What Studying Traditional Chinese Ceramics Taught Me

You can't really talk about Chinese art without talking about Chinese ceramics. Chinese ceramics goes back thousands of years and is one of the oldest records we have of Chinese civilization. So in the Neolithic times, around 4000 BC, people are making pots using a very primitive coil method. So they're taking clay, they're rolling it out so it looks like a snake or a piece of rope, and they're coiling it around to create their forms. And then they're taking like a small wooden hammer and they're kind of padding it into shape. Or they're taking these coils that have been joined together and they're kind of pinching it into shape. And then they dig a pit, they put fuel in it, meaning wood, animal dung, plant debris. They put their pots in it, they cover it again with more wood, they light it on fire, they wait 10-12 hours so that it dries the pots enough so that when you pick them up they don't fall apart. And then once you take them out after they've cooled, you burnish it, filling the holes in it so that water can be held, grain can be held in it. Over time, they learn to create better, stronger clay, better firing techniques. So as kiln technology improves, so does ceramic technology. You can start firing at higher temperatures. Then, glaze technology improves. And you can start taking natural things around you, dirt, wood ash, water, various minerals, mixing them together, putting them into a kiln that can fire to high enough heat to get them to melt, and you start having glaze effects that are created. So it's not just about the utilitarian purpose of sealing the dish or the bowl or the vase so that water doesn't leak out, but you actually start creating artistic effects. So now, as the result of these realizations of glaze technology, kiln technology, better clay, clay is now a canvas. We move from something that fulfills a utilitarian purpose to something that fulfills an aesthetic purpose. As things get better, you can do more interesting, more higher quality work, then you really see the tastemakers of the time, the emperor, the royalty, the government, saying this is the effect we want and this is what we will focus our effort on. And that's what they create. In the creation of this aesthetic, you really have the creation of a cultural period. This aesthetic represents the dynasty. What you really realize is that art and culture is what supports the ruling dynasty, right? They use it to substantiate their right to rule.