This post was last edited by Traci at 2025-9-12 17:33
1. Jingdezhen Porcelain
Jingdezhen Porcelain, a specialty of Jingdezhen City, Jiangxi Province, is a national geographical indication product of China. Famous for its white porcelain, it boasts the reputation of being "as white as jade, as bright as a mirror, as thin as paper, and as resonant as a chime". It has a complete range of varieties, with excellent porcelain quality, lightweight shapes, and diverse decorations.
Decorative techniques include blue and white, underglaze red, ancient color, famille rose, doucai (contrasted colors), new color, underglaze five colors, and blue and white linglong (rice pattern). Among these, blue and white and famille rose products are the mainstay, while colored glazes are renowned specialties. There are numerous glaze colors, covering categories such as green, blue, red, yellow, and black. The red glaze series includes junhong (Jun kiln red), langyaohong (Lang kiln red), jihong (sacrificial red), and rose purple, all fired using a "reducing flame". These products are famous worldwide and are among the outstanding representatives of ancient ceramic art.
2. Tang Sancai
Tang Sancai (Tri - colored Glazed Pottery of the Tang Dynasty) refers to low - temperature glazed pottery from the Tang Dynasty. Its glazes come in colors like yellow, green, white, brown, blue, and black, with yellow, green, and white being the main ones. The production process of Tang Sancai is complex. It uses kaolin as the body material, and minerals containing copper, iron, cobalt, manganese, gold, etc., as colorants for the glaze. Smelted lead slag and lead ash are added to the glaze as additives. First, the unglazed body is fired in a kiln, then glazed, and fired again in the kiln at around 800℃.
Tang Sancai not only has rich and magnificent glaze colors but also features vivid and lifelike shapes of camels, horses, and human figures, full of the breath of life. It is one of the important items for economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. In 1928, when the Longhai Railway was built to Luoyang, a large number of Tang Sancai artifacts were unearthed, attracting the attention of ancient artifact researchers and the collection of antique dealers. Since then, more Tang Sancai pieces have been continuously unearthed in the Luoyang area, astonishing people.
3. Ru Kiln Porcelain
Ru Kiln is one of the five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty. It got its name because it was located in Ruzhou, Henan Province during the Song Dynasty. The firing sites include Zhanggong Lane in Ruzhou City and Qingliangsi Village in Daying Town, Baofeng County, Henan Province. Ru porcelain holds an important position in the history of Chinese ceramics and is renowned as a major representative of imperial porcelain during the Northern Song, Southern Song, and Ming dynasties.
Ru porcelain has a simple and elegant shape and a unique glaze color. Due to the use of precious agate in the glaze, the color changes with light. The clay used is fine and smooth, the body is as delicate as ivory, the glaze is thick, and the sound it makes is like that of a chime. It is bright but not dazzling. The surface of the ware has fine crackles, showing the characteristics of "pear skin, crab claws, and sesame flowers", and is known by the world as "like jade, not jade, but better than jade". Since the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, the Ru porcelain used by the imperial court has been collected in the inner treasury and regarded as a treasure, comparable in value to the bronze vessels of the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
4. Blue and White Porcelain
Blue and white porcelain is one of the mainstream varieties of Chinese porcelain and belongs to underglaze color porcelain. It uses cobalt ore containing cobalt oxide as the raw material. Patterns are painted on the ceramic body, which is then covered with a layer of transparent glaze and fired in a high - temperature reducing flame at one time. It has the characteristics of strong color - rendering ability, bright color, high firing rate, and stable color.
Primitive varieties of blue and white porcelain appeared in the Tang and Song dynasties, and mature varieties emerged in the Hutian Kiln of Jingdezhen during the Yuan Dynasty. Blue and white porcelain became the mainstream in the Ming Dynasty and reached its peak during the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, a variety of derived varieties were also created.
5. Celadon
Celadon is one of the representatives of ancient Chinese porcelain. It developed from the ancient Chinese bronze craftsmanship. With its crystal - clear glaze color and exquisite patterns, it is known as "the flower of Chinese porcelain" and "the pinnacle of Chinese ceramic art". As a treasure of Chinese ceramics, celadon is coated with a green glaze on its surface. The formation of the color is mainly due to the iron oxide contained in the body and glaze, which is roasted in a reducing flame atmosphere. However, some celadon pieces show yellow or yellow - brown colors because the iron contained is impure and the reducing atmosphere is insufficient.
Celadon is world - famous for its fine porcelain quality, smooth and lively lines, dignified and simple shape, and pure yet variegated colors. The Chinese working people have a long history of making porcelain and a wide variety of products. Primitive celadon appeared during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and a major breakthrough was made in the Eastern Han Dynasty. After the Three Kingdoms, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the celadon fired in the south and north had their own characteristics. The southern celadon has a hard and fine body and a crystal - clear and pure glaze color, which is often described as "like ice and jade". The northern celadon has a thick body, high glaze fluidity, fine crackles on the glaze surface, and a green glaze color with a yellowish tint.
6. Wucai Porcelain (Five - Color Porcelain)
Wucai Porcelain is a type of colored decoration in the development of ancient Chinese porcelain. Decorated with five glaze colors - green, yellow, green, blue, and purple (note: the original text repeats "green", which is retained as per the source), it features bright colors and rich patterns, and is known as "the flower of Chinese ceramic art". As a treasure of Chinese ceramic art, Wucai Porcelain matured in the Ming Dynasty and is also called "Daming Wucai" (Five - Color Porcelain of the Great Ming Dynasty).
According to Tao Ya (An Appreciation of Ceramics): "The hard color was popular in the Tianqi period, and the soft color in the Chongzhen period." And Yinliu Zhai Shuo Ci (Talks on Porcelain from the Yinliu Studio) explains: "Hard color refers to colors that are very intense, applied on the glaze, and slightly raised. Soft color, also known as famille rose, has slightly lighter colors and is blended with powder."
7. Longquan Porcelain
Longquan Kiln is located in Longquan County, Zhejiang Province, and belongs to the southern celadon system. It started firing in the early Northern Song Dynasty, entered its heyday in the mid - late Southern Song Dynasty, and gradually declined after the mid - Ming Dynasty. The existing Longquan celadon products date down to the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, with a firing history of 700 to 800 years.
Longquan celadon is known as "a pearl in the porcelain garden" for its glaze color as green as jade, as bright as a mirror, and as resonant as a chime, and is loved by celadon enthusiasts around the world. In the Northern Song Dynasty, it began to be exported to the Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, and other countries. In the mid - Southern Song Dynasty, the export volume of celadon further increased. During the Yuan Dynasty, with the development of trade, Longquan porcelain, as one of the main products, was sold to dozens of countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. In the Ming Dynasty, Longquan celadon was introduced to Europe, where it was highly favored and valued.
8. Cloisonné
Cloisonné is a special metal craft in China. It reached its peak during the Jingtai period of the Ming Dynasty, and the exquisite crafts made at that time were well - known, hence the name. Its official name is "copper - body filigree enamel", and it is commonly known as "falang" or "inlaid enamel". It is a kind of artifact made by pinching flat copper wires into patterns on a copper body, soldering them on, then filling the patterns with enamel glaze, and firing them.
Because it was popular during the Jingtai period of the Ming Dynasty, the production technique was mature, and the enamel glaze used was mainly blue, it was named "Cloisonné". As one of China's traditional crafts, Cloisonné has high artistic value. Its production process is complex and time - consuming, and it is known as "the pinnacle of Chinese porcelain art" (note: the original text mentions "Chinese porcelain art", which is retained as per the source; in fact, Cloisonné is a metal craft, not porcelain).
9. Enamel Color Porcelain
Famille Rose is one of the porcelain decoration techniques, derived from painted enamel. Porcelain using this technique is often referred to as Famille Rose Porcelain for short. As a kind of colored porcelain with strong Chinese characteristics, it is decorated with glaze colors such as yellow, blue, white, red, and black. It has rich colors and exquisite craftsmanship, and is known as "the flower of Chinese porcelain art".
Famille Rose is an overglaze color decoration that transplants the painted enamel technique to the porcelain body. It was first created in the late Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty and developed during the Yongzheng period. Under the order of Emperor Kangxi, Famille Rose Porcelain was a new type of colored porcelain created by transplanting the copper - body painted enamel technique to the porcelain body. The output was the largest during the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, and few were made after the Qianlong period.
10. Famille Rose
Famille Rose is a traditional overglaze color in China, mainly using green, red, blue, and yellow colors. It has soft and elegant colors and is known as "the flower of Chinese porcelain art".
As one of the porcelain decoration techniques, it is derived from painted enamel. Porcelain using this technique is often referred to as Famille Rose Porcelain for short. It is an overglaze color decoration that transplants the painted enamel technique to the porcelain body. First created in the late Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, it developed during the Yongzheng period. Under the order of Emperor Kangxi, Famille Rose Porcelain was a new type of colored porcelain created by transplanting the copper - body painted enamel technique to the porcelain body. The output was the largest during the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, and few were made after the Qianlong period.
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