Page 484 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

such wares were made at one or more of the 196
11
kilns found along the shores of the lake. Frag-
ments of an octagonal bottle very similar to the one
found at Famen Monastery have also been found
12
at one of the Shanglin kiln sites. Thus the wares
dedicated by Emperor Yizong in 873 were without
any doubt fired as tribute ware at the Yue kilns at
circles of spur marks, fourteen in the outer row and some time during his reign, which began in 860.
7
twelve in the inner row. So lightly did the vessels The presence of such tribute wares among so many
rest on their supports during the firing that not gold and silver vessels made in the imperial work-
even a hint of the spurs appears on the vessels, shops marks an important advance in the status
while the flat surface of the foot is hardly disturbed. of ceramics, destined to be increasingly important
An even, smooth gray-green glaze covers the entire in the Northern Song dynasty. Indeed, the control
vessel; the glaze on the foot has the appearance of of the kilns that produced them was eventually
having been partly washed off before firing, so as to come directly under the administration of the
not to adhere too much to the spurs, which were court, in order to guarantee both quality and
probably flakes of quartz, set on edge in a prepared exclusivity. RW
8
clay disk. The technique of firing on spurs is seen
in high-quality wares from Yaozhou and, at its most 1 Song 1992, 244. Although this is not immediately apparent
from the plan in the preliminary report, some of the
refined, on Ru wares of the Late Northern Song bowls, and the remains of the box, can be seen in the
dynasty. drawing of the objects in front of the doors. Wenwu
That efforts were made to ensure the highest 1988.10,11, fig. 11.
2 In Chinese, the word ci ("porcelain") is used for both
possible quality is evident in the care taken to stoneware and porcelain. The requirement that porcelain
finish the saggers used to protect the vessels from be both white and translucent, as well as resonant, is a
ash and flame during the firing. These saggers Western convention.
3 Feng 1988, 37.
are of porcelain, lidded, and lightly glazed inside 4 Famensi 1994, 76 - 77.
9
and out. As with some of the other bowls, traces 5 Zhu Boqian 1993, 252. A reducing atmosphere is obtained
by closing the kiln openings at a certain point in the
of a buff-colored paper with a woodblock print of
firing cycle. This has the effect of starving the flames
a woman adhered to the outside. Woodblock prints of oxygen, and some of the chemically combined oxygen
were evidently used to separate the nested bowls in the glaze material is thereby removed or "reduced,"
e.g., ferric oxide (Fe 2O~) becomes ferrous oxide (FeO).
when they were placed in the deposit, and the ink
6 Excavated in 1987 (FD 4.011); reported: Shaanxi 19883,
has left an imprint on the surface of the glaze. 24.
In literary records, the mi se porcelain vessels 7 Song 1992, 248.
8 Nigel Wood, personal communication.
are associated with the Yue wares made in Zhejiang
9 Zhu 1992, 251.
province. In the city of Ningbo, more than seven 10 Lin Shimin 1976, 60 - 61.
hundred porcelains, mostly from Yue, and including 11 Zhu 1992, 251.
12 Wang 1996, fig. 60.
one with a molded design of a crane and the char-
acters Dazhong ernian (second year of Dazhong
[=Taizhong, 848]) were found in winter 1973 be-
10
neath the Tang city walls. The majority were from
Yue, with the characteristic fine clay body and
smooth green glaze of the wares found at Famen
Monastery. A reference to the "tribute kiln" in-
scribed on an epitaph jar dated 887, from a tomb
excavated at Lake Shanglin in 1977, is evidence that

483FAMEN MONASTERY AT FUFENC