What did the Song dynasty use porcelain for?

What did the Song dynasty use porcelain for?

Several of these regional ceramic wares were so valued during their day that they were used as tribute and yearly taxes to the imperial court. In terms of technical expertise, inventiveness, and aesthetic perfection of glaze and shape, the Song period stands unrivaled for the quality of its ceramic ware.

Did the Song dynasty make porcelain?

Provincial and export wares The fine porcelain of Dehua in Fujian province was first made, perhaps, in the early part of the dynasty.

Why was the porcelain important during the Tang and Song dynasty?

Porcelain Promoted China’s International Trade But in the Song era (960–1279), Chinese porcelain was exported in unprecedented quantities thanks to the prosperous maritime trade. China was then the most prosperous technologically advanced country in the world.

What dynasty made blue and white porcelain?

The Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) is famed for its blue and white porcelain.

How can you tell a Song Dynasty pottery?

Song dynasty (960-1279) ceramics have straightforward shapes and, says Mowry, are mostly ‘characterised by light-coloured, subtly-hued glazes’. Though kilns often produced various types of wares, in general each was known for producing a specific type of ware.

Why was porcelain important in China?

In the ancient world porcelain was a necessity. For everyday use, it was used to create cups, plates, and other useful items. Exquisite, high-quality porcelains were usually housed as decoration or served as gifts. It was also used to create decorative statues and ornate trinkets for the higher classes.

Why porcelain is so important ancient China?

Porcelain is the creative fruit of the working people of ancient China. Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, porcelain has been exported worldwide. It promotes economic and cultural exchange between China and the outside world, and profoundly influences the traditional culture and lifestyle of people from other countries.

Why was porcelain important to early Chinese society?

What is Qing Dynasty porcelain?

The Qing Dynasty is a period specially noted for the production of color glazes. In the area of monochromes, Qing potters succeeded in reproducing most of the famous glaze colors found in ceramic wares of the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties.

What colors were typically used in Ming dynasty pottery?

In the first period of Ming rule blue-and-white porcelain was the most highly prized, as it had been under the Mongol rulers of the Yuan Dynasty (1215-1368 CE). The blue (cobalt oxide sourced from central Asia, particularly Iran) was painted onto the porcelain body and then covered with a glaze called Yingqing.

What is the meaning behind cracks on Song ceramics?

Patterns of crackle lines form in the glaze, allowing the dark, clay body to peak through. The crackles are not entirely accidental cracks—a defect that would sometimes occur from a failed firing of ceramics—instead, the potters intentionally created this effect for its visual appeal.

How did the Song dynasty influence the development of porcelain?

The use of painted decoration, begun during the Song period at Cizhou, also became much more widespread, and the two techniques were combined in a manner that later affected the course of porcelain manufacture throughout the world. The Gegu Yaolun of 1388 refers to shufu ware, a type of white porcelain.

What were the wares of the Song dynasty?

The wares of the Song dynasty are particularly noted for brilliant feldspathic glazes over a stoneware body and their emphasis on simplicity of form. Decoration is infrequent but may be incised, molded, impressed, or carved; a certain amount of painted decoration was done at Cizhou (present Handan) in Hebei province ( see below ).

Was the Yuan dynasty a transitional period between the song and Ming?

The Yuan, or Mongol, dynasty is often regarded as being no more than transitional between Song and Ming types. This is not entirely true. Undoubtedly, many Song types were continued, just as the Tang types were continued at the beginning of the Song dynasty, but there are other wares that represent a new departure.

What is the name of the kiln in the Song dynasty?

Ding kiln is one of the five most famous kilns in the Song Dynasty, the other four being Ru kiln (named after its ancient location), Guan kiln (exact location unidentified), Ge kiln (exact location unidentified) and Jun kiln (named after its ancient location).