Characteristics and firing techniques of mature porcelain in the Eastern Han Dynasty

The burial artifacts unearthed from the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and most of the products have the characteristics of porcelain luster, tight combination of tire glaze, strong hardness of porcelain and low water absorption, indicating that these artifacts have all the physical characteristics of mature porcelain.

The glaze layer is obviously thicker than the original porcelain, with a strong gloss, the moss glaze is firmly and tightly combined, and the glaze is elegant and clear. Eastern Han Dynasty porcelain was obtained under the conditions of the reform of raw material crushing and molding tools, the improvement of the preparation method of tire glaze, the progress of the kiln structure, and the improvement of firing technology, which laid the foundation for the development of the porcelain industry in the Three Kingdoms, the Two Jin Dynasties, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

Firing technology: selecting porcelain-making raw materials, mastering the chemical composition of raw materials, fine processing of raw materials, and glazing are the internal factors of porcelain. However, when the firing temperature is below 1200, it cannot be fired into porcelain, such as modern fine pottery.

To make celadon, it is necessary to properly grasp the reducing atmosphere in order to be fired into an emerald blue glaze. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Shangyu kiln has solved the selection of raw materials, and the emergence of the dragon kiln has created conditions for increasing the firing temperature. Therefore, in some of the kiln sites of primitive celadon, mature celadon was found.

For example, in the kiln site of Shangyu Lianjiang Dahuao, there are primitive celadon and celadon fragments piled together, which is the original porcelain and celadon fired together in the same kiln. At the site of the Xiaoxiantan porcelain kiln in Shipu near Dahuao, the author selected three porcelain tiles for water absorption measurement. The thickness of the glaze layer is above, the glaze is light cyan, and the glaze has no cracks; The tire is made of porcelain stone with an iron content of less than 2%; The firing temperature is above 1250, the porcelain is good, the tire is white, delicate and dense, the thin piece of the tire is slightly transmitted, and the tire glaze is firmly combined.

The water absorption rates are ., respectively26% and, basically has met the requirements of modern porcelain.

Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, some kiln sites in addition to the firing temperature has reached about 1300, the firing atmosphere can also be better controlled, after entering the Three Kingdoms, the firing technology is more proficient, the Western Jin Dynasty celadon piece of Shangyu County Tent Mountain, the firing temperature is 1280, the Western Jin Dynasty celadon piece of Anshan in Shangyu County is as high as 1300, and the firing atmosphere is also better controlled.

The control of the firing atmosphere is mainly to control the increase or decrease of the amount of air entering the kiln. The flame nature of celadon during firing depends on the reduction ratio of the glaze of the product. The larger the reduction ratio, the stronger the reduction ability of the atmosphere. On the contrary, the weaker the reduction ability, when the reduction ratio in the glaze is lower, the atmosphere properties gradually change from reduction to oxidation, and the following becomes a strong oxidation property.

According to the analysis of the Institute of Ceramics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the FeO content and Fe2O3 content in the Anyang glazed pottery tire in the late Yin Dynasty were fired in an oxidizing atmosphere. The FeO content and Fe2O3 content in the porcelain tire of Shangyu Yue kiln in the Eastern Han Dynasty are fired in a strong reducing atmosphere, and the reduction ratio is 15 times greater than that of the glazed pottery of the Yin Dynasty, which proves that the firing atmosphere has been successfully controlled.

How to distinguish between Eastern Han celadon and Three Kingdoms celadon?

In the Han Dynasty, clay was used as a billet and fired in a kiln. It is mainly a variety of eating utensils, storage utensils and other containers, but also other household utensils, as well as bright utensils specially made for burials. Depending on the age and region, the types and shapes of the utensils, the production method, the ornamentation, and the firing temperature are all different.

It can be roughly divided into four categories: gray pottery, hard pottery, glazed pottery and celadon.

The Han Dynasty lasted for nearly 500 years and was an important period in Chinese history. It was during the Han Dynasty that China completed its transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, and at the same time completed the final transition from a slave society to a feudal society. From the history of the development of Chinese ceramics, the Han Dynasty was a period of transition from primitive celadon to mature celadon, and by the time of the two Jin Dynasty, the original porcelain had been basically eliminated and completed the historic transformation. From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the early Han Dynasty, the porcelain industry did not develop by leaps and bounds, which may be related to the social background at that time

Princes and nobles used fine gold, silver, or bronze ware, while the general public used bamboo, wood, or pottery. In the Han Dynasty, the porcelain industry had a great development, when the kilns in the southeast were densely packed, and the pottery car drawing embryo molding replaced the mud strip disc construction method, making the porcelain embryo more refined. The glaze has also been greatly improved, the glaze layer is obviously thickened, the luster is strong, the vitrification is good, and the tire glaze is tightly combined.

The scientific test and analysis of the Han Dynasty porcelain specimens unearthed in Zhejiang show that the porcelain carcass was dense at that time, with strong light transmittance, and was in a completely sintered state, and the porosity and water absorption rate were significantly lower than those of the original porcelain, and the bending strength had reached 710 kilograms per square centimeter, which was close to or equivalent to the standard of modern porcelain. Now in the Shangyu County Cultural Management Office of Zhejiang Province, a piece of Eastern Han Dynasty Yue kiln blue glaze four series jar, straight mouth, short neck, sloping shoulders, bulging belly, flat bottom, the tire is gray and delicate, the glaze is green and moist, the tire glaze is dense, and there is no trace of any original celadon characteristics.

The experts in Bo Bao Bao Zhen** suggest that you shop around, so that you will have the bottom in your heart.

1. Different raw materials for tires: pottery generally uses clay, a few also use porcelain clay, and porcelain is made of porcelain stone or porcelain clay, because of different raw materials, its composition is different;

2. Tire color: The iron content in the raw materials of pottery tires is high, generally red, brown or gray, and opaque. The porcelain is white in color, transparent or translucent;

3. The type of glaze: the surface of the pottery is generally not applied or low-temperature glaze, and its flux is lead oxide. The glazed porcelain surface has a glassy bright layer, composed of porcelain clay and flux;

4. Firing temperature: the firing temperature of pottery is 700 degrees Celsius to 1000 degrees Celsius, and the firing temperature of porcelain is above 1200 degrees Celsius;

5. Total porosity: the total porosity of pottery is 12.5 to 38 percent, and that of original porcelain is 4 to 8 percent;

6. Water absorption: the water absorption rate of ordinary pottery is more than 8%, and that of porcelain is less than 0.5%.

After the original porcelain appeared from the Shang Dynasty, it passed through the Western Zhou Dynasty.

From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Eastern Han Dynasty, it has undergone changes and development from 1600 to 1700 years, and Chinese porcelain has gradually developed from immaturity.

to maturity. The porcelain made from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin dynasties is mostly celadon from the unearthed cultural relics. These celadon porcelains are finely processed, the tire is hard, does not absorb water, and the surface is covered with a layer of cyan vitreous glaze.

This high-level porcelain-making technology marks a new era in Chinese porcelain production.

China's white-glazed porcelain germinated in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and in the Sui Dynasty, it has developed to a mature stage. In the Tang Dynasty, there were new developments. The firing temperature of porcelain reaches 1200 °C, and the whiteness of porcelain has reached more than 70%, which is close to the standard of modern high-grade fine porcelain.

This achievement is underglaze.

and the development of overglaze porcelain.

Song Dynasty porcelain. In terms of fetal quality, glaze and production technology, there have been new improvements in fiber, and the porcelain firing technology has reached a full maturity level.

So the answer is c

Southern dynasties.

During the Western Han Dynasty, the original porcelain still imitated copper ritual ware, and after the Eastern Han Dynasty, the porcelain used in daily life increased dramatically. The celadon invented by the craftsmen of the Eastern Han Dynasty was mainly used in the production of porcelain for daily life from the beginning.

Official kiln celadon vase.

Jun kiln blue glaze red markings bottle.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Yue kiln in Zhejiang Province used porcelain stone raw materials to make tires, and the firing temperature of the kiln increased, and a relatively mature celadon appeared, which can be said to be an important turning point in the mileage of Chinese ceramic art.

Eastern Jin Dynasty, the decoration is simple, multi-body light element draw one or two string lines, there is a lotus petal pattern at the end of the Jin Dynasty, the late period of the Western Jin Dynasty, the brown color glaze decoration is popular. The green glaze is dotted with sauce-colored markings, using brown dot painting patterns, which are composed of two different forms: dots and lines, one is to add a few points of brown color to the edge, shoulder, and abdomen of the vessel, or to form various patterns with brown dot color on the shoulders and abdomen; One is to draw long strips of line, the length and thickness of which depend on the size of the picture. All of them are painted with pigments with high iron content.

For example, "brown color chicken head pot" (unearthed in the suburbs of Wenzhou), in the handicap, chicken head and handle on the decoration of color points, 18 dots between the shoulders and abdomen form a circle, and then take the head handle, ears as the starting point out of four arcs, up and down cross into 8 intervals, each interval decorated with a round flower. There are also "brown color four-series cans" and so on.

blue and white porcelain and porcelain enamel;

1, Qianlong blue and white porcelain, Qianlong Dynasty blue and white porcelain can be summarized into two categories, one is the typical Qianlong ware, the other is the Qianlong antique. The production volume of typical Qianlong ware is very large, and it is the main body of porcelain for public life, furnishings and export porcelain at that time. It inherits the characteristics of Kangxi and Yongzheng blue and white, and continues to develop, innovate and improve on its basis, which is reflected in the unprecedented achievements in production skills.

From the point of view of process production, the molding of the carcass, the drawing of green materials, etc., each Xun brother process is meticulous, Seiko meticulous, and strive for perfection. Qianlong antique porcelain is not as strict as Yongzheng antique porcelain, but the output is much greater than that of Yongzheng Dynasty. The method of imitating antiquity basically follows the previous dynasty, and the most imitated is the blue and white porcelain of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty.

The blue and white porcelain of the Qianlong official kiln is not only different from the quiet and auspicious Kangxi blue and white, but also different from the elegant Yongzheng blue and white, it is to win with dense ornamentation, neat dyeing and painting, and novel shape. The blue and white of the folk kiln is rich in variety, the color is bright, the picture is diverse, the shape is novel, and the difference between fine porcelain and coarse porcelain is very great.

2. The enamel porcelain of the early Qianlong Dynasty was exquisitely made, and the products of the Yongzheng period were indistinguishable, but the later products were slightly coarse, and the office of the late Changbo period was basically stopped. At that time, the "Qixiang Palace" and "Ruyi Pavilion" in the palace, as well as the Summer Palace and Prince Yi's Mansion all fired enamel porcelain. Compared with the elegant and beautiful Yongzheng period, the Qianlong enamel porcelain is rich and gorgeous, rich in ornamentation, popular color and light style, and the number of animals, landscapes and figures has increased greatly compared with the previous two dynasties.