- The Exhibition OF Mawangdui Han Tombs
- The Exhibition of Shang and Zhou Bronzes Found in Hunan
- The Exhibition of Ceramics from Famous Kilns in Hunan
- Pottery
- Porcelain From Xiangyin Kiln
- Porcelain From Changsha Kiln
- Porcelain From Liling Kiln
- Exhibition of Calligraphies in the Ming and Qing Dynasty
- Exhibition of Paintings Created in the Ming and Qing Dynasties
- Exhibition of Ten New Major Archaeological Discoveries in Hunan
Brown and Green Colored Porcelain Ewer with Mountain Design
————A Design That Has a Touch of West Asian Style Tang Dynasty Height: 22.8cm; Diameter at Mouth: 7.8cm Unearthed from Changsha Kiln site This handled ewer has a brimmed mouth, a curved neck and a swelled belly. There is a tubular sprout in the front and a handle in the back. The brown and green rosary patterns sketch out piles of mountains and form necklace designs on the surface. Rosary patterns are common designs found in West Asian Culture and they serve here as a witness of cultural exchanges during the Tang Dynasty. Such rosary patterns that form various designs by lining up round dots were introduced to the Western Region and the Central Plain of China via Asia Minor during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. They became a popular design for silk fabric during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Similar rosary patterns had already appeared in the Neolithic colored pottery of China, on the bronzes of the Yin and Shang Dynasties, and on the stone carvings and ceramics of the Six Dynasties. The patterns were made up of traditional hollow dots and casually scattered. Influenced by West Asia Culture, the rosary patterns on products from Changsha Kiln of the Tang Dynasty adopted the solid dots commonly seen in West Asia, and the designs created vary from such geometric shapes as circular and square to stripes. They normally appear in brown color only, and occasionally in brown and green colors. Such patterns are frequently applied onto double-ear pitchers and rarely seen on handled ewers. After the Golden Years of Zhengguan Reign and Kaiyuan Reign, Tang Dynasty entered a period of social and economic prosperity. West Asian culture spread to China and was gradually incorporated into the Tang Culture. The rich foreign culture as seen from Changsha Kiln porcelain helped the coexistence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Islam. The rosary patterns on this handled ewer can be seen as a new design that originated from absorption of West Asian culture and a combination with traditional Chinese painting.
Brown and Green Colored Porcelain Ewer with Flying Phoenix Design in Celadon
———— A Top-Notch Colored Drawing under the Glaze from the Tang Dynasty Tang Dynasty Height: 23cm; Diameter at mouth: 10.7cm; Diameter at base: 12.3cm Unearthed from Changsha Kiln site in 1983 Changsha kiln is particularly good at producing products with colorful drawings under the glaze. The flying phoenix image on this porcelain features bright colors and lively expressions, making it a top-notch colored drawing. Both the dragon and the phoenix are ancient mythological animals in China as well as symbols of auspiciousness. As phoenix often stands for feminine power and women several times controlled state power in the Tang Dynasty, the phoenix was particularly worshiped. After Empress Wu Zetian took power, she changed the most powerful ministries of zhongshu (responsible for making policy decisions) and menxia (responsible for examination of policy decisions) into the Chamber of Phoenix and Hall of Luan (a legendary bird in Chinese folklore of the phoenix type). In the Tang Dynasty, when people judged the fengshui of royal mausoleums, “Jinli Mountain Ridge where people see the dragon coil up and the phoenix fly” was considered an ideal burial ground. There are many Tang poems describing the flying phoenix, therefore the design of a flying phoenix was a fashionable thing at the time. Judging by the design of the flying phoenix, we can say that the drawing technique and the coloring of porcelain from the Changsha kiln were gradually becoming standardized. The design predominantly uses the technique of line drawing, with brown colored hard lines outlining the contours of the image. The lines, though as thin as a thread of silk, are firm and powerful to express the muscles, bones, eyes, mouth and feather of birds, the leaf veins of plants, the texture of the rocks and the creases on human dresses. These then are applied with soft green lines to make the design more vivid and lively. The two colors of brown and green used here match each other very well. This is an indication of the superb technique of drawing of the Changsha kiln potters and has a great impact on the combination of decorative art and painting by literati on later porcelain works.局部(下圖):
Brown-Colored Porcelain Jar in Pale Olive Green Glaze with Poem Inscriptions and Images of “Sages of the Bamboo Grove”
Tang Dynasty Height: 17.5cm Unearthed from Changsha Kiln site in 1983 This jar, incorporating poetry, calligraphy and painting together, is not only very rare among Changsha kiln porcelain wares but also the only one of its kind among all Tang Dynasty porcelain wares found so far. It has an erect neck, outwardly-turned mouth brim, a swelled belly and a flat bottom. There are two symmetrical semi-circular lugs on the upper part of the belly and there are two circles of brown-colored solid dots just below the neck. On one side of the belly are painted, in brown color, two hermits who sit facing each other. These two hermits are wearing mountain-shaped hats and loose long robes. On the other side of the belly is a seven-character poem: “Three cups make you forget all your worries, / The flowers and tree leaves all mingle in front of your eyes;/ Without knowing that wine is a killing sword,/ Intensifying pain once it is inside you.” Between the painting and the poem are five Chinese characters: “The first group of the Seven Sages”. The bottom of the ewer is also glazed. Ordinary ewers and jars produced by the Changsha kiln do not have their bottom glazed. The fact that this one has shows the importance people attached to it at the time. “The first group of the Seven Sages” obviously refers to the two persons in the painting. It can thus be inferred that there should be similar jars with a second, a third and a fourth group of the Seven Sages. The “Seven Sages” refer to the seven renowned hermits of the Jin Dynasty: Ruan Ji, Ji Kang, Shan Tao, Liu Ling, Ruan Xian, Xiang Xiu and Wang Rong. History books record the “Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove” led a bohemian life, gathering together in the bamboo grove in Shanyang (the present-day Xiuwu, Henan Province), acting debaucherous and singing rapturously. Among them, Liu Ling described himself as: “Heaven created Liu Ling to drink in this world. One stein at one gulp, five goblets relieves the hangover.” When Ruan Xian drank wine with his kinsmen, he always used great bowls to hold wine. Emperor Wendi (Sima Zhao) of the Wei wanted to marry his son with Ruan Ji’s daughter, but Ruan Ji got himself drunk for 60 consecutive days, not giving Sima Zhao one chance to make the proposal and forcing him to give up the idea. Putting the images of the Seven Sages and poems about drinking on wine jars is a most suitable way to promote the sale of wine utensils. Jar has many different functions and storing wine is one of them. The brim of this jar from the Changsha kiln is outwardly turned, making it convenient for sealing off the wine. If the seal has been broken and wine is not totally finished, it can still be sealed up for later use. Guan (jar) was also called weng (urn) or ying (small-mouthed jar) in the Tang Dynasty. “The wine shops have wine storing vessels, /And ordinary families have jars and bottles.” (Poem by Yuan Jie) “The bottle was finished yesterday/And today we open the urn.” (Poem by Wang Ji) “The sweet aroma hits the nose when the urn is opened,/ And the bottle is stopped to keep its flavor.” (Poem by Bai Juyi) These all refer to wine vessels.
Brown-Colored Porcelain Handled Ewer with Poem Design in Pale Olive Green Glaze from Changsha Kiln
————A Wine Ewer That Reflects the Drinking Culture of the Tang Dynasty Tang Dynasty Height: 19cm Unearthed from Changsha Kiln site in 1983 This handled ewer was used for pouring wine. Poem design is an important feature of Changsha kiln porcelain decoration. The poem on this ewer is rather colloquial, written in vigorous handwriting. The ewer has a melon-shaped body, a wide neck, a short spout and a handle attached to its back. There is a poem written in brown color on the front beneath the spout: “With no fields to till the previous year, / I am in lack of wine this spring. / Afraid of being laughed at, / I pretend to be drunk and lay myself in this place.” This poem is one of the “Three Poems Composed in Drunkenness” by Zhang Yun, in Volume 852 of “A Complete Collection of Tang Poems”. Zhang Yun was a native of Jinzhou, followed the Daoist doctrine and remained unmarried all his life. He declined repeated offers of position by Empress Wu Zetian and Emperor Xuanzong. He once lived in the home of Li Qiao for over ten years and later resided in the ancient altar of Hongya, calling himself the “Sage of Hongya”. This is a poem about wine drinking. Tang Dynasty had two kinds of wines: those made from fruits and those from grains. The tribesmen inhabiting northern China mostly sold wines made from grapes while spring wine made from grains was popular in the southern part of China. This kind of wine was so named because it was made in bitterly cold winter and drunk in spring. The Autobiographies records: “Spring wine is actually frozen wine with dregs.” Zhu Yizhong of the Song Dynasty wrote in his Wine Classics: “Wine with dregs made in winter is true wine. The wine made too quickly in urns is bland and tasteless.” Amendments to the History of Tang records famous brands of wine at the time as “Tuku Spring Wine from Xingyang, Shidong Spring Wine from Fuping and Shaozhun Spring Wine from Jiannan.” Handled ewers made in Changsha Kiln have inscriptions of “Beautiful Spring Wine” and “Beautiful Spring Wine from Chen Family”, proving that these are wine vessels. “Women’s voices resounding, / Wine ewers are emptied together with mutton.” (Written in Sickness for Zhang Shiba by Han Yu) “Willow shadows reflect cloud curtains,/ River waves accompany the wine ewer.” (Seeing off Xinbie of Meizhou for Promotion at Jiangting by Du Fu) However, such ewers sometimes are also used as teapots. According to statistics, more than one hundred poems have been discovered from artifacts made in Changsha kiln and most of them are written on such melon-shaped ewers. This indicates that the literati of the Tang Dynasty had a special taste for wine and tea, and that there was an integration of tea, wine, culture and porcelain craftsmanship. In other words, this is a reflection of wine and tea being raised to the high level of culture. Over ten poems that appeared on porcelain wares of Changsha kiln are from A Complete Collection of Tang Poems and its amendment, including the ones by such poets as Wang Fanzhi, Wei Chengqing (alias Wang Shidao or Yu Jizi), Zhang Yun, Gao Shi, Liu Changqing, Zhu Bin, Jia Dao and Bai Juyi. This shows that the inscriptions on Changsha kiln porcelain had their own sources and the calligraphers would have had copies of these Tang poems in their hands. It is just a pity that some of the poems have lost their identity because they were not included into A Complete Collection of Tang Poems. Poems by Bai Juyi were frequently copied by people at the time, “sold at the marketplace or exchanged for wine and tea”. The same poem appears in many different porcelain ewers, with variations of some characters. This is probably resulted from the different copies that had passed through many hands.
Brown Glaze Porcelain Ewer in the Shape of a Double Fish
————A Portable Wine Ewer from the Tang Dynasty Tang Dynasty Height: 25.5cm; Diameter at Mouth: 5.7cm; Diameter at Belly: 13.8cm Unearthed from Changsha Kiln site in 1978 This porcelain ewer in the shape of double fish is a uniquely shaped portable wine ewer. It is formed by two carp embracing each other, with their mouths opening to form the mouth of the ewer. The belly of the ewer is swelled and the tails of the fish falling to form the bottom. The eyes, scales, gills and fins of the fish are carefully and vividly carved. The whole ewer is featured by well-proportioned delicate lines. The brown glaze not only highlights the full-roundedness of the fish but also enriches the shape of the artifact. There are two lugs that go through on both sides of the ewer for people to tie strings on to and for easy carrying. Such an unconventionally-shaped ewer could not have been pulled into shape by hand. Its production process is fairly complicated and difficult, yet it turns out to be so balanced in shape, making it a top-notch ewer from the Changsha kiln. Such wine utensils, called ewers today according to common taxonomy of modern archaeology, were named ke by the people of the Tang Dynasty. Ke is a very old name. There was a mention of “drinking from the ke” in 500 B.C. The ke at that time was used to hold both water and wine. Originally made of wood, it had ceramic and metal versions later on. The Tang poet Bai Juyi mentioned it time and again in his poems. When he went out, Bai Juyi often carried such a wine utensil. “Carrying my small wine ke,/ Chanting and reciting new poems.” (Missing My Wine Ladle on an Autumn Day) He also carried his wine ke when he went out to visit friends in his sedan chair, “Carrying my small wine ke on the shoulder,/ Do not blame me for coming.” (Visiting Cui Shiba in Rain) Even when he toured mountains and rivers, he still remembered his wine ke. Once he went outing with a friend, “I want to set off together with you in the early morning,/ And riding home together at dusk./ Why not carry a wine ke/ And spend the night in Longmen Mountains?” (To Master Su) Among Bai Juyi’s poems, there are also some that mention he used double-fish-shaped ke to store wine in his home: “How can it be compared to home-made wine in the double-fish-shaped ke, / Which is always present on snowy nights and flowery times.” (Three Seven-Character Quatrains) Why then are the wine ewers made in the shape of fish in the Tang Dynasty? In ancient Chinese legends, fish (yu) is homophonous to abundance (yu). There are still many auspicious remarks popular among the people, such as ji-qing-you-yu (have an abundance of blessings) and feng-shou-you-yu (have an abundance of harvest). Double-fish is a further expression of wealth and prosperity. Wine makes people happy and a fish-shaped ewer adds style. This is why such utensils were favored by people of that time. Interestingly, the two fish of this ewer are both carp. The Tang Dynasty was ruled by the Li family, Li and carp (li) are again homophonous. Emperor Xuan Zong of the Tang Dynasty twice decreed, in the third and the nineteenth year of the Kaiyuan Reign, that “catching carp is strictly forbidden”. This Brown Glaze Porcelain Ewer in the Shape of Double Fish from the Changsha kiln undoubtedly has the intention of pleasing the court.
