Page 36 - Yuan Dynasty Ceramics

Chapter 07 (pp. 330-385)_Layout 1 7/7/10 5:42 PM Page 365

tails about the imperial kiln are recorded in the Yuan shi Mongol emperors took special care to identify and
than in the official histories of either the Song or the mobilize talented artisans from among all the peoples
Ming dynasties. they conquered; in fact, artisans from domains that resis-
To understand a bit more about the treatment of pot- ted capture became a form of booty widely distributed
ters under Mongol rule, it is instructive to look at the ad- throughout the empire. A few famous individuals identi-
ministration of potters in other parts of the empire where fied and mobilized in the Yuan court included Nepalese
more details are available. The Il-Khanate (subservient sculptor Anige (1245–1306), the Chinese painter Zhao
khanate) of western Asia was founded by Khubilai’s Mengfu (1254–1322), and the Uighur musician and min-
brother, Hulegu. The Mongol rulers of China and Persia ister of works Tang Renzu (1249–1301). Tang is credited
(now Iran and Azerbaijan) shared a serious interest in with supervising the weaving of a renowned portrait of
producing utilitarian art forms, not only for their aes- Khubilai Khan.
thetic value, but also as a vehicle for generating revenue Through collaborations of artisans from the whole
for the state. The great city bazaars on overland and sea empire, some of the most exquisite works of art ever
routes accelerated the flow of goods and the exchange of produced were created during Mongol rule, not only in
ideas. Areas flourished or foundered based on their ac- the realm of ceramics, but also in painting, sculptures,
cess to trade routes. and lacquer. Utilitarian art forms in fact flourished under
In Kashan, a ceramic center for the Il-Khanate, potters the Mongols, who appreciated both beauty and practi-
had a quarter where they lived and conducted business. cality. Yet the Mongols also had a taste for luxury goods,
Weavers had another. Craftsmen banded together in guilds which they considered a form of political currency and a
and religious brotherhoods. Masters (ustad), who had their standard for measuring cultural superiority. In fact, they
own workshops, were assisted by apprentices (khalifa) and created a system of what some have called conspicuous
pupils (shagird). 140 A letter by Rashid al-Din, historian, physi- redistribution. Within this system, and in keeping with
cian, and adviser to the Il-Khan Ghazan (r. 1295–1304), their nomadic cultural traditions, forms of wearable, eas-
leads one to believe that tradesmen and artisans paid a tax ily transportable wealth such as precious metals, and tex-
(tangha) as high as 10 percent on each transaction. During tiles studded with gemstones, were most esteemed. 143
Ghazan’s reign the tax was reduced to 5 percent. 141 Prior to the political unification of the Mongols in the
There were two types of craftsmen in Iran under the Il- early thirteenth century, however, they had only limited
Khans: free private craftsmen and slaves. When the Mon- access to luxury goods. The historiographer to the Mon-
gols encountered strong resistance in conquest, it was their gols in Iran, Rashid al-Din, mentioned only one com-
standard practice to identify and remove the artisans, then modity desirable to the Genghis Khan that was
slay the others. 142 The artisans were then enslaved and unavailable on the steppes: gold brocade or cloth of gold
moved as needed from one part of the empire to another. (referred to in many texts as nası¯j-ha). 144 Even though the
In Iran, they staffed the special large workshops (ka-khana) Mongols had established imperially sponsored textile
that produced wares for the Il-Khanid family or the treas- centers by the mid-thirteenth century that were staffed by
ury. Slaves were paid in kind for their services, and were al- an ethnically mixed population of artisans, textile ex-
lowed to keep their earnings after paying a fixed tax. changes continued. One such transfer occurred in 1298
With the exception of the presence of a slave work when emissaries from the Iranian Il-Khanate court of
force, there seem to have been many similarities between Ghazan Khan (Temur, r. 1295–1304) returned from
the Il-Khanate model of treatment of artisans and the China with a wealth of silk brocades. 145
imperial kiln system set up in Jingdezhen. Since the long Innovations in porcelain at Jingdezhen during the
contest for the Song capital ended without resistance, the Yuan dynasty are directly attributable to the longstanding
Mongol captors decided for strategic reasons to deal exchanges of materials and technology within the vast
kindly with the Chinese of Lin’an (now Hangzhou); the Mongol empire. For example, Genghis Khan’s successor
artisans in registered service with the Song court thus Ogodei (r. 1229–1241) drafted Chinese ceramicists to aid
probably remained free men. The craftsmen of in the building of his palace at Karakhorum. It was em-
Jingdezhen also were likely to have been free men who bellished with red and green roof tiles, green floor tiles,
profited from works produced in private workshops after and green ceramic murals. 146
imperial orders had been filled. Judging from their coun- Within China, artisans from various parts of the Mon-
terparts in Iran, some probably lived in their workshops gol empire worked with talented native Chinese, some of
and conducted business there. whom had been registered craftsmen during the Song dy-

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