Pottery-Making in Ancient China 1 Wenjie Li Contents 1.1 Early Neolithic Age ....................................................................... 5 1.1.1 Raw Materials for Pottery-Making ............................................... 7 1.1.2 Forming of Clay Body ............................................................ 7 1.1.3 Firing of Pottery ................................................................... 8 1.1.4 Various Origins of Pottery Worldwide ........................................... 9 1.2 Middle Neolithic Age ..................................................................... 9 1.2.1 Raw Materials for Pottery-Making ............................................... 10 1.2.2 Pottery-Making with Mat ......................................................... 10 1.2.3 Origin of the Slow Wheel ......................................................... 10 1.2.4 Rise of Pottery Kilns .............................................................. 13 1.3 Late Neolithic Age ........................................................................ 14 1.3.1 Hunan as the Center of White Pottery-Making .................................. 14 1.3.2 Origin of the Fast Wheel .......................................................... 15 1.3.3 Development in the Making of Painted Pottery .................................. 19 1.3.4 Improvement of the Updraft Trench Kiln ........................................ 20 1.4 Early Chalcolithic Age .................................................................... 21 1.4.1 Disparate Development in Fast-Wheel Pottery-Making .... ..................... 21 1.4.2 Moulding Method of the Miaodigou Culture at Excavation Stage 2 ............ 21 1.4.3 Highly Advanced Technique of Painted Pottery-Making in Upstream Yellow River Region ...................................................................... 21 1.4.4 Reducing-Atmosphere Firing with Updraft Shaft Kiln .......................... 22 W. Li (*) National Museum of China, Beijing, China © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 1 X. Jiang (ed.), A New Phase of Systematic Development of Scientific Theories in China, History of Science and Technology in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7844-1_1 2 W. Li 1.5 Late Chalcolithic Age ..................................................................... 24 1.5.1 The First Climax of Fast-Wheel Pottery-Making ................................ 24 1.5.2 Popular Moulding Method in Midstream Yellow River Region ................. 26 1.5.3 Maturity of Reducing-Atmosphere Firing and Carburization .................... 27 1.5.4 Development in Painted Pottery Craftsmanship .................................. 27 1.6 Xia and Shang Dynasties ................................................................. 27 1.6.1 Decline of Fast-Wheel Pottery-Making .... ...................................... 27 1.6.2 Development in Pottery Li Made by Moulding .................................. 28 1.6.3 Emergence of Printed Hard Pottery and Primitive Porcelain .................... 28 1.6.4 Emergence of Cross-Draft Kilns .................................................. 29 1.6.5 Rapid Development in Craftsmanship of Painted Pottery ........................ 29 1.7 Spring and Autumn Period ................................................................ 31 1.7.1 Forming Process of Pottery Wares ................................................ 32 1.7.2 Popularity of Printed Hard Pottery in Western Zhou Dynasty ................... 32 1.7.3 Shaping Up of the Mantou Kiln .................................................. 33 1.8 Warring States Period and Qin Dynasty .................................................. 34 1.8.1 The Terracotta Figures Are the Epitomization of Pottery-Making Techniques in Qin Dynasty .................................................................... 35 1.8.2 Social Cause of the Unprecedented Development in Pottery-Making as Seen on Qin Terracotta Figures ......................................................... 36 1.8.3 Forming Method of Hollow Bricks ............................................... 37 1.9 Han Dynasty ............................................................................... 38 1.9.1 The Second Climax in Fast-Wheel Pottery-Making ............................. 39 1.9.2 External Moulding as the Replacement of Internal Moulding .... ............... 39 1.9.3 Painted Pottery as the Highlight of Decorating Techniques in Han Dynasty .... 40 1.9.4 Emergence of Low-Temperature Lead-Glazed Pottery in Western Han Dynasty ............................................................................ 40 1.9.5 Noteworthy Advance in Mantou Kilns ........................................... 40 1.10 Northern Wei Dynasty ..................................................................... 41 1.10.1 Restoration of the Slow Wheel .................................................. 44 1.10.2 The Characteristic Hidden Pattern of Northern Wei Pottery .................... 44 1.10.3 Cultural Amalgamation Reflected in Pottery-Making .......................... 45 1.10.4 The Xianbei Invention of Low-Temperature Double-Firing Lead-Glazed Pottery ............................................................................ 45 1.11 Tang Sancai (Tri-color Glazed Pottery of Tang) ......................................... 46 1.11.1 Fast Wheel in Tang Sancai Workshops .... ... .................................. 46 1.11.2 Body Material of Tang Sancai ................................................... 47 1.11.3 The Invention of Braid-Moulding ............................................... 48 1.11.4 Glaze Materials of Tang Sancai ................................................. 48 1.11.5 Double-Firing Method of Tang Sancai .......................................... 48 1.12 Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties .................................................. 48 Abstract The ancient history of China can be divided into the following ages according to the tool used: the Paleolithic Age, the Neolithic Age, the Chalcolithic Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. Prior to the invention of pottery, people used tools that were made of natural materials such as stonewares, woodwares, bonewares, etc. With pottery utensils, people started settling down and collecting, thus giving birth to primitive agriculture and husbandry. 1 Pottery-Making in Ancient China 3 Furthermore, the firing technique used in pottery-making led to the smelting of metals and then the production of bricks and tiles, with which came the idea of engineering. And finally, pottery-making became porcelain-making. The history of pottery-making in ancient China can be divided into 12 periods, and this chapter introduces the main achievements of each period. Keywords Pottery-making · Neolithic Age · Chalcolithic Age · Molding method · Xia and Shang Dynasties · Spring and autumn period · Tang Sancai · Double-firing method Tool-wise, the ancient history of China can be divided into the following ages: the Paleolithic Age, the Neolithic Age, the Chalcolithic Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. In the Paleolithic Age, there were only chipped stone tools, whereas in the Neolithic Age, polished stone tools also emerged. The Neolithic Age can be subcategorized into three periods: Early, Middle, and Late. In the Chalcolithic Age, though bronze tools came into use, stone tools still domi- nated at that time. So far, bronze tools have only been discovered in few locations and small numbers. For example, the copper bell was excavated in the Taosi Ruins in Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province, or the six daggers, also made of copper, were excavated in the Huangniangniangtai Ruins in Wuwei City, Gansu Province. The Chalcolithic Age can be subcategorized into two periods: Early and Late. The Bronze Age lasted from Xia to Zhou dynasty. Iron tools emerged in the Warring States Period and the Iron Age began from Qin and Han dynasties. What exactly is archeological culture? It is the generic term for ruins and relics created by the human community in the course of production and living as well as military and religious activities. Differences in time and location have given birth to a variety of archeological cultures, each with their own character- istics, and behind those cultures are different human communities. A human community refers to an organization like a tribe or alliance of tribes. One archeological culture must include a series of typical ruins and relics with shared features that distinguish it from other archeological cultures. An archeological culture is usually named after the place where it’s first discovered. For example, Yangshao Culture is named after Yangshao Village, Mianchi County, Henan Province; Longshan Culture is named after Longshan Town, Zhangqiu City, Shandong Province; and Daxi Culture is named after the Daxi Ruins in Wushan County, Sichuan Province. Remains of ancient civilizations can be divided into ruins and relics. Ruins include houses, cellars, pottery kilns, and tombs, whereas relics refer to the likes of pottery and porcelain tools, stone tools, bone tools, bronze tools, iron tools, etc. Among those, pottery tools are the most common 4 W. Li Table 1.1 Periods and types of pottery-making in ancient China 中文 英文 中文 英文 年代 Era 贾湖 Jiahu 公元前 BC 裴李岗 Peiligang 公元 AD 磁山 Cishan 分期 Period 师赵村一 Shizhao Village at 期 excavation Stage 1 北方类型 Northern types 仰韶 Yangshao 南方类型 Southern types 马家窑 Majiayao 甘青文化区 Gansu-Qinghai region 菜园 Caiyuan 中原文化区 Central China 齐家 Qijia 山东文化区 Shandong 庙底沟二 Miaodigou at 期 excavation stage 2 燕辽文化区 Yan-Liao region 陶寺 Taosi 长江中游文化