FREEA NICE LADY IN SHANGHAI AND OTHER STORIES: TURQUOISE LEVEL EBOOK Zhu Yong | 88 pages | 01 Nov 2010 | Macmillan Education | 9780230406605 | English | Oxford, United Kingdom Tiantian Zhongwen by Macmillan Russia - Issuu Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since pre-dynastic times and are one A Nice Lady in Shanghai and Other Stories: Turquoise Level the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. The first pottery was made during the Palaeolithic era. Chinese ceramics range from construction materials such as bricks and tiles, to hand-built pottery vessels fired in bonfires or kilnsto the sophisticated Chinese porcelain wares made for the imperial court and for export. Porcelain was a Chinese invention and is so identified with China that it is still called "china" in everyday English usage. Most later Chinese ceramics, A Nice Lady in Shanghai and Other Stories: Turquoise Level of the finest quality, were made on an industrial scale, thus few names of individual potters were recorded. Many of the most important kiln workshops were owned by or reserved for the emperor, and large quantities of Chinese export porcelain were exported as diplomatic gifts or for trade from an early date, initially to East Asia and the Islamic world, and then from around the 16th century to Europe. Chinese ceramics have had an enormous influence on other ceramic traditions in these areas. Increasingly over their long history, Chinese ceramics can be classified between those made for the imperial court to use or distribute, those made for a discriminating Chinese market, and those for popular Chinese markets or for export. Some types of wares were also made only or mainly for special uses such as burial in tombs, or for use on altars. The earliest Chinese pottery was earthenwarewhich continued in production for utilitarian uses throughout Chinese history, but was increasingly less used for fine wares. Stonewarefired at higher temperatures, and naturally impervious to water, was developed very early and continued to be used for fine pottery in many areas at most periods; the tea bowls in Jian ware and Jizhou ware made during the Song dynasty are examples. Porcelainon a Western definition, is "a collective term comprising all ceramic ware that is white and translucent, no matter what ingredients are used to make it or to what use it is put". Terms such as " porcellaneous " or "near-porcelain" may be used for stonewares with porcelain-like characteristics. Chinese pottery can also be classified as being A Nice Lady in Shanghai and Other Stories: Turquoise Level northern or southern. China comprises two separate and geologically different land masses, brought together by continental drift and forming a junction that lies between the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, sometimes known as the Nanshan - Qinling divide. The contrasting geology of the north and south led to differences in the raw materials available for making ceramics; in particular the north lacks petunse or "porcelain stone", needed for porcelain on the strict definition. Ware-types can be from very widespread kiln-sites in either north or south China, but the two can nearly always be distinguished, and influences across this divide may affect shape and decoration, but will be based on very different clay bodies, with fundamental effects. The kiln types were also different, and in the north the fuel was usually coal, as opposed to wood in the south, which often affects the wares. Southern materials have high silicalow alumina and high A Nice Lady in Shanghai and Other Stories: Turquoise Level oxidethe reverse of northern materials in each case. The northern materials are often very suitable for stoneware, while in the south there are also areas A Nice Lady in Shanghai and Other Stories: Turquoise Level suitable for porcelain. In the context of Chinese ceramics, the term porcelain lacks a universally accepted definition see above. This in turn has led to confusion about when the first Chinese porcelain was made. Kiln technology has always been a key factor in the development of Chinese pottery. These were updraft kilns, often built below ground. Two main types of kiln were developed by about AD and remained in use until modern times. These are the dragon kiln of hilly southern China, usually fuelled by wood, long and thin and running up a slope, and the horseshoe-shaped mantou kiln of the north Chinese plains, smaller and more compact. In the late Ming, the egg-shaped kiln zhenyao was developed at Jingdezhenbut mainly used there. This was something of a compromise between the other types, and offered locations in the firing chamber with a range of firing conditions. Important specific types of pottery, many coming from more than one period, are dealt with individually in sections lower down. Pottery dating from 20, years ago was found at the Xianrendong Cave site in Jiangxi province, [10] [11] making it among the earliest pottery yet found. Another reported find is from 17,—18, years ago in the Yuchanyan Cave in southern China. By the Middle and Late Neolithic about to BCE most of the larger archaeological cultures in China were farmers producing a variety of attractive and often large vessels, often boldly painted, or decorated by cutting or impressing. Decoration is abstract or of stylized animals — fish are a speciality at the river settlement of Banpo. The distinctive Majiayao pottery, with orange bodies and black paint, is characterised by fine paste textures, thin walls, and polished surfaces; the almost complete lack of defects in excavated pots suggests a high level of quality control during production. Previously coil-forming was used for large vessels. Finds of vessels are mostly in burials; sometimes they hold the remains. By — BCE in the Dawenkou culture shapes later familiar from Chinese ritual bronzes begin to appear. One exceptional ritual site, Niuheliang in the far north, produced numerous human figurines, some about half life-size. On some Chinese definitions, the first porcelain was made in Zhejiang province during the Eastern Han dynasty. The dividing line between the two and true porcelain wares is not a clear one. The late Han years saw the early development of the peculiar art form of hunpingor "soul jar": a funerary jar whose top was decorated by a sculptural composition. This type of vessel became widespread during the following Jin dynasty — and the Six Dynasties. The tomb figures that were to recur in the Tang were popular across society, but with more emphasis than later on model houses and farm animals. Green-glazed potteryusing lead-glazed earthenware in part of the later sancai formula, was used for some of these, though not for wares for use, as the raw lead made the glaze poisonous. During the Sui and Tang dynasties to ADa wide range of ceramics, low-fired and high-fired, were produced. These included the last significant fine earthenwares to be produced in China, mostly lead-glazed sancai three-colour wares. Many of the well-known lively Tang dynasty tomb figureswhich were only made to be placed in elite tombs close to the capital in the north, are in sancaiwhile others are unpainted or were painted over a slip ; the paint has now often fallen off. The sancai vessels too may have been mainly for tombs, which is where they are all found; the glaze was less toxic than in the Han, but perhaps still to be avoided for use at the dining table. In the south, the wares from the Changsha Tongguan Kiln Site in Tongguan are significant for their first regular use of underglaze painting; examples have been found in many places in the Islamic world. However their production tailed off as underglaze painting remained a minor technique for several centuries. Yue ware was the leading high-fired, lime-glazed celadon of the period, and was of very sophisticated design, patronized by the court. This was also the case with the northern porcelains of kilns in the provinces of Henan and Hebeiwhich for the first time met the Western and Eastern definition of porcelain, being both pure white and translucent. They have in China a very fine clay with which they make vases which are as transparent as glass; water is seen through them. The vases are made of clay. The pottery of the Song dynasty has retained enormous prestige in Chinese tradition, especially that of what later became known as the " Five Great Kilns ". The artistic emphasis of Song pottery was on subtle glaze effects and graceful shapes; other decoration, where there was any, was mostly in shallow relief. Initially this was carved with a knife, but later moulds were used, with a loss of artistic quality. Painting was mostly used in the popular Cizhou ware. Green ware or celadons were popular, both in China and in export markets, which became increasingly important during the period. Yue ware was succeeded by Northern Celadon and then in the south Longquan celadon. White and black wares were also important, especially in Cizhou wareand there were polychrome types, but the finer types of ceramics, for the court and the literati, remained monochrome, relying on glaze effects and shape. A wide variety of styles evolved in various areas, and those that were successful were imitated in other areas. Whitish porcelain continued to be improved, and included the continuation of Ding ware and the arrival of the qingbai which would replace it. The Liao, Xia and Jin were founded by non-literate, often nomadic people who conquered parts of China. Pottery production continued under their rule, but their own artistic traditions merged to some extent with the Chinese, producing characteristic new styles. The fine pottery of all these regions was mainly high-fired, with some earthenware produced because of its lower cost and more colourful glazes.