Chapter 11 Section 2 Yuezhou Kiln and Changsha Tongguan Kiln

Yuezhou Kiln is located in Xiangyin County, Hunan Province and other places. It is the most representative porcelain kiln in the Dongting Lake area in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. When the production of porcelain in the Tang Dynasty developed rapidly, it was ranked first in the "Tea Classic" by the famous writer Lu Yu. The fourth place is after Yue Kiln, Ding Kiln and Wu Kiln.When praising it, he put it side by side with Yue Kiln. Lu Yu said: "Yuezhou Porcelain and Yuezhou Porcelain are both green, and green is good for tea." Yuezhou kiln has a long history. Archeology proves that porcelain was produced in the Eastern Han Dynasty and developed in the Southern Dynasty.But this kind of development is only an increase in quantity, the porcelain is not fine, the shape is clumsy, and the pattern is relatively simple.In the Tang Dynasty, the production technology has been greatly improved. Although it is not as delicate as Yue Kiln, the level has been greatly improved.There are many types of glazes for Yuezhou kiln porcelain, such as turquoise, sauce green, sauce yellow, etc. The glass is strong, and the ice flakes are finely broken, and some flakes are easy to peel off.

An important achievement of Yuezhou kiln porcelain handicraft industry is the use of saggers since the Sui Dynasty.This is very valuable for improving the firing level of porcelain.The sagger is a container made of refractory mud, and the green body is placed in it to protect it, which can prevent the flame from burning the body directly. The heat passes through the sagger and acts on the green body evenly, and at the same time, it can avoid smoke pollution and improve the quality.Saggers were widely used in Yuezhou Kiln in Tang Dynasty. Changsha Kiln.The central kiln is located in Tongguan Town, Wangcheng County, Changsha City, Hunan Province, so it is also called "Changsha Tongguan Kiln".Kiln sites producing similar products are also found in Wazaping, Shiduhu, Liaojiapo and Changlongpo.Changsha Tongguan Kiln is not recorded in ancient books, but it has a large scale, many varieties, high artistic level and low price.

The production of Changsha kiln began in the Sui Dynasty and probably ended in the Song Dynasty.It belongs to the same system as Yuezhou Kiln.The production process of celadon was obviously influenced by Yue Kiln.Due to the impurity of local raw materials and many impurities, the porcelain produced was inferior to the famous kilns at that time in terms of tire quality and glaze color.However, with the convenience of Xiangjiang River and Dongting Lake going out to sea through the Yangtze River, they are familiar with the conditions of overseas countries and have a strong sense of business; The art form of Chinese calligraphy is unique.According to the analysis of archaeological excavation data, the Changsha kiln produced monochrome glazed celadon at the beginning, but the quality was not good, and the carcass of many works was not sintered.The quality improved significantly in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, and the unique underglaze decoration of the kiln was created in the second half of the 9th century.Its characteristic is to first carve the outline of the pattern on the porcelain carcass, or draw the outline with colored lines, and then fill in brown and green colors along the outline of the pattern.Influenced by the pattern of beads on Persian gold and silverware, the color painting is made in the form of beads.Some utensils, such as amphora, have a huge lotus picture on the whole wall, which is all made of brown and green colored dots.The contents of Changsha kiln underglaze colors include stories of characters, flowers, birds, animals, tropical plants, pagodas, poems, warnings, and even the price of porcelain.These smooth paintings, thanks to the protection of the dense layer of glass glaze, are always bright in color.What is unique in art is that it boldly writes poems and essays that literati think only the upper class can write and enjoy on porcelain, and covers them with glaze so that they will never fall off.People who buy porcelain can enjoy it regardless of high or low, and a large number of poems are folk poems, expressing the feelings of ordinary people.Some reflect the miserable state of mind of people in the war-torn era: "Three battlefields a day, there was no reward or punishment, the general sat down immediately, and the soldiers fell asleep in the snow"; , look at the bright moon after I go, and the scenery is everywhere", "I have a heart of inches, and no one can share it with me, but the wind blows away, and I speak to the moon in the sky"; there is a description of the tenacious spirit of businessmen to open up trade activities: "Xiaoshuitong Big rivers, deep mountains and lots of birds and birds, the owner is good at seeing customers, and the winding roads are also connected." There are also workshop owners who write propaganda advertisements on porcelain in order to attract customers, such as the Changsha kiln porcelain found on Longmei Island in North Korea. It says "The Xiaokou of Zheng's family is number one in the world", and the other said: "Xiaokou of Bian's family is famous all over the world".Some porcelains write people's happy emotions and sing the praises of the bright spring, such as a porcelain pot that says: "Spring water is full of spring pools, spring grass grows in spring, spring people drink spring wine, spring birds squeak [longlongqusheng] spring The sound.” The rich content, ingenious conception, and skillful and unrestrained skills of the underglaze color have opened up a broad road for the development of Chinese porcelain art.Its content is of great value to the study of folk literature, art, customs and history of the Tang Dynasty.It integrates ceramic art with traditional Chinese poetry, painting, calligraphy and porcelain making techniques, which improves the appreciation value of porcelain.

The variety of Changsha kiln porcelain was rare among the major kiln systems at that time.Although they are all daily-use utensils, they are not much different from the utensils popular in the society at that time, but the craftsmen are quick-witted and good at creating. As a result, many novel styles have been created.In addition, there are many small toys to develop children's intelligence, such as lions, ponies, puppies, elephants, turtles, birds, and various characters including barbarians with deep eyes and high noses, people riding animals, etc. Concise, not resemblance in shape, childish and vivid (Fig. 5 [6-14]).

Changsha Kiln Porcelain joined the ranks of overseas trade with its unique style, and became the most exported porcelain kiln system with Yue Kiln and Xing Kiln, and it was found in coastal port cities and sea routes in China from time to time.In order to win the welcome of the people of overseas countries and meet the needs of the people in the selling countries, pictures such as date palm forests, lions, barbarian dances, horseback riding and hunting are painted on the porcelain showing the customs of South Asia, West Asia and North Africa.The works of Changsha Kiln have been found in ancient sites in Japan, North Korea, Iran, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Iraq and Egypt in North Africa.It really deserves to be an outstanding messenger of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.

The celadon kilns of the Tang Dynasty also included Dingzhou kilns, Hongzhou kilns, Qiong kilns (also producing underglaze paintings), Meizhou kilns, Shouzhou kilns, Linchuan Baihu kilns, Xiao kilns and other porcelain kilns. work.