Want to know the secret? Start with one: It’s one story, with two storylines. The first you can look and see right away. It’s the physical: the story of clay and glaze and kiln technology developing over 5,000 years. Ready? Here it is, from the neolithic to the last dynasty:
Did you see it? In the broadest terms, it went like this: Earthenware to stoneware to porcelain. With a bit more detail: the ceramic bodies went from earthenware to stoneware to porcelain while the surfaces went from incised and cold painted to burnished then lead glazed, then iron glazed (white, green, brown and black) then underglaze blue to many colored enamels.
That’s it! To understand Chinese ceramics, you just need to keep this technology timeline in mind while you consider another: the Dynastic Timeline. Think of it as shorthand for all the cultural influences on the ceramics of the period. Whereas the tech timeline is all about the physical; this one is all about style and design. Together these two timelines are the only secret you need to understand the whole story.
But before we get to the dynastic timeline, let’s take a quick diversion to Korea and Japan. Why? Because the story of Chinese ceramics is also the main story of East Asian ceramics. In fact, some of the best Chinese ceramics were made in Korea and Japan. They’re all part of the same big story.
Let’s pause for a moment. This Dynastic Timeline is trickier to see, so what exactly is it? As dynasties rose and fell, as they traded widely or became more insular, as they opened and closed the doors to outsiders, as new emperors favored new styles or revived the old, all of these influenced the ceramics of the time. And while the dividing lines were rarely clear, the Dynastic Timeline is the best way to organize and understand them.
