"Blue in the South and White in the North": The firing and development of white porcelain in Sui and Tang Dynasties

Gao Zubei with white glaze in Sui Dynasty

Although white porcelain began to appear in the Northern Dynasties, the real success of firing should be in the Sui Dynasty. 1959, the Anyang excavation team of the Institute of Archaeology of China Academy of Sciences excavated a tomb of Zhang Sheng in 595 AD in Anyang, Henan Province, and found a batch of white porcelain. Although these white porcelains still have some characteristics of celadon, they are much better than those unearthed in Fan Cui's tomb in Wuping, Northern Qi Dynasty.

The iron content in the fetal glaze decreased, the firing temperature increased, and the glazing process was also improved, which increased the whiteness and hardness of the ware. The shape of porcelain is much richer than before, which shows that the molding technology of utensils has been significantly improved.

Porcelain unearthed in Li's tomb in the fourth year of Sui Daye (608) was later than the tomb 13, including celadon and white porcelain. White porcelain has white tread and smooth glaze, and there is no trace of yellow or blue in white glaze, so it should be called white porcelain. In this batch of white porcelain, the double bottles with dragon handles and the pot with dragon heads are the most exquisite.

Sui dynasty white glaze jar

The duplex bottle is unique in shape and beautifully made. Dragon-handled chicken-headed pot is the traditional shape of celadon since Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, but it has been replaced with a new white skirt. The white porcelain bottles unearthed from Uncle Sui's six-year tomb in Anguojiatan and the white porcelain jars unearthed from Wiki Tomb are successful masterpieces of white porcelain in Sui Dynasty.

If it took only 33 years from the initial white porcelain unearthed from Fan Cui's tomb in the sixth year of Wuping in Northern Qi Dynasty (575) to Li's tomb in the fourth year of Sui Dynasty (608), the white porcelain was quickly fired successfully. The firing of white porcelain in Sui Dynasty laid a good foundation for the further development of white porcelain in Tang Dynasty.

1982 In May, a Sui Dynasty white porcelain kiln site was discovered in Jia Cun at the junction of Neiqiu and Lincheng. The white porcelain fired in this kiln includes two kinds of white porcelain, one is white porcelain with gray tires and the other is white porcelain without makeup, which is very delicate. The fired bowls are all deep-bellied, straight-walled and flat-bottomed, which are the same as the white porcelain bowls unearthed in the tomb of the Northern Sui Dynasty.

Tang dynasty white glaze slag bucket

The discovery of the ruins of Sui Dynasty white porcelain kiln in Xingyao in Tang Dynasty proves that white porcelain had developed in this area before the appearance of white porcelain in Xingyao in Tang Dynasty. The discovery of white porcelain kilns in Sui Dynasty in Jia Cun not only filled the blank of white porcelain kilns in Sui Dynasty, but also proved the success of firing white porcelain in Sui Dynasty, which provided important information for studying the development of white porcelain in Tang and Xing kilns in northern China.

The early white porcelain developed to the Sui Dynasty. If it is regarded as a firing period, it should enter the development period from the Tang Dynasty. Sui dynasty white porcelain broke through the traditional celadon style and laid a good foundation for the development of Tang dynasty white porcelain. Compared with Sui Dynasty, white porcelain in Tang Dynasty made a big step forward and changed the development direction of celadon.

Although it was not until the 1970s that the kiln site for firing white porcelain in the Tang Dynasty was discovered in the south of China, the white porcelain in northern Yao Xing not only became a popular famous porcelain at that time, but also appeared in Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi and other vast areas.

Yao Xing White Glazed Jade Bottom Bowl in Tang Dynasty

Therefore, the production of white porcelain has become a common phenomenon in the north, which indicates that China porcelain has entered a new stage where celadon and white porcelain are equally famous. The achievements of porcelain production in the Tang Dynasty are closely related to the appearance of Xing Kiln and the development of white porcelain in the north.

The white porcelain fired by Xingyao reached a high level in Sui Dynasty, which was an important reason for the high development of Xingyao white porcelain in Tang Dynasty. Different from other white porcelain kilns, such as Gongxian kiln in Henan province, celadon is burned first and then white porcelain is burned. Therefore, Xing Kiln is the first important porcelain kiln in the north that successfully fired white porcelain and raised it to the development level of "white as snow". Therefore, it is called the representative of northern white porcelain.

The white porcelain fired by Chengguan in Neiqiu County of Hebei Province and Jia Cun in Lincheng County of Sui Dynasty are basically similar and belong to the same system. The fired straight-mouth deep flat-bottomed bowl is the same as that unearthed in the tombs of the Sui Dynasty in the north. The famous Xing Kiln in Tang Dynasty was developed on the basis of firing white porcelain in Neiqiu and Lincheng of Sui Dynasty. Yao Xing white porcelain is delicate and white, and its production is fine. It is very appropriate for Lu Yu to describe it with "silver sample" and "snow sample" in the Book of Tea.

Yao Xing white glaze jar in Tang Dynasty

With the firing of white porcelain in Yao Xing, porcelain kilns for firing white porcelain also appeared in Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi and other regions. The extensive production of white porcelain in the northern region marks that I have entered a new stage of white porcelain production and development.

In the Sui Dynasty, although white porcelain was successfully fired, celadon still dominated. Until the Tang Dynasty, due to the development of white porcelain production in Yao Xing, white porcelain and celadon kept pace. People have a great interest in "silver-like" white porcelain, which is reflected in the sentence "Prospering the Zhou Dynasty in Yuezhou" in the Book of Tea.

According to archaeological data, many northern white porcelain have been unearthed in Tang tombs in Hunan and Zhejiang. Hunan and Zhejiang are both important producing areas of celadon in the Tang Dynasty, especially a large number of white porcelain unearthed from the Tang tomb in Lin 'an, Zhejiang Province, among which Yueyao celadon is abundant. This shows that after the development of white porcelain production in the north, it was valued by the upper feudal bureaucrats, who ordered from the northern porcelain kiln and transported white porcelain to the south.

White glazed rabbits pricked jars in Tang Dynasty.

In the Tang Dynasty, in addition to the famous Xing kilns and Ding kilns, some white porcelain kilns also developed greatly, such as Gongxian kilns and Mixian kilns in Henan, Pingding kilns and Hunyuan kilns in Shanxi. As a result, the white porcelain system represented by Xing Kiln was formed in the north, and the celadon system represented by Yue Kiln was formed in the south, which kept pace with each other, so there was a saying that "the south is blue and the north is white". In the Tang Dynasty, the pattern of porcelain production was "southern blue and northern white" until the Five Dynasties. Later, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province began to burn white porcelain, which broke the production pattern of "white in the south and white in the north".

Xingyao porcelain is the most famous white porcelain in Tang Dynasty. Li Yang's Supplement to the National History of the Tang Dynasty says that "white porcelain in the inner hills ... is universal." It can be seen that its production scale is large and its influence is far away.

Since 1950s, many white porcelains have been unearthed in tombs of the Tang Dynasty, especially in Shaanxi, Henan and Hebei, some of which may belong to the products of neighboring porcelain kilns. Some exquisite white porcelain, such as the white porcelain bowl unearthed from the Tang Tomb in Xingtai, and the white porcelain bowl and lamp holder unearthed from the Tang Tomb in Xuejiazhuang, Anyang, Henan Province, have the same characteristics as the wares fired in Qicun Kiln in terms of modeling, glaze color and glaze in the center of the jade bottom bowl. In particular, the exquisite workmanship of the lamp holder has not been found in other white porcelain kilns, so it should be the product of Qicun kiln. The fragments of the bottom of the bowl with the word "Ying" unearthed at the Daming Palace site in the Tang Dynasty in An are the same as those unearthed at the Neiqiu Chengguan site and should be products.

White glazed Shuanglong Ear Bottle in Tang Dynasty

According to the preliminary measurement results of Hebei Handan Cultural Relics Appraisal Institute, its whiteness is about 70 degrees or more.

The alumina, iron oxide and titanium oxide of Yao Xing white porcelain tire are obviously lower than those of other contemporary white porcelain, which determines that the sintering degree and whiteness of its tire glaze are higher than that of ordinary white porcelain.

It is proved that the typical "silver-like" and "snow-like" white porcelain in Xingyao is hard in embryo and white in glaze, which is consistent with the records in Tea Classic. Using high-quality raw materials, exquisite production and regular shape.