Page 51 - Yuan Dynasty Ceramics

Chapter 07 (pp. 330-385)_Layout 1 7/7/10 5:42 PM Page 380

Zheng He, who (as explained earlier) is known as China’s four famous Chinese scholars within ogival panels—
Christopher Columbus and served Zhu Yuanzhang’s Wang Xizhi’s admiration of orchids, Tao Yuanming’s pas-
fourth son, the Yongle emperor, and his grandson, the sion for chrysanthemums, Zhou Dunyi’s appreciation of
Xuande emperor. In this stunning meiping, the finest ma- lotus, and Lin Hejing’s favor for cranes and plum blos-
terials have been combined with the impeccable skills of soms. 229 This rare representation of scholars on Yuan-
the most talented artisans. Many believe that this impe- style blue and white relates to similar scenes on some
rial-quality vessel was produced by workers who moved extant Yuan lacquer works and woodblock prints. 230 Al-
to private kilns after the Mongol imperial kiln ceased op- though the author has not found related zaju about these
eration in 1351 or is a very early example of Hongwu im- scholars, it is perhaps significant to remember that schol-
perial ware (1369–1398). 227 ars were responsible for tremendous contributions to the
Other possible fourteenth-century examples of wares zaju art form. One Yuan zaju by Wang Bocheng (fl.
depicting these tales are Cizhou wares akin to the over- 1250–1300), still in existence, focuses on another leg-
glaze enamel red and green jar, probably produced at the endary literatus, the poet Li Bai: it is entitled “Li Bai Is
Luomaqiao private kiln site where red and green over- Exiled to Yelang.” Other surviving plays are filled with
glaze enamel shards have been found (see Fig. 7.18). Also tales of virtue and the dichotomy between social ideals
worth noting is a turquoise-glazed meiping in the British and reality, such as Han Gong Qiu (Autumn in the Han
Museum with an underglaze iron bearing figural scenes. Palace, otherwise known as the Sorrow in the Han Palace
Indeed, the depiction of zaju subjects on porcelain con- or the story of lady Wang Zhaojun), which is represented
tinued in the Ming dynasty and beyond. 228 But the figural on a Yuan dynasty wine jar not associated with an early
scenes on various types of decorated porcelain of the Ming tomb. On the wine jar, Lady Wang Zhaojun (active
later Ming and Qing dynasties cannot compare with the 48–30 b.c.e.) is shown in route from Chang’an (now
best examples of fourteenth-century imperial drama Xian) to enter into a forced marriage with the barbarian
wares. Indeed, most of the finest examples of Yuan emir Huhanxie Chanyu to preserve peace between China
drama wares are believed to have been made between and the Xiongnu, a nomadic people with origins in what
1333 and 1351 by the Fuliang Porcelain Office (the Yuan is now far northeastern Inner Mongolia. On the jar Wang
imperial kiln). These “noble vessels” were used by the Zhaojun is shown tightly clutching her lute—which she
imperial household and were possibly bestowed on offi- uses to accompany her songs of longing for her home-
cials as signs of imperial favor. They are the Shundi em- land—as she is being led away by burly barbarians to her
peror’s porcelain legacy, and are today considered among new home beyond the Great Wall. 231
the most outstanding artifacts of the Mongol culture. In the past most Yuan-style vessels found in tombs of
the early Ming elite—such as the 1439 tomb of Mu
Ying’s son, Mu Sheng, which included a Yuan-style blue
The Transition from the Yuan to the
and white bowl and meiping—were believed to have been
Ming Imperial Style Ming spoils of war. 232 As mentioned earlier, though, it
seems most plausible to the author that at least some of
Zhu Yuanzhang (1328–1398), founder of the Ming dy- the Yuan-style wares found in the tombs of the early
nasty, started building a regional state in Nanjing in 1356. Ming elite were made after the Yuan imperial kiln closed.
While consolidating his power, the artistic conventions These porcelains in the Yuan imperial style could have
of the Yuan dynasty persisted. In fact, in this author’s been made at private kilns or at the Hongwu imperial
opinion, Yuan-style wares continued to be produced kiln. In keeping with this theory, some may very well
from 1352 to 1368 by potters at private kilns who had have been produced before the new dynasty was declared
worked at the Yuan imperial kiln. The quality of these or before the Ming style associated with the Hongwu
wares depended on the desires of the patron. Many wares reign (1368–1398) developed.
believed to have been produced during this period are In 1368, Zhu, known as the Hongwu emperor, estab-
sketchily painted, probably due to less exacting stan- lished the Ming dynasty. Culturally, his aim was to eradi-
dards. Two Yuan-style meiping, believed to be the tomb cate the stamp of the Mongols by resurrecting the
furnishings of the wife of Zhu Dong (1388–1414, the customs of the Han, Tang, and Song periods of native
twenty-fourth of Zhu Yuanzhang’s twenty-six sons), for Chinese rule. But in 1369 the Ming imperial kiln was es-
example, feature freely executed paintings, one depicting tablished in Jingdezhen, following the Yuan tradition.
a four-claw dragon, and the other illustrating legends of Early in his reign, Zhu Yuanzhang began to revive the

380 Yuan Dynasty Ceramics