Long ago in China, a special material was made into fancy pots and plates for the Imperial Palace. This material is porcelain or tzu, tao or yao in Chinese. True porcelain is composed of two forms of granite in varying stages of decomposing: kaolin (Chinese clay) and petunse (Chinese stone). When these substances are fused together at temperatures around 1,350 degrees Celsius, they form the skeleton and flesh of hard-paste porcelain. In ancient China, porcelain was used to make pots, plates, snuff bottles and cups. Porcelain also was used as a glaze.

Porcelain was invented during the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 BC) at a place called Ch'ang-nan in the district of Fou-Iiang in China. Scientists have no proof of who invented porcelain. They only know when it was invented by dating objects of porcelain they find. Scientists do know that a kind of more modem porcelain called Celadon Porcelain was invented by a man named Ho Ch'ou during the Sui dynasty (581 - 617 AD).

During the Sung dynasty (960-1299 AD), many porcelain objects were made. So many were made in small amounts of time but the quality of the work was not very good. They were often clumsy in shape. The body was never white, but at best grayish in color. They were occasionally red or brown and they were very plain with no intricate designs or engravings. The glaze was imperfect and uneven in the distribution and there were also many bubbles and drops of extra glaze. The porcelain objects made now are better in quality and are richly decorated.

During the Ch'ing dynasty (1644 AD - Fall of Empire in Modem Times), Chinese people decorated their porcelain objects with symbolic ornaments. The porcelain was decorated with scenes from stories, history and romance. The scenes of history and romance were especially popular with the K'ang Hsi decorators of blue and white and Famille verte porcelain. More formal porcelain objects would have scenes painted on them illustrating the life and customs of the times: peaceful scenes with interiors of houses or women and children playing in a garden. They also painted pictures of dragons, civil processions and military processions. The painting of the objects was also related to religion. The Buddhist painted their porcelain with lotuses and symbols related to Nirvana.

During the seventeenth century, vast quantities of Chinese porcelain objects were made especially for export. These exports inspired people to make porcelain in the Western country. In the middle ages, Celadon porcelain was highly prized and exported to India, Persia, Egypt, other parts of Asia, Africa, and was exported also from Egypt to parts of Europe.

Ancient porcelain from the Sung dynasty is very rare. Scientists usually find the porcelain buried in ancient tombs because in many places, people bury dead people with their possessions for spiritual and religious reasons. People all around the world are manufacturing porcelain to this day.
 

Chinese Porcelain Bibliography

Cushion, John P. Pottery and Porcelain. New York: Hearst Books, 1972.

Ebeflein, Harold D.. The Practical Book of Chinaware. New York: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1941.

Hobson, R.L.. Chinese Pottery and Porcelain. New York: Dover Publications, 1976.