Research On The Evolution Of Longquan Celadon Decoration Techniques In Song And Yuan Dynasties

During the 400 years from the Northern Song period to the Yuan period,the decorative technique of Longquan celadon has experienced distinct historical development stages with unique technique evolving characteristics.Based on the historical documents,recent archaeological achievements and experimental data,this paper applied field research,sample comparison,image analysis,experiments and other methods to summarize the evolving epochal characteristics of the Longquan celadon decorative technique in the Song-Yuan period and further analyzed the core technological and social causes of the evolution.From the perspective of the historical evolution of decorative technique: The Northern Song period was the time that the Longquan celadon initiated and its main decorative technique was the flat carved pattern;During the Southern Song period,the development of Longquan celadon reached its peak.The decoration evolved from flat to three-dimensional,with the emerging of new decorative techniques such as kneading,ribbing and cracking,which evolved from the single-colored graze of Longquan celadon;The Longquan celadon flourished in the Yuan period with diversified decorative techniques including pointilling,baring base,printing,applique,carving and hollowing out,which developed simultaneously to achieve three-dimensional decorations and rich colors.The formation of the epochal characteristics of the Longquan celadon decorative technique in the Song-Yuan period was closely related to the reform of the core techniques of Longquan celadon,as well as changes in the kiln production.From the perspective of technique innovation: 1.The change of the body material.By introducing a certain amount of purple gold soil into the porcelain ingredients,the body building evolved from single porcelain ingredient in the Northern Song period to the dual-ingredient formula in the Southern Song period.Further combining this change with the application of the fine elutriating process,the white body,cinnabar body and black body were invented.The cinnabar body brought the flint red decoration to the baring base while the black body introduced puple mouthrim and iron-colored footrim with the purple gold soil as the colorant to achieve brown spot pointilling.2.The change of the glazing material.By gradually increasing the amount of porcelain clay and reducing the amount of wood ash,the composition of the glaze changed from the lime glaze of the Northern Song Dynasty to the lime-alkali glaze of the Southern Song Dynasty.The adoption of the multi-layer glaze technology of “multiple times of un-grazing and multiple times of glazing” promoted the thick graze technology and triggered a series of changes in decorative techniques.With the accumulated glaze effect of the thick glaze,the decorative techniques of white tracks,string pattern and ribbing were created;with the jade-like color of the thick glaze,pale blue and plum green decorations were created;with the expansion coefficient difference between thick glaze and the body,cracking decorations such as gold thread and iron wire,shallow white cracks were created.3.The change of molding.The windlass molding dominated the Northern Song period while the standard molding process was introduced in the Southern Song period,which used the inner mold and outer mold methods to standardize the production of utensils,innovate new shapes and invent the standard printing and applique techniques based on the standard molding.The printing and applique techniques were further flourished in the Yuan period with more than 10 new techniques such as concave thin line printing,convex thin line printing,convex flower printing,applique with full glaze and applique with baring base.The decorations presented a brand new look.And the changes in the kiln production of Longquan celadon also contributed to the evolution of Longquan celadon decorative techniques in the Song-Yuan period.From the perspective of kiln production changes: 1.the interaction of kiln technology between the north and the south,especially the advanced porcelain-making technology brought by the royal family of the Song dynasty when they moved to the south from the north,prompted the thin body and thick glaze products of Longquan celadon and expanded the combination of decorative patterns,including ribbing,crackle,flint red and purple mouth rim and iron-colored foot rim.2.The coexistence and intercommunication of civil and official porcelain manufacturing,especially the intervention of the official porcelain manufacturing during the Northern Song and Southern Song periods,promoted the decorative styles of Longquan celadon to change from the plain and simple style which was close to the ordinary people’s living in the Northern Song period to the elegant and sophisticated style that was in accordance with the standardized official porcelain-making requirements in the Southern Song period.3.The demand and interaction of the domestic and overseas porcelain markets stimulated the prosperity of the overseas trading of Longquan celadon in the Yuan period.The exchanges between different regions and nations benefited the diversified development of the decorative techniques.And the changes in the kiln production of Longquan celadon also contributed to the evolution of Longquan celadon decorative techniques in the Song-Yuan period.The production reform in the Longquan celadon kiln industry is the key driver for the evolution of the Longquan celadon decorative technique in the Song-Yuan period.This paper believes that the main factors causing the evolution of the Longquan celadon decorative technique in the Song-Yuan period are the innovation of tires,glaze and molding technique and the production reform in the kiln industry.Both factors jointly contribute to changes in the decorative technique of this period.