Huang, S and Freestone, I 2017 Developments in Ceramic Technology in North China in the Sixth Century AD. Archaeology International, No. 20: pp. 64–68, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/ai-355

RESEARCH UPDATE Developments in Ceramic Technology in North China in the Sixth Century AD Shan Huang and Ian Freestone

Introduction Two of China’s many outstanding contribu- tions to ceramic technology are represented by Sancai (三彩, three-colour) and white (Kerr and Wood 2004: 143–163). The Sancai wares of the (唐, 618–907 AD) are well-known to the general public in the form of the glazed ceramic horses, camels and human figures which grace the collections of many western art and archaeology museums (Wood 2011: 189–211) (Fig. 1). Surprisingly, porcelain is less well-defined. In the Chinese literature, the term can be applied to any high-quality glazed ceramic, while Europeans regard whiteness and translucency as key properties of the material. Our own approach to porce- Figure 1: Tang Sancai horse in the Shaanxi lain is that it should be intended to be white, History Museum (Photo Shan Huang). but is not necessarily translucent, as this is not a condition of the Chinese term. the ceramic industry in the preceding sixth Productions of Sancai and porcelain appear century, which led to the development of to have been well established during the these iconic ceramics. seventh century, and became famous in the Tang Dynasty, as recorded in the historical Porcelain Technology literature in the eighth century. Our project, Sancai and porcelain are technologically very supported by a Chinese Government PhD different. Sancai typically has a glaze rich scholarship and a Chinese Academy of Social in lead and this glaze, fired at low tempera- Sciences project grant to Huang Shan, aims tures, allowed the development of greens to document and understand the changes in and yellows based upon the oxides of copper and iron. Porcelain, on the other hand, has a glaze based upon calcium-rich wood ash with no lead, which required firing to much UCL Institute of Archaeology, London WC1H 0PY, UK high temperatures. A further ceramic type, of Corresponding author: Shan Huang key importance to our research, is , a ([email protected]) green-blue ceramic which is technically close Huang and Freestone: Developments in Ceramic Technology in North China in the 65 Sixth Century AD to white porcelain but seems to have been chronology for the material, as these are a southern technology transferred to the frequently dated by inscriptions. Unlike North (Guo 1987: 3–19). the remarkable amount of burials and Although the famous Chinese blue-and- kilns post-dating the Sui Dynasty (隋, white porcelain was produced from the 589–618 AD), the archaeological evidence fourteenth century, in the southern kilns of ceramic production predating the sev- of Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, white por- enth century remains obscure. However, celain was first developed over a thousand recently, sets of whitewares have been kilo­metres away in the North, in the central unearthed from the Northern Qi Dynasty plain of China, in and prov- (北齐, 550–77 AD, one of the last dynas- inces (Mori 2009: 79–95). The potters took ties of the chaotic Northern and Southern advantage of the natural deposits of kaoli- Dynasties, predating the Sui Dynasty) tombs nitic clay which were low in iron to make in Anyang region. These whitewares are a body which fired white. Although Sancai highly similar to those from the Fan Cui and porcelain are different materials, and tomb (范粹墓, 575 AD) and Li Yun tomb were fired to different temperatures with (李云墓, 576 AD), which have been consid- different glaze compositions, their more- ered candidates for the ‘earliest white por- or-less contemporaneous development celain’ for almost 40 years (Henan Museum is unlikely to have been coincidental; the 1972: 47–57). social conditions which drove ceramic inno- Investigation of the evidence from kilns vation were applicable to both materials, allows us more scope to investigate the pro- while both depended upon the success- duction technology of the ceramics and to ful exploitation of the northern clays to compare different ceramic types in detail. develop a white body which, in the case of For example, whiteware sherds similar to Sancai, was needed as a ground to exploit those from the tombs have been discovered the colours of the glazes to best effect. in a kiln site at Caocun (曹村窑), close to Most theories about of the development the capital of Northern Qi Dynasty, Yecheng of white porcelain consider it to have devel- (邺城遗址). Archaeological excavation of oped from celadon, a similarly high-fired this site has been undertaken since 2014 ceramic (The Chinese Ceramic Society 1982: and the assemblage is undergoing detailed 167; Wang 2005: 1). However, this appar- analysis in the Wolfson Archaeological ently straightforward answer obscures many Science Laboratories at UCL Institute of of the aspects of the process of innovation – Archaeology. duration, location, social impulse and so An important aspect of the examination of on. A detailed assessment of the evidence is kiln material is the extent to which the differ- needed, particularly in the light of recently ent ceramic types were produced together, excavated material. Our approach to the or in close proximity. Was understanding problem comprises three strands: (1) survey passed between different groups of potters, and chronological study of white ceramics and if so, how? in excavation stores and museums in North China (2) provisional characterisation of the Characterisation and Analysis ceramics in the field, (3) detailed characteri- ‘Whiteness’ is a key issue in identifying white sation in the laboratory. porcelain, and the development of a white body and glaze posed a major challenge to Survey and Chronology the potters. A rapid and non-intrusive field We are currently focused on two catego- measurement of colour is essential. We are ries of archaeological material. Funerary using the Munsell Rock Color Book (a colour assemblages from tombs provide a fine chart produced by X-Rite company) to record 66 Huang and Freestone: Developments in Ceramic Technology in North China in the Sixth Century AD the colour of the samples, coupled with digi- make different types of ceramic and how the tal photography using standard colour charts potters approached the challenge of a white, to calibrate white balance and exposure of hard ceramic. the sample photos. As most funerary objects are preserved Conclusion relatively well, portable X-ray fluorescence Surprisingly, given their previous designation (pXRF) is a practical method to determine as porcelain, the early whitewares made at the key compositional features of the glazes Caocun and those found in the tombs appear (Fig. 2). Furthermore, the presence of lead to be exclusively lead-glazed. It seems that in the glaze is easy to identify, so the confir- there was a desire for whitewares as funerary mation of lead-rich glaze is straightforward. ceramics which was addressed by adapting About one hundred funerary objects kept in the traditional northern lead-glazed earthen- museums or storehouses have been analysed ware tradition in conjunction with the north- in situ, to determine whether they have lead- ern white-firing kaolinitic clays. Given their or lime-based glazes. early dating to the Northern Qi (550–77 AD), Detailed laboratory analysis of sampled the Caocun products appear to be the earli- materials using the scanning electron micro- est form of whiteware in North China and it scopes in the Institute of Archaeology is pro- appears likely that they played an important viding in-depth understanding of body and role in demonstrating the potential for white- glaze compositions, information on firing ware development using the northern raw temperatures, recipes and so on. It allows materials. While the Caocun wares present us to compare in detail the methods used to a range of ‘white’ shades, closely correlated

Figure 2: Analysing ceramic samples with pXRF at Anyang Museum in Henan Province (Photo Lihua Shen). Huang and Freestone: Developments in Ceramic Technology in North China in the 67 Sixth Century AD with the amount of iron impurity in specific important changes in ceramic production batches of clay, the vessels selected for the which occurred during the Northern Dynasty. burials appear to have been chosen on the Furthermore, the Northern Dynasty was char- basis of their closeness to a pure white. acterised by strong cultural interactions both Hence, by the time that ‘true’ porcelain was within China and between China and other developed several decades later, there was civilisations via the . The emergence a recognised desire and established ­market of white porcelain-like ceramics at the end for white glazed ceramic which would have of the Northern Dynasty, in forms emulat- driven the innovation. This development ing those of metal and glass wares implies may have occurred at the Xiangzhou kiln that the cultural dynamic and social impulse in Anyang (安阳相州窑), situated some which drove the technical innovation were 20 km from Caocun, and which has yielded complex. large quantities of slightly later celadon and porcelain, dated to the Sui Dynasty Acknowledgements (589–618 AD). We thank colleagues at the Institute of Caocun products also include bichrome Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of and polychrome glazed wares which, in Social Sciences, especially Professor Yanshi combination with the white-firing kaolinitic Zhu, for their help with samples and field body, can be regarded as an early stage in trips. Also generous in their support were the development of Sancai. Although cela- Professor Huimin Wang (Hebei Provincial don has been discovered from the Northern Institute of Archaeology), Professor Wei Zhou Dynasty (北朝, 439–589 CE, comprising five and Ms. Hongmei Yang (Anyang Museum), dynasties which could be divided into three Professor Deming Kong (Anyang Institute periods: Northern Wei, Eastern and Western of Archaeology), and Professor Xiaomeng Wei, Northern Qi and Zhou) tombs, its prov- Wang and Ms. Pei Wang (Shaanxi Provincial enance is still under debate, as the same Institute of Archaeology). At UCL, Drs. Yijie ceramics of closely similar appearance have Zhuang, Patrick Quin and Tom Gregory pro- been found in southern tombs, and identical vided important advice and support. This sherds unearthed from southern kiln sites. study is supported by China Scholarship Several sites in Hebei Province have been Council PhD project funding. claimed as Northern Dynasty celadon kilns, for example the Xing kilns at Neiqiu (内丘) Competing Interests and Lincheng (临城), as well as the Linshui ( The authors have no competing interests to 临水) and Jiabi (贾壁) kilns close to Caocun, declare. but the jury is out as to the precise dating, and the exact characteristics of these produc- References tions have yet to be determined. The Chinese Ceramic Society 1982 History Archaeology is an excellent medium of . Beijing: Cultural through which innovations in material cul- ­Relics Press. ture can be recognised. However, a detailed Guo, Y 1987 Raw Materials for Mak- and properly nuanced understanding of ing Porcelain and the Characteristics the process of innovation requires both a of the Porcelain Wares in North and well-defined chronology and careful analy- South China in Ancient Times. Archae- sis of the materials and the chaîne opéra- ometry, 29(1): 3–19. DOI: https://doi. toire. Recent archaeological discoveries of org/10.1111/j.1475-4754.1987.tb00393.x well-dated funerary assemblages and pro- Henan Museum 1972 Excavation Report duction sites in North China are allowing a of Fancui Tomb of Northern Qi Dynasty in more sophisticated understanding of the Anyang, Henan. Cultural Relics, 1: 47–57. 68 Huang and Freestone: Developments in Ceramic Technology in North China in the Sixth Century AD

Kerr, R and Wood, N 2004 Science and Civi- Wang, Q 2005 Some Issues of the Study lization in China. Vol. 5. Chemistry and on Ancient Chinese White Porcelain, Chemical Technology, Part XII, Ceramic In: Duzeng, W (Ed.) Symposium on Technology. Cambridge: Cambridge Ancient Chinese White Porcelain Pro- ­University Press, pp. 143–163. ceedings. Shanghai: Shanghai Painting­ Mori, T 2009 The Emergency of White and Calligraphy Publishing House, Glazed and White Porcelain, In: pp. 1–7. Research on Chinese Ancient Ceramics. Wood, N 2011 Chinese Glazes: Their Origins, Vol. 15. ­Beijing: Forbidden City Publishing Chemistry, and Recreation. Philadelphia: House, pp. 79–95. University of Pennsylvania Press.

How to cite this article: Huang, S and Freestone, I 2017 Developments in Ceramic Technology in North China in the Sixth Century AD. Archaeology International, No. 20: pp. 64–68, DOI: https://doi. org/10.5334/ai-355

Published: 14 December 2017

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