A chime made of Mitsuse porcelain from Zhejiang Province, exhibited at an exhibition held in Beijing. [Photo/CHINA NEWS SERVICE]
Unearthed items offer important clues to ancient life
Porcelain is one of the oldest and greatest inventions of ancient China and has played an important role in China’s long history.
The word ‘porcelain’ was probably first used by the famous traveler Marco Polo when he brought it from China to Europe in the 14th century and called it ‘porcellana’.
The fact that porcelain is commonly known in English as ‘china’ or ‘fine china’ speaks to a shared perception of porcelain’s origins and identity with China.
By the late Paleolithic, the Chinese were already making pottery. Fragments from the Xianrendong Cave, or Immortal Cave, in Jiangxi Province are believed to be the world’s oldest pottery dating back to about 20,000 years ago.
About 18,000 years later, the world’s first high-fired ceramics, commonly called “primitive porcelain” or “proto-porcelain”, emerged during the Shang Dynasty due to technological advances in the use of raw materials, molding processes, and firing techniques. (c. 16th-11th centuries BC).
Jiang Yu, head of the ceramics department of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, said these early proto-porcelain items had some basic attributes and characteristics such as hardness, glaze, and low magnetic permeability that distinguish them from porcelain. I said I shared it, but it wasn’t refined enough to be recognized as porcelain yet. .
“Compared to pottery, porcelain is made from a special kind of clay,” Jiang said. “They differ in raw materials, glaze, and firing temperature. Porcelain has many layers of glaze and is translucent, making it much more robust than earthenware.”
In other words, proto-porcelain was the stage where pottery transitioned to porcelain. From the late Spring and Autumn period (770 BC to 476 BC) to the early Warring States period (475 BC to 221 BC), a large amount of primitive porcelain was produced in what is now Zhejiang province. These items were more affordable and available than the bronze pieces that were preferred by most people at the time.
The ruling class also favored proto-porcelain. In 2004, about 500 instruments from the Warring States period were unearthed from an ancient tomb in Hongshan, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, among which the existence of hoo percussion was confirmed for the first time.
In 2007 and 2008, in Deqing County, Zhejiang, archaeologists unearthed seven kiln sites and unearthed several metric tons of ritual vessels and musical instruments made of primitive porcelain.
Discoveries include a ding (a cauldron on a tripod), a zong (a bottle of wine), a katakane (a set of bells), a chime bell, and are mentioned in ancient records. Many other items were included. Excavations and discoveries have led experts to believe that the items found in Hongshan’s tombs were also produced in Deqing.
According to Jiang, the findings indicate that the northern region of Zhejiang may have been a production base for high-quality proto-porcelain, indicating that production technology had advanced significantly by this time. increase.
However, it was not until the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) that the modern form of porcelain appeared. Pottery and primitive porcelain were known to be made in many places in China, but unsurprisingly, porcelain was first developed in Zhejiang.
In the 1970s, archaeologists unearthed ceramic shards in Shangyu, Zhejiang, that were of much higher quality than primitive porcelain. More items were unearthed in the early 2000s. These pieces had a gray or greenish ceramic glaze, and this type of porcelain is now commonly known as celadon.
Chen Wanli (1892-1969), a first-class porcelain expert at the National Palace Museum, once declared that “half of China’s ceramic history lies in Zhejiang”, and Zhejiang’s important position in the history and development of porcelain. pointed out.
The production of porcelain, especially celadon, developed further in Zhejiang and surrounding areas after the Eastern Han dynasty.
According to Porcelain: A Story of China, written by Shanghai Museum porcelain researcher Chen Ke-lun, some of the most famous porcelain kilns began making their mark during the Tang dynasty (618-907). rice field. One of his was the Yue Kiln, now known as the Yue Kiln Site. This is a collection of archaeological sites located in Shanglin Lake, Cixi City, Zhejiang Province.
Yue kilns emerged during the Eastern Han Dynasty, reached their peak during the Tang Dynasty, and declined during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
A passage from a poem by Tang poet Lu Guimeng describes a spectacular scene of porcelain being made in Yue kilns.
When the Yue kiln opens in late autumn, the lush celadon covers the thousand peaks
This poem, Mise Tou (Mise translates as “secret color”), is also the earliest known mention of the finest variety of Yue celadon, Chen writes in his book.
During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907-960), in addition to the Yue Kiln, the Longquan Kiln in Longquan City, Zhejiang Province, also appeared. It flowered in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and was the largest porcelain producer in China from the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) to the mid-Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
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