Pottery

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The Shang Period

The Neolithic prototypes became the basis for bronze vessels during the Shang period (c. 1766-c. 1027 bc), and Shang ceramic moulds for bronze casting, made of high-quality clay, have been found. Shang pottery was of four basic types, most of them found at the capital at Anyang, in present-day Henan Province. The first continued the Neolithic functional tradition in coarse grey clay, decorated with impressed cords or in incised geometric patterns; the second consisted of dark grey imitations of bronze vessels; the third, white pottery with finely carved decoration resembling bronze designs; the last, glazed stoneware.

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Zhou Period to Six Dynasties

Except for the white pottery, all the Shang types continued in the Zhou period (c. 1027-256 bc). Coarse red earthenware with lead glazes was introduced in the Warring States era (403-221 bc); this ware too resembled bronzes. In the south, stoneware with a pale brown glaze was fashioned into sophisticated shapes.

The discovery in 1974 of the terracotta army of Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty (221-206 bc)—an imperial bodyguard of more than 6,000 life-size soldiers and horses buried in military formation—added new dimensions to modern knowledge of the art of the ancient Chinese potters. These handsome idealized portraits, each with different details of dress, were modelled from coarse grey clay, with heads and hands fired separately at high earthenware temperatures and attached later. The assembled figures were painted with bright mineral pigments (a procedure called cold decoration), most of which have now flaked.

Tomb figures and objects with moulded and painted decoration continued to be made in the Han dynasty (206 bc- ad 220); these included houses, human figures, and even stoves. Bricks were sometimes decorated with scenes of everyday animal and human activity. Also produced were grey stoneware with a thick green glaze, and reddish earthenware.

During the Six Dynasties period (ad 220-589), celadon stoneware, a precursor of later porcelain celadons, began to appear. (Celadons are transparent iron-pigmented glazes fired in a reduction kiln and yielding grey, pale blue or green, or brownish-olive.) Called Yue (or green) ware, they were less influenced than earlier pottery by the shapes of cast bronzes. Jars, ewers, and dishes became more delicate in line and classical in contour, and some had simple incised or moulded ornament.

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Tang and Song Dynasties

Tomb figures and stoneware continued to be made during the Tang dynasty (618-907), showing stylistic influences from Central Asia. Bowls and basins with carved decoration were exported to India, South East Asia, and the Muslim Empire. Two important ceramic types, however, characterized this period. One was a fine, white earthenware covered with a lead glaze of glowing yellow and green tints, often in mottled patterns. The other, the most significant innovation of the Tang potters, was porcelain—made into thin, delicate bowls and vases with clear, bluish or greenish glazes.

Porcelain was further refined in the Song dynasty (960-1279), the age in which all art flourished, and the greatest era of Chinese ceramics (see Porcelain: Oriental Porcelain).

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Korea

Chinese pottery and porcelain always exerted a strong influence in Korea, but Korean potters introduced subtle variations on Chinese models. Grey stoneware, found in tombs, was typical of the Silla dynasty (57 bc-ad 935). Song-influenced celadons characterize pottery of the Koryo dynasty (918-1392). Later work, although less refined, was admired for its straightforward dignity. Koreans, in turn, introduced their own and Chinese pottery into Japan.

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Japan

The earliest ceramics of Neolithic Japan, those from the Jōmon period (c. 10-c. 300 bc), were shaped by hand, usually by the coil method. Decorated with impressions of cords and mats, they were baked in an open fire at a low temperature. Colours were reddish or ranged from grey to black. Some cult figures and utilitarian vessels were highly burnished or covered with a red iron oxide. The pottery of the Yayoi culture (c. 300 bc-c. ad 250), made by a Mongol people who came from Korea to Kyushu, has been found throughout Japan. The Yayoi used the wheel for their yellow and light brown earthenware, the smooth surface of which was at times painted bright red.

Two basic kiln types—both still in use—were employed in Japan by this time. The bank, or climbing, kiln, of Korean origin, is built into the slope of a mountain, with as many as 20 chambers; firing can take up to two weeks. In the updraft, or bottle, kiln, a wood fire at the mouth of a covered trench fires the pots, which are in a circular-walled chamber at the end of the fire trench; the top is covered except for a hole to let the smoke escape.

From the later Kofun, or Tumulus (Grave Mound), period (c. ad 250-552), pottery was found in the enormous tombs of the Japanese emperors. Called Haji ware, it resembled Yayoi pottery. More truly unique were the haniwa, delightful unglazed reddish earthenware figures that surrounded the tombs—houses, boats, animals, women, hunters, musicians, and warriors. Although the haniwa lack the grandeur of the Qin emperor's army, they compensate for it with their rustic vitality. Sué was another pottery of this period, a grey stoneware fired in a climbing kiln and decorated with a natural ash glaze (one formed during the firing as ash from the wood fuel fell on the pots). Originating in Korea, the natural ash glaze became characteristic of later Japanese wares made at Tamba, Tokoname, Bizen, and Shigaraki. Jars, bottles, dishes, and cups were made, some with sculpted figures. Sué ware continued to be made in the Asuka period (552-710), when Chinese cultural and religious influences were just beginning.