The Yaozhou kilns : a re-evaluation
Despite its undeniable beauty, the blue/green ware of Yaozhou was not included among the five famous wares of the Song dynasty, and to this day, despite the evidence of intensive archaeological excavations, its primacy in the history of Chinese ceramics has not been recognised. Chinese literary sources dating from the eighth to the nineteenth centuries reveal that during the Northern Song (960-1126), the Yaozhou kilns had in fact gained official recognition, but from the Southern Song (1127-1279) onwards this perception had become negative. Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) scholars hardly referred to Yaozhou ware at all, and by the beginning of the twentieth century, Yaozhou ware was not even identified. This may account for the negative view held by ceramic experts up to the first major archaeological excavation in 1958, but why scholars world-wide have continued to under-rate Yaozhou kilns despite the astonishing discoveries of 1973 and of the seasons from 1984 to 1997 is baffling. This dissertation shows how advanced this kiln centre was by reconstructing the manufacturing process from the preparation of raw materials to firing, on the basis of the archaeological materials. From the analysis of the
Rastelli, Sabrina
Archaeology
The Yaozhou kilns : a re-evaluation. Despite its undeniable beauty, the blue/green ware of Yaozhou was not included among the five famous wares of the Song dynasty, and to this day, despite the evidence of intensive archaeological excavations, its primacy in the history of Chinese ceramics has not been recognised. Chinese literary sources dating from the eighth to the nineteenth centuries reveal that during the Northern Song (960-1126), the Yaozhou kilns had in fact gained official recognition, but from the Southern Song (1127-1279) onwards this perception had become negative. Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) scholars hardly referred to Yaozhou ware at all, and by the beginning of the twentieth century, Yaozhou ware was not even identified. This may account for the negative view held by ceramic experts up to the first major archaeological excavation in 1958, but why scholars world-wide have continued to under-rate Yaozhou kilns despite the astonishing discoveries of 1973 and of the seasons from 1984 to 1997 is baffling. This dissertation shows how advanced this kiln centre was by reconstructing the manufacturing process from the preparation of raw materials to firing, on the basis of the archaeological materials. From the analysis of the
kiln re_evaluation despite undeniable beauty blue green ware include among famous ware song dynasty day despite evidence intensive archaeological excavation primacy history chinese ceramic recognise chinese literary_source date reveal northern song kiln fact gain official recognition southern song onwards perception become negative qing scholars hardly refer ware begin ware even identify may account negative view hold ceramic expert first_major archaeological_excavation scholars world_wide continued under rate kiln despite discovery show advance kiln centre reconstruct manufacturing_process preparation raw_material fire basis archaeological_material analysis