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BEYOND COMPARE: A Thousand Years of the Literati Aesthetic
A STAR IN THE MORNING
AN EXTREMELY RARE SONG RU
WARE BOWL
Rosemary Scott, Senior International Academic Consultant, Asian Art
he combination of remarkable beauty and great rarity has made Ru wares
Tthe pinnacle to which each successive generation of collectors has aspired
since the late Northern Song period. Of all the ceramics made during China’s long
cultural history, these wares have had the greatest allure for both imperial and literati
connoisseurs alike. When in the Ming and Qing dynasties the designation ‘Five
Famous Wares of the Song dynasty’ʞɽΤᇉ, was employed, Ruϧwas named along
with Guan֜, Geࡩ, Ding֛and Junඓ. However, Ru has remained preeminent, even
within this celebrated group. Such has been the veneration for imperial Ru wares,
that they have continuously been treasured since the time of their production in the
late 11th-early 12th century to the present day. Not only were they sought-after by
the succeeding Southern Song court, they were greatly prized by both Ming and Qing
emperors, and potters of those dynasties were required by their imperial patrons to try
and reproduce the elusive blue glaze of Ru wares.
Their subtle beauty and the fact that even today less than 100 complete Ru ware
vessels are recognised in international collections – the vast majority in museums - has
contributed to the reverence with which Ru wares are regarded. In the catalogue to
the exhibition of Ru wares held at the Palace Museum, Beijing, in 2015, the authors fig. 1
ॱˏ
provided an illustrated list of 90 Ru wares in museums and private collections around
the world - only eight were in private hands (see Selection of Ru Ware – The Palace
Museum’s Collection and Archaeological Excavation ϧନඩණ–݂௹ي৫ޜᔛʿ̈ɺϧ
ନኜ⸭യ, Beijing, 2015, ‘Appendix’, pp. 283-305). Perhaps equally significant in
the context of the current bowl is the fact that only two bowls were included in the
list of 90 Ru pieces listed in the Appendix. It is also interesting that one of those listed
bowls bears an inscription which makes very clear the fact that bowls, as opposed to
dishes, were ‘as rare as stars in the morning’ even in the 18th century.
The height of imperial Ru ware production was during the reign of the Northern
Song Emperor Huizong (Ꮟ֚ r. 1100-1126). While he may not have been
particularly skilful in governing of the Empire, Emperor Huizong has traditionally
been greatly admired as a collector, artist and aesthete, and the refined aesthetics
which characterised his reign were extremely influential in the succeeding centuries.
Huizong’s reputation as an antiquarian as well as an aesthete was due to the publication
of illustrated records of his collection of antiques, as well as to the contemporary art
made for his court and temples, which marked his reign as perhaps the most culturally
inspiring in Chinese history.
Ru ware is also important because it seems that it may have been the first ceramic ware
which was specifically ordered by the imperial court, as opposed to simply being sent as
tribute. Various texts, including Notes from an Aged Scholar’s Hut (Laoxue’an biji ϼኪੳഅ
া) byದ Lu You (AD 1125-1210), state that white Ding wares fell from favour with
the imperial court because they had ‘awns’ (ԅ mang), and were replaced by Ru wares.
݂ேࣛd֛ኜʔɝຫʕdઓ͜ϧኜd˸֛ኜϞԅɰffig. 1
There is a reference to Ru ware manufacture in the تᕏқQingbo Zazhi written in
54 ʔɭ { ҂˾ߕኪɓɷϋ
