Porcelain, as a unique invention of China, is closely connected to our earth. "China" in English represents both our country and porcelain, which fully demonstrates the deep relationship between porcelain and China. The unique charm of porcelain lies in the various glazes applied to its body. From the "ethereal porcelain" of the Jin Dynasty to the "Qianfeng Emerald Color" of the Tang Dynasty, to the "Rain Over the Sky" of Chai Zhou and the "Secret Color" of Wu Yue, as well as the pink green, emerald green, black gold, tortoiseshell and miscellaneous colors of the Song Dynasty, as well as the blue and white glaze red of the Yuan Dynasty, these good names are all praises for the new achievements and unique styles made by China in glaze-making technology in the past dynasties. Blue and white underglaze decoration, as a new method of ceramic decoration, is an innovation after traditional decoration techniques such as carving, carving, and printing. The so-called "blue and white" porcelain is actually painted with different shades of cyan intertwined to create various ornaments, rather than mixing other colors. The blue color of this porcelain is very different from the cyan color of "celadon". In the production process, various patterns are first drawn on the plain tire, and then glazed and fired at a high temperature of more than 1,200 degrees Celsius. The cyan color is due to the presence of cobalt oxide in the glaze. This cyan hue changes depending on the nature of the flame and the temperature. If you don't mix the glaze accurately or master the heat, you won't be able to show a beautiful blue color, and you may even lose the effect of blue and white.
Regarding the origin time of blue and white porcelain, scholars generally believe that it first appeared in the Yuan Dynasty. This is because archaeological excavations in recent decades have unearthed a large number of precious blue and white porcelain from Yuan Dynasty residential sites, tombs and kilns. At present, the earliest known blue-and-white porcelain is a blue-and-white peony tower lid porcelain vase unearthed in the sixth year of Yuan Yanyou (1319) in the collection of Jiujiang City Museum in Jiangxi Province. However, a fragment of a blue and white underglaze porcelain pillow decorated with a diamond-shaped flower pattern unearthed in 1975 at the Tangcheng site in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, changed people's perception of the origin of blue and white porcelain. The discovery of this fragment has led to the realization that the appearance of blue and white may have been greatly advanced, and it is generally believed that the creation date should be the Tang Dynasty. Subsequently, in 1983 and 1990, some blue and white porcelain pieces were unearthed at the Tang Dynasty site in Yangzhou, which further confirmed the fact that blue and white porcelain had been produced in China in the Tang Dynasty. There have always been different opinions and controversies in the ceramic world about how blue and white porcelain is produced. Some foreign scholars believe that China's blue and white porcelain is the best in the West (mainly Persia), whether it is technology, decoration or materials, it is under the influence of the West. However, Mr. Feng Xianming holds a different view, he believes that blue and white porcelain is the product of the gradual progress of Chinese ceramics along its own development law. He delved into the origin of blue and white porcelain from the two basic elements necessary for the production of blue and white porcelain, the process technique and the use of cobalt materials. In addition, it has been suggested that the cobalt material used in blue and white porcelain has been determined by the physical and chemical laboratory of the University of Oxford and found that its origin comes from Persia. However, some scholars have proposed that China has begun to use cobalt in the pottery process during the Warring States Period, which provides earlier evidence for the use of cobalt in blue and white porcelain.
In general, the origin of blue and white porcelain is still a mystery to this day, which requires us to continue to explore and study in depth. It is not only a beautiful porcelain, but also an important carrier of Chinese history and culture. In the process of exploring its origins and development, we are also constantly delving into our own culture and history. Search Topic Full Time Challenge December