Page 117 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

be determined, but it is certain that it was already
widely produced some six to seven thousand

years ago.

The successful firing of pottery signified the ability
of humans to transmute natural substances for their
own advantage. In studying the techniques of
pottery making during the Neolithic period, we
need to examine the choice of clays, the practice of

washing the clay, the mixture of materials, the
evolution of vessel shapes, firing temperatures, and
the relation between firing conditions and color of

the fired vessel.

On pottery produced by theYangshao culture of Fig. 1. Pottery shard with incised design. Longshan
culture (2400-2000 bce). Shanghai Museum.
the Yellow River basin, the decorative impulse
found expression primarily in painted designs, Fig. 2. Pottery shard with incised design. Liangzhu
whereas in theYangzi basin, during both the culture (ca. 3600-ca. 2000 BCE). Unearthed at Tinglin
site,Jinshan, Shanghai. Shanghai Museum.
Hemudu culture and the slightly later Majiabang
Some three thousand years ago, during the late
through Liangzhu cultures, incised decorations were
prominent. Whether the origins of the incised Shang dynasty, a type of green-glazed ware, different
decorations of the Longshan culture can be traced
to southern influences is a question worth from pottery, appeared. Known as "protoporcelain,"
it was made from clay with an iron content under
pondering. A typology of the incised decorations
3 percent, glazed, and then fired at approximately
on Neolithic pottery reveals clearly that these were I200°C. (By contrast, the clay used in pottery had
the origins of the later bronze decoration (figs. I, 2). an iron content over 3 percent, the early pottery
was all unglazed, and it was usually fired at
The appearance of white pottery marks a technical temperatures under iooo^C.) Probably [200°C was
the highest temperature achievable anywhere .11 thai
advance, the discovery of the potential of kaolin
clay, which by virtue of its extremely high AhO.i —time (not just in China): even bronze casting the
content fires to a white body. But since the —defining technology of the Shang only required
technology of the time did not allow firing
temperatures high enough to sinter the kaolin, these temperatures under [ioo°C. Protoporcelain was
vessels, though white-bodied, are nevertheless highly regarded from the late Shang dynasty, some
"pottery." White pottery has been found in both three thousand years ago. through the Warring
States era, which ended in the late third century
Yangshao and Majiayao culture sites. The Shang bce. Its characteristic thin greenish glazes had iron
oxides as their colorant. The green-glazed :nn
dynasty double-eared white jar in this exhibition (cat. 11.S") in this exhibition is a typical piece of
(cat. 117) was decorated with patterns taken from Shang protoporcelain.

the bronze repertory; it was made solely for

aristocratic appreciation. This type of white pottery
comes mainly from the Shang ruins at Anyang in
Henan Province, and it exemplifies the great skill in
pottery carving achieved during the last phase of
the Shang period.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHINESE CERAMICS 115