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Chapter 07 (pp. 330-385)_Layout 1  7/7/10  5:42 PM  Page 332







                      of  the  new  and  prosperous  city  center  was  “so  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  with  its  olive  color
                      vast . . . that it seems quite past all possibility. . . . To the  celadons (discussed more fully later). The Chinese elite
                      city . . . are brought articles of greater cost and rarity, and  continued  to  esteem  green-glazed  wares  through  the
                      in greater abundance of all kinds, than to any other city in  Yuan dynasty and into the Ming dynasty.
                      the world . . . no day in the year passes that there do not
                      enter the city 1,000 carts of silk alone.” 2           longquan celadon
                        Some of the cultural exchanges most significant to the  Once  favored  by  the  Song  imperial  court  for  their
                      Yuan  imperial  court  were  with  the  subordinate  Il-  sumptuous  jade-like  tribute  wares,  the  Longquan  kilns
                      Khanate  of  Persia,  initially  run  by  Khubilai’s  brother  expanded  production  in  the  fourteenth  century  to  in-
                      Hulegu  (r.  1256–1265).  The  khanate  included  present-  clude an ever-increasing number of large, sturdy, molded
                      day  Iran,  Iraq,  Afghanistan,  Turkmenistan,  Armenia,  wares  for  domestic  and  foreign  markets.  Early  Yuan
                      Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and Western Pakistan. For-  Longquan potters continued to employ production tech-
                      mal exchanges with this khanate and others probably be-  niques  used  at  the  Southern  Song  imperial  Jiaotanxia
                      gan  when  Khubilai  Khan  adopted  the  dynastic  title  of  kilns, such as application of multiple coats of glaze and
                      Yuan in 1271. During the Yuan dynasty, Chinese art and  slight underfiring, which gave the items a rich, lustrous,
                      culture were subjected to a wide range of foreign influ-  jade-like surface (Figs. 7.2, 7.3). At the Jiaotanxia site in
                      ences, including the tastes and preferences of its Mongol  Hangzhou, for instance, potters focused on making imi-
                      rulers, while the rulers themselves gradually became more  tation Song Guan and Yuan Ge wares with elegant forms
                      sinicized (Fig. 7.1).                                and jade-like glazes. A particularly fine example is a ewer
                        Our current understanding of the ceramics of this pe-  in the Sir Percival David Collection at the British Mu-
                      riod synthesizes information from historical events, extant  seum  (Fig.  7.4).  It  has  a  translucent  gray  green  glaze
                      ceramic masterworks, and revelations from dated and un-  whose color, but not necessarily date of production, lies
                      dated archaeological discoveries, along with the work of  between the kingfisher blue glaze of the temple vase held
                      Liu Xinyuan on early imperial wares of Jingdezhen. 3  by the Detroit Institute of Arts and the glassy pea green
                                                                           glaze often seen on other works more likely made toward
                                                                           the end of the Yuan dynasty; later in the Yuan dynasty,
                      Beyond Blue and White: Other Wares
                                                                           unctuous  sea  green  and  glassy  pea  green  glazes  were
                      and Kilns                                            dominant. It is interesting that educated art collectors of
                                                                                    4
                                                                           this  period  may  have  preferred  the  earlier  “kingfisher
                      In the realm of Chinese ceramics, the Yuan dynasty devel-  blue” glazes: Cao Zhao expresses this opinion in his Es-
                      opment  that  has  most  captivated  the  world  is  blue  and  sential Criteria of Antiquities (Gegu yaolun). 5
                      white (qinghua ciqi). When it first appeared, however, this  Along the major transport arteries of the Oujiang and
                      type of ware was created for only a select few and its ac-  Songxi rivers in southern Zhejiang province, hundreds of
                      ceptance by Chinese patrons and connoisseurs was gradual.  kilns  produced  green-glazed  wares  with  tough,  gray
                      Meanwhile, other wares such as celadons (qingci), Jun ware,  porcelaneous bodies. These wares varied in quality from
                      unglazed  and  lead  glazed  pottery,  Cizhou  ware,  Jizhou  grand to humble, and were created for both domestic and
                      ware, and other types of white ware and porcelain contin-  foreign  markets.  The  largest  kiln  complexes  were  at
                      ued to be made throughout the eighty-nine-year period.  Dayao and Jincun. Archaeological evidence suggests that
                                                                           more than fifty new kilns making Longquan wares sprang
                        Celadon, or Qingci
                                                                           up around Dayao during the Yuan dynasty to satisfy in-
                        During  the  preceding  Song  dynasty,  the  prevailing  creased demand for these highly sought-after and com-
                      taste  was  for  stonewares  with  green  glazes  (known  in  monly traded wares.
                      Chinese  as  qingci  and  usually  translated  as  “celadon”),  Maritime  trade  in  pottery  initiated  by  the  Southern
                      which were often used in imperial court ceremonies. For  Song  government  to  obtain  much-needed  revenue  ex-
                      a brief period during the early twelfth century, the rarest  panded in the Yuan dynasty, with wares moving down-
                      celadon known as Ru ware was made, then widely imi-  river  to  the  nearest  seaport  of  Wenzhou.  Meanwhile,
                      tated  at  the  Yaozhou,  Tangzhou,  Dengzhou,  and  increased demand for humbler trade wares led Longquan
                      Longquan kilns.                                      potters  to  adjust  their  production  techniques  by  stan-
                        The Yaozhou kiln in particular, located in Tongchuan,  dardizing  their  methods  and  using  larger  kilns.  The
                      Shaanxi  province,  enjoyed  great  prosperity  during  the  Longquan  kilns  vied  for  market  dominance  with  the

                 332  Yuan Dynasty Ceramics
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