As the period with the greatest comprehensive influence in Chinese history, the Tang Dynasty was very prosperous. As one of the most representative pottery of the Tang Dynasty, Tang Sancai is naturally a common commodity on the Silk Road.
* Prosperity brings not only economic growth, but also cultural integration. The tolerant and open Tang Dynasty continued to export the Central Plains culture while also absorbing a lot of foreign culture, so the popular culture of the Tang Dynasty was diverse. As one of the most active commodities on the Silk Road, the shape of Tang Sancai naturally changed with the development of the times, so many pottery and porcelain with Hu culture also flocked to it.
There is a piece of Tang Dynasty pottery with obvious Hu style in the Henan Museum, called Tang Sancai phoenix head pot. Its height is 32 centimeters, the ampullary circumference is 40 centimeters, and it was unearthed in Tawan Village, the eastern suburb of Luoyang, Henan Province in 1965.
As a new shape in Tang Dynasty ceramics, this phoenix-headed pot has typical characteristics such as a slender body and an oval spout. Its phoenix head is located in the upper part of the neck, and the phoenix crown is the spout. The phoenix's mouth is open, and there are beads inside. This is the flow part of the pot, which is commonly known as the "spout", that is, the mouth responsible for the water discharge. The ampulla is oval in shape, and the pitch is trumpet-shaped. The thick handle of the pot, also known as the handle, is ruyi-shaped and darker in color.
This pot has a unique shape, bright color, auspicious ornamentation, is a fine product in the three colors, and is the product of Chinese and Western exchanges. The two sides of the ampulla are decorated differently, one side is a phoenix pattern, the other side is a hunting pattern, but there are relief honeysuckle flowers and sea pomegranates on both sides. The whole pot is glazed in a variety of colors, mainly including ochre, green, blue, white, etc.
Look, although it is called Tang Sancai, it is actually far more than three glaze colors. Each glaze color presents a level from thick to dark, and the whole can be described as "bright and gorgeous pearl and emerald color".
Tang Sancai phoenix head pot phoenix bird pattern.
Phoenix culture is the most vital cultural symbol and spiritual symbol of the Chinese nation. As one of the essences of traditional Chinese decorative patterns, the phoenix is also the main means of expression of ceramic decoration. Similar to the dragon pattern, the image of the phoenix pattern reflects the cultural and artistic characteristics of different periods, and fully expresses people's ideals, pursuits and wishes.
In the Tang Dynasty, the shape of the phoenix pattern was more "bird body", and it was common to see pairs of "Luan Phoenix", and the song of blessings, symbolizing happiness. "The weeping poplars do not move and the rain is in full swing, and the brocade tent and beard bottles compete for the king", presumably, if you have a phoenix head pot at that time, it is also a very fashionable thing.
Tang Sancai phoenix head pot hunting pattern.
Expert interpretation
According to Wang Sujia, a museum librarian at the Henan Museum and a master's degree in Chinese language and literature from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, generally speaking, Hu's obvious ceramics often have such characteristics: either they are made directly according to the things commonly used by the Hu people, such as Bactrian camels, Hu figurines, Hu people double lions, etc.;Either it is based on the shape of Hu people's goods, plus the characteristics of the Central Plains culture to fire.
Tang Sancai phoenix head pot belongs to the second category, and its appearance is ** in a Persian commodity called a bird's head pot bottle. This shape of the pot is very popular with the nobles of the Central Plains Dynasty. Thus, a new type of pottery was born.
The development of the phoenix head pot not only reflects the progress and prosperity of porcelain-making and ceramic art, but also reflects the complex process of continuous integration and promotion of national culture with the development of history. With the Mongol occupation of Persia, the important inventions of Islamic potters soon entered the Central Plains, and developed into Chinese-style blue and white porcelain in Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital. At this point, people have to sigh that there is such a complex history of cultural integration behind a piece of pottery.