2205-1767 B.C.E.:

Xia Dynasty

1767-1122 B.C.E.:

Shang Dynasty

1122-256 B.C.E.:

Zhou Dynasty

771-475 B.C.E.:

Spring and Autumn Period

475-221 B.C.E.:

Warring States Period

221-207 B.C.E.:

Qin Dynasty

206 B.C.E.-221:

Han Dynasty

220-265:

Three Kingdoms Period

265-420:

First Jin Dynasty

302-439:

Sixteen Kingdoms Period

420-589:

Southern and Northern Dynasties

581-618:

Sui Dynasty

618-907:

Tang Dynasty

690-705:

Second Zhou Dynasty

907-960:

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period

907-1115:

Liao Dynasty or Khitan Empire

1036-1227:

Western Xia Dynasty or Tangut Empire

1115-1234:

Second Jin Dynasty of Northern China

960-1279:

Song Dynasty

1279-1368:

Yuan Dynasty or Mongol Empire

1368-1644:

Ming Dynasty

1644-1911:

Qing Dynasty or Manchu Dynasty

1911-1945:

Republic of China

1949-today:

People's Republic of China

Introduction

Porcelain was certainly invented in China. This is acknowledged in England by the adoption of the word “china” as equivalent to porcelain. Even in Persia, the only country to which an independent invention of the material has been attributed by some writers and where Chinese porcelain has been known and imitated for centuries, the word chini carries a similar connotation.

Octogonal Rhyton Supported by an Animal Head

Tang Dynasty, 7th century

Moulded porcelain, height: 9 cm

The British Museum, London

For the creation of a scientific classification of ceramic products, it may be necessary to define here the distinctive characteristics of porcelain. Porcelain ought to have a white, translucent, hard paste, to be scratched by steel, homogeneous, resonant and vitrified, exhibiting, when broken, a conchoidal fracture of fine grain and brilliant aspect.

Tea Bowl

Song Dynasty, 960-1279

Porcelain covered in speckled brown,

also known as “hare’s fur” decoration,

maximum diameter: 11.5 cm

National Palace Museum, Taipei

These qualities inherent in porcelain make it impermeable to water and enable it to resist the action of frost even when uncoated with glaze. Among the characteristics of the paste given above, translucency and vitrification define porcelain best.

Pillow in the Shape of a Child

Northern Song Dynasty, 960-1127

Monochromatic porcelain, 31 x 31.2 x 18.8 cm

National Palace Museum, Taipei

If either of these two qualities is absent, the material is considered a different kind of pottery. If the paste possesses all the other properties with the exception of translucency, it is stoneware; if the paste is not vitrified, it belongs to the category of terracotta or of faïence.

Vase

Song Dynasty, 960-1279

Ivory white porcelain, height: 25.2 cm

National Palace Museum, Taipei

The Chinese define porcelain under the name of tz’u, a character first found in books of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E.-221 C.E.), as a hard, compact, fine-grained pottery (t’ao); they distinguish it by the clear, musical note that it gives out on percussion and by testing that it cannot be scratched by a knife. They do not insist on the whiteness of the paste or on its translucency, so some pieces may fail in these two points when the fabric is coarse.

Handled Gourd-Shaped Bottle with Floral Pattern

Northern Song Dynasty, 960-1127

White monochromatic porcelain stoneware with chased and engraved enamel decoration, height: 23.5 cm

Musée national des Arts asiatiques – Guimet, Paris

However, it would be difficult to separate these elements from porcelain’s character. Porcelain may be divided into two classes: hard paste, containing only natural elements in the composition of the body and the glaze, and soft paste, where the body is an artificial combination of various materials fused by the action of the fire, in which a compound called frit has been used as a substitute for natural rock.

Cup

Northern Song Dynasty, 960-1127

White porcelain stoneware with underglaze engraved

enamel decoration, maximum diameter: 23 cm

Musée national des Arts asiatiques – Guimet, Paris

All Chinese porcelain is of the hard paste variety. The body consists essentially of two elements: the white clay kaolin, the unctuous and infusible element that gives plasticity to the paste, and the feldspathic stone petuntse, which is fusible at a high temperature and gives transparency to the porcelain.

Ju Ware Narcissus Planter

Northern Song Dynasty, 960-1127

Monochromatic porcelain, 23 x 16.4 x 6.9 cm

National Palace Museum, Taipei

Teapot with Pouring Spout

Song Dynasty, 960-1279

Monochromatic porcelain, height: 20.2 cm

The British Museum, London