as the pastels and enamel colors of the qianlong period, are well-known commodities at home and abroad.
China's porcelain production sites include jingdezhen in jiangxi, liling in hunan, dehua in fujian, shiwan in guangdong, tangshan in hebei and zibo in shandong. blue and white porcelain, exquisite porcelain, pastel porcelain and color glazed porcelain are called the "four major porcelains". in addition to this, there are some other features such as sculptural porcelain, eggshell thin tire porcelain and multicolored porcelain.
Porcelain is the creative result of the working people in ancient china. since the han and tang dynasties, porcelain has been exported all over the world. it has promoted economic and cultural exchanges between china and foreign countries and profoundly affected the traditional culture and lifestyle of people in other countries.