Shine! Chinese Treasures ①丨The history of "China" is longer than you think

The word "China" refers to both China and porcelain. Since its creation, Chinese porcelain has been changing and influencing the world with its unique charm. In which dynasty was porcelain first produced? It may have appeared earlier than you think. Let's follow Dahe.com reporters to explore the history of "China" in Zhengzhou Museum.

Unearthed : These fragments may be the boundary between pottery and porcelain

In February 1965, Zhengzhou No. 14 Middle School discovered a bronze jia and two bronze jue while planting trees. The site of the discovery was a Shang Dynasty tomb, and four more tombs were subsequently discovered here. Archaeological experts excavated these five tombs one after another and found a large number of funerary objects.

In archaeological discoveries, people may pay more attention to the unearthed jewelry and jade, while archaeological experts may focus on the broken ceramic fragments, because they may be able to find more clues left over from history and uncover an unknown secret. The origin of Chinese porcelain may start from these fragments.

"During the excavation of Tomb No. 2, some glazed pottery fragments attracted the attention of experts. The fragments were scattered in various parts of the tomb bottom. After restoration, the shape of the vessel was basically intact." Tang Wei, director of the exhibition department of Zhengzhou Museum, told reporters that in the "Creation Capital" exhibition hall, there is a green-glazed porcelain zun. Its discovery has given people a new understanding of the history of firing porcelain. Before this, it was generally believed that my country's porcelain only appeared after the Han Dynasty. The excavation of the green-glazed porcelain zun has advanced the time when my country began to fire porcelain by more than 1,000 years, greatly broadening the horizons of academic research.

The mouth of the celadon-glazed porcelain vase is outward-slanting, the neck is inward-retracted, the shoulders are slanted, the belly is deep, and the bottom is concave inward. The shape is regular, simple and steady. There are clear spiral patterns left by wheel making on the inner side of the mouth of the vase, mat patterns are printed on the shoulders, and the belly is decorated with basket patterns, with clear patterns.

Controversy : Is it pottery or porcelain?

There were two different views on porcelains such as the green-glazed porcelain vases discovered in the Shang Dynasty ruins in Zhengzhou: one was that they possessed the basic characteristics of porcelain and should be considered early Chinese porcelain; the other was that they were not porcelain but "glazed pottery."

It is generally recognized that porcelain developed from pottery, but the question is when porcelain began to be produced and what the basic differences between pottery and porcelain are, which are still controversial.

To this end, Mr. An Jinhuai, a famous Chinese archaeologist and the number one archaeologist in Henan Province in New my country, published a series of academic papers and proposed the concept of Shang Dynasty porcelain in the 1960s.

Mr. An Jinhuai discovered a lot of hard pottery different from ordinary pottery when he excavated the Zhengzhou Shang City, and some of them had glaze on the surface, so he believed that these Shang Dynasty hard pottery should be porcelain. The traditional view is that porcelain only began to appear after the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Mr. An's view was opposed by many people at the time, especially porcelain researchers, but he still insisted and wrote an article to prove it.

"In short, I think that broadly speaking, as long as it has the following characteristics, it can be considered porcelain: (a) The body is made of kaolin, and some bodies are also mixed with quartz or feldspar powder. (b) It has a bright glaze. (c) It is hard and fired at a high temperature, and it makes a sound like metal and stone when knocked. (d) The body does not absorb water." There was such a statement in "An Jinhuai Archaeological Collection" that the glaze and body of Shang Dynasty porcelain are very tightly combined, and no detachment is found. The firing temperature of porcelain is generally more than 1,000 degrees. Due to the high temperature and hard texture, it can make a crisp sound like metal and stone when knocked, and the porcelain body does not absorb water when placed in water. Therefore, the porcelain unearthed from the Shang Dynasty ruins in Zhengzhou has fully possessed the characteristics of early porcelain.

The surface and inner wall of the celadon porcelain zun are covered with bright and crystal yellow-green glaze, which is relatively uniform and has glaze drops. The texture of the zun is solid and dense, and it makes a crisp metallic sound when knocked. Scientific tests show that this celadon porcelain zun is made of kaolin, the body is yellow-gray, and the surface is coated with glaze. It is fired at a high temperature of more than 1200℃, and the body and glaze are firmly combined with low water absorption. Compared with later porcelain, it has many primitive colors, but it has basically possessed the characteristics of porcelain.

"Because the number of primitive porcelain unearthed at that time was small and it was difficult to make a conclusion academically, it was initially called 'glazed pottery'. But as a large number of primitive porcelains were unearthed in various places, it was generally recognized as primitive porcelain." Tang Wei introduced that the green-glazed porcelain vase already had the obvious characteristics of porcelain, so it was called a porcelain vase. Because the porcelain at that time was still in the early and low-level stages of production, compared with the mature porcelain after the Eastern Han Dynasty, the body was not completely sintered, the glaze layer was thinner, and the production process was relatively primitive, so it was also called a "primitive porcelain vase."

Uses: It is indispensable for drinking and offering sacrifices

The creation of primitive porcelain is an important invention of the ancient working people of my country. It has many advantages over pottery. Therefore, after the appearance of primitive porcelain, it became a precious utensil exclusively enjoyed by the ruling class in various eras such as the Shang Dynasty, Western Zhou Dynasty, Spring and Autumn Period, and Warring States Period. Primitive porcelain was often buried with the nobles and princes of these eras. This green-glazed porcelain zun in the Zhengzhou Museum is a sacrificial item buried with the deceased.

"A zun is a container and also a sacrificial vessel. It was used as a wine vessel during the Shang and Zhou dynasties." Tang Wei told reporters that during the excavation of Tomb No. 2 of the Shang Dynasty at Zhengzhou No. 14 Middle School, fragments of a green-glazed porcelain zun were found scattered randomly at the bottom of the tomb. The reason for the fragments may be due to the squeezing of the tomb chamber sediment, or it may be the custom of "destroying the vessel when burying" at the time. However, based on the "prone burial" of the tomb owner and the location and state of the distribution of the broken porcelain pieces, it can basically be considered as a burial object at the time, and it was more used for sacrificial purposes during his lifetime.

"This porcelain vase was made and used in the early Shang Dynasty about 3,600 years ago. The primitive porcelain represented by it in Zhengzhou Shang City is of great significance to the study of China's ceramic history. Before the appearance of this artifact, people generally believed that porcelain appeared in the Han Dynasty. The discovery of this green-glazed porcelain vase pushed the history of Chinese porcelain firing forward by more than a thousand years." Tang Wei said that the primitive porcelain represented by the green-glazed porcelain vase embodied the highest level of porcelain production in the Shang Dynasty and was more precious than bronze ware at the time.

When talking about the Shang Dynasty, people first think of the prosperous bronze culture. Who would have thought that the technology of porcelain firing had quietly sprouted? The discovery of the green-glazed porcelain urn shows that Zhengzhou was already a metropolis with prosperous culture and developed industry and commerce in the early Shang Dynasty.