A Country Defined by “China”

A Country Defined by "China"

By WANG JIASHENG

Chinese Ceramics: From the Paleolithic Period through the Qing Dynasty 608 pages US $85 (English version, hardcover) Published in US by Yale University Press and in China by Foreign Languages Press

Porcelain was a practical and indispensable invention for the Chinese for thousands of years; however the craft soon yielded pure works of art. The myriad shapes of Chinese porcelain ware are usually decorated with typical Chinese icons. The dragon, totem of China, is a common pattern, but as a representative of royalty, the dragon image was used sparingly and carefully. The number of claws on the tableware's decorative dragon disclosed the rank of the master of the house. Three or four claws represented aristocrats and princes, while a five-claw dragon was reserved for the use of the emperor. Calligraphy and traditional ink and wash paintings are the art forms most admired in China, and their contents too became important embellishments to porcelain objects. Chinese ceramics are broadly reflective of Chinese culture, encompassing many aspects of Chinese civilization and appealing broadly to people's sense of beauty.

Pottery and clay vessels were not developed exclusively in China. Ancient Egypt, Greece, Pre-Columbian America and India are also well known for their earthenware. European and American countries also produced high quality porcelain after the 18th century. But undoubtedly China has remained a nose ahead of the pack for the supreme quality and exquisite designs of its porcelain. China is not only known for porcelain, as Virginia L. Bower of the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, writes in her introduction to Chinese Ceramics, but no other country is as closely connected with the artistic production of porcelain as China. In fact, in English 'china' refers only to high-temperature burned white-body porcelain.

Chinese Ceramics will perfectly meet the demands of the curious. This lavishly illustrated volume reviews the development of Chinese porcelain over thousands of years. The process of making a piece of china is illuminated, and glimpses are given of the earliest pottery known to the world, unearthed in Hunan Province. By introducing representative works, the book reviews each stage of Chinese ceramics ranging from the Paleolithic era to the end of the Qing dynasty in 1911, including the impressive and constantly running key kilns, ceramic types, forms, decorations, techniques and even appraisal skills. Just like Chinese silk, Chinese porcelain has been exported to world markets via sea lanes that were later referred to as the "Ceramic Road." When did Europeans and Americans come into contact with Chinese porcelain, how did they master the technique and how were they influenced by this ancient craft? These questions are answered in gratifying detail in the book.

If you think long essays are boring, you can divert your attention to the exquisite pictures. Some 700 photographs of Chinese ceramic works, the best examples of their period, constitute a roadmap to the development of ceramics. The selection is made up of the most prized objects from the most valuable collections of the world's most renowned museums. The authors themselves are the most outstanding porcelain scholars, and these Chinese, American and Japanese experts have worked assiduously to unite these treasures in a book, with layers of information to suit many kinds of readers.

Chinese Ceramics is a joint publication by Foreign Languages Press and Yale University Press in both Chinese and English. Ceramics is but a slice of Chinese culture, a companion to calligraphy, painting and sculpture. Other titles by the Foreign Languages Press and Yale University Press include Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting, Chinese Sculpture, and Chinese Calligraphy, which are part of the series The Culture and Civilization of China. A new addition to the line, a book on Chinese silk art, is due to be released soon. All these books are drafted by world-renowned experts and published in Chinese and English. Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting and Chinese Calligraphy won the Association of American Publishers Award for Excellence in Humanities. The series was also granted Open Fields Awards by the Truce Foundation of the U.S.A.

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Wang Jiasheng is one of the commissioning editors of The Culture and Civilization of China.