Page 34 - Yuan Dynasty Ceramics

Chapter 07 (pp. 330-385)_Layout 1 7/7/10 5:42 PM Page 363

Neiyao kiln, Jingdezhen continued to provide tribute known as Fuliang county in Raozhou prefecture. During
wares to the Northern Song court. When the Song capi- seventy-four years of operation, the Yuan imperial kiln
tal was relocated to Lin’an (present-day Hangzhou), the was known as the Imperial Clay Kiln (Yutu Yao) and the
Department of Palace Supply not only ordered wares Fuliang Porcelain Office (Fuliang Ci Ju). 131 Given the
from private kilns, but also produced imperial (guan) Mongols’ cultural and aesthetic sensibilities, it is to be ex-
wares at two sites near the Southern Song palace. 127 Dur- pected that they would have been drawn to the ceramics
ing the reign of the Southern Song emperor Gaozong (r. of Jingdezhen made with pure white porcelain clay, such
1127–1162), Cheng Dachang (d. 1195) indicated that the as the renowned twelfth- and thirteenth-century qingbai
court preferred white tea bowls, which were supplied by bowls that competed for favor with the late Southern
the kilns of Jingdezhen as tribute. 128 Some tribute quality Song celadon tea bowls from Longquan. 132 Numerous
wares from the Hutian kilns of Jingdezhen have been historical references make it clear that the Mongols con-
found in datable Southern Song and Yuan tombs, cor- sidered the color white auspicious and apotropaic. In
roborating the historical texts. 1206, a white banner with nine fringes was constructed
for the use of the Mongol leader, Temüjin (1167–1227), af-
The Ascendancy of Jingdezhen
ter his unifcation of the Mongols, when, at the source of the
From 1004 to the present, then, the artisans of Wonan River (Kente Mountain, the People’s Republic of
Jingdezhen have produced their finest works for China’s Mongolia), he took the honorable title Chinggis (Genghis).
ruling elite. 129 It was not until the Yuan dynasty, however, His grandson Khubilai Khan conferred on Genghis Khan
that Jingdezhen became the imperial and most prominent (as he is usually known) the posthumous title of Yuan Taizu,
kiln in China. Indeed, Jingdezhen remained the leading Emperor Taizu of Yuan with his reign lasting from 1206-
provider of porcelain to the world until the eighteenth cen- 1227 and this is the source of the occasional dating of the
tury. By that time many nations throughout the world had Yuan dynasty from 1206. As grand khan of the Mongol em-
learned the secret of creating porcelain. pire, Genghis Khan is reported to have said, “The Beiqi
Jingdezhen was situated in a very desirable location. [high-ranking title] is the noblest position . . . When you are
The mountains in northeastern Jiangxi province created the Beiqi, you can ride the white horse, wear the white dress,
a protective barrier for Jingdezhen during wartime and and sit above the people to be respected during discussions
made overland travel arduous. Luckily, the city also lies on the selected auspicious days.” He also bred thousands of
on the banks of a tributary to the Chang River, which snow white horses, and only those directly related to him
joins the Yangtze River to the north and flows southeast- had the right to drink the mare’s milk. White falcons, used
ward to Lake Poyang, the largest freshwater lake in east- for hunting swans, were also considered to be good omens
ern China. The area is blessed with rich, high-quality and were gifts to Genghis Khan. 133 Consistent with the tra-
deposits of porcelain stone, the sole component of dition of hunting swans and geese in the springtime, Khubi-
tenth-century wares. Another kind of clay known as lai and his party are often painted with a variety of white
kaolin, a term derived from Gaolin Hill near Jingdezhen, animals and accoutrements (see Fig. 7.1).
began to be added later and offered several advantages: it White was prominent in other imperial contexts as
made working the prepared clay easier, it increased the well. In 1253, the aristocratic Tibetan monk Phagspa be-
range of temperatures that could be used for firing, and came a spiritual mentor and adviser to Khubilai and his
it enabled the production of hard, white, translucent senior wife, Chabi. Khubilai gave Phagspa a white
porcelain. Lush pine forests provided an abundance of dharma conch shell and authority over all three provinces
timber and created a reduction atmosphere in the kilns, of Tibet. At Phagspa’s suggestion, a white umbrella was
giving the glaze the pale blue green tone known as qingbai erected over the imperial throne in the Grand Bright Hall
or yingqing. 130 (Daming Dian) in Khubilai’s southern capital, Dadu.
White umbrellas were used during Buddhist ceremonies
Auspicious White Porcelain
in tandem with other objects, such as porcelain statues, as
Khubilai Khan adopted the dynastic title of Yuan in high-ranking officials and others moved under the escort
1271, establishing his winter residence at the former Jin of honor guards around and outside the capital. These
dynasty capital at present-day Beijing, which he renamed parasols symbolized protection of the country from evil
Dadu (meaning great capital). In 1278, as part of imperial spirits and other ominous dangers. The large qingbai
protocol, he established the Yuan imperial kiln at the sculptures, like the figure Guanyin excavated in Beijing,
Jingdezhen porcelain center, which was in an area then were also used for such ceremonies (Fig. 7.44). 134

Yuan Dynasty Ceramics 363