Why is Zhengzhou said to be the “hometown” of Tang blue and white porcelain?

"I can proudly say that Zhengzhou is the hometown of blue and white porcelain from the Tang Dynasty. After many years, whenever I think of the excavation of these two blue and white tower jars from the Tang Dynasty, I still feel excited..." Recently, a public lecture "Archaeologists Talk about Archaeology" was held by the Zhengzhou Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in the auditorium on the second floor of the Archaeological Museum. Research curator Wang Xu talked about "Zhengzhou is the Hometown of Tang Blue and White Porcelain" based on his personal excavation experience in October 2006, which aroused strong interest among the audience.

Ceramics are the treasure of the Chinese nation and the bright name card of Chinese civilization. Blue and white porcelain, a kind of white-ground blue-flowered porcelain with high-temperature underglaze color, is widely popular in the world and is the mainstream variety of Chinese porcelain that is famous all over the world.

"After entering the 21st century, with the auction of the Tang Dynasty blue and white porcelain plates on the 'Black Stone' shipwreck, the rescue excavation of the Huangye Sancai kiln site in Gongyi, and the excavation of a Tang Dynasty tomb at an archaeological site in Shangjie, Zhengzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, a large number of blue and white porcelain pieces and two white-glazed blue and white tower-shaped jars were found. The existence of Tang Dynasty blue and white porcelain was fully confirmed. Tang Dynasty blue and white porcelain gradually entered the hall of ancient Chinese ceramics and attracted the attention of more and more experts in ceramic research and people from all walks of life." During the lecture Wang Xu tells the story of "Tang Blue and White Porcelain" and is even more fascinating when he talks about the experience of discovering the blue and white tower jar from the Tang Dynasty: "At that time, there were 5 unearthed relics in this Tang tomb, 3 white porcelain jars and 2 blue and white tower jars. One of them has a lid decorated with blue grass leaf patterns, a swastika in the middle, two parallel convex string patterns on the shoulders, and blue peony patterns, curling grass leaf patterns, and bunches of flowers below. Another child is standing with a hook-shaped object in his hand and a round ball at the bottom, as if hitting something..."

Wang Xu analyzed that the blue and white tower jar of the Tang Dynasty has a strong Buddhist color in terms of shape and decoration, while the peony pattern painted on it is a representative of traditional Chinese auspicious patterns, and the step ball is a real painting reflecting the sports at that time. Therefore, the blue and white tower jar is of great research value in terms of shape, pattern layout, and the source of blue and white cobalt oxide. Its discovery fills the gap that the Central Plains region and even the whole country have not found complete blue and white porcelain of the Tang Dynasty for a long time, and provides powerful physical materials for studying the development of blue and white porcelain of the Tang Dynasty. Wang Xu said: "Based on the technical evolution law and regional research analysis of the development process of 'Tang Sancai-white glaze blue color-Tang blue and white' experienced by the production of blue and white porcelain in the Tang Dynasty, combined with the fact that the blue and white porcelain fragments found so far are mostly unearthed in the late Tang strata of Baihe Kiln and Huangye Kiln in Gongyi, we can proudly say that Zhengzhou is the hometown of blue and white porcelain."

In Wang Xu's narration, topics such as the shape of the objects, patterns, speculation on the identity of the tomb owner, and interesting things in the excavation attracted the audience's full attention and breathlessness. When it came to the free communication environment, the audience raised their hands and asked questions: "Is the cobalt material used to make Tang blue and white porcelain imported?" "Where can kaolin be found?"... Wang Xu patiently answered them one by one, making the audience come with excitement and leave with satisfaction.

"In the past, everyone knew that blue-and-white porcelain was produced in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, but I didn't expect that there was blue-and-white porcelain in the Tang Dynasty." Ms. Li, a citizen who came to listen to the lecture, said that she didn't expect that the "hometown" of blue-and-white porcelain in the Tang Dynasty was in Zhengzhou, which made her very shocked and proud: "I believe that all Zhengzhou people who know this fact will be proud of it!"