The difference between pottery and porcelain

The difference between pottery and porcelain is not that there is glaze and glaze, and pottery can have glaze, such as Han Dynasty glass glaze (commonly known as: Hanlv glaze), Tang Dynasty colorful glassware (commonly known as: Tang Sancai) and so on. Porcelain can also be unglazed, such as white porcelain tires, because the texture is fine and white, so no one will see it as a pottery. In fact, during the Shang and Zhou dynasties and the Warring States period, the so-called hard pottery that was produced using porcelain stone in the southern region of China has reached a level of porcelainification. The sound of tapping is crisp and sweet, and should also belong to the original porcelain category.

The difference between pottery and porcelain is that one uses the material; the other is the firing temperature. Both are indispensable. Pottery can be made of various mineral clays, including china clay, with a low firing temperature, mostly between 700-1000°C. The carcass is basically sintered and no longer decomposes with water, but the porosity and water absorption are high. Observing the carcass under the microscope, there is very little glass-phase mullite crystals, in other words there is no porcelain, and the sound of knocking is more boring. Porcelain, on the other hand, is made of china clay, which is a kind of porcelain with high alumina content. The firing temperature of porcelain is at least 1100°C, ceramics are basically ceramicized, and a large number of mullite crystals are observed during microscopic observation. Porosity and water absorption are low, and the sound of striking is crisp. Western scholars also use the amount of iron in the fetus as the criterion for determining pottery and porcelain. They believe that the fetal fetal contains more metallic impurities such as iron and has a darker color. Porcelain fetal iron less, the color is whiter. The author does not think so, how much iron does not affect the nature of porcelain, but the aesthetic orientation is different. Take the Five Famous Kilns of the Song Dynasty as an example. The officials of the Sui Dynasty, the official government, the brothers, the elder brothers, and the dynasty were all royal imperial porcelains. Among them, the first four are all celadon products. The iron content of the fetal material exceeds the standard of porcelain that is considered by Westerners. Only Dingyao is a white porcelain, and the fetal material has a low iron content.

Ding Yao was only selected by the royal family at the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, and was used as a device for officials to use the people to burn.

Today's ceramics industry writes about the truth of Ye Zhen's "Tan Zhai Bi Heng" in the Southern Song Dynasty: "The present Dingzhou white porcelain is unbearable with its mang. There are two explanations for the word "mang" in the first one. One view is that it refers to the unglazed part of the mouth, that is, the meaning of Mangkou. Mango is caused by the overcoating process. The ancients adopted a new method to increase the production efficiency and allow more space in the limited furnace space. Burning porcelain for the royal family often does not hesitate to pay for the cost, as long as the restoration of Yanggan or Zhizhu technology, the problem can be solved. I don’t believe that Ding Yi’s craftsmen can be stupid enough to such an extent that even their ancestor’s Yangchao’s craftsmanship is forgotten, and they are even defeated by the Royals. Another argument is that it means bright glaze. I think the second argument is more reasonable. It has a lot to do with the aesthetic orientation of the ruling class in the Song Dynasty. Looking at the entire history of the development of the Song Dynasty ceramics, you can find that the royal family pursues the jade-oriented style of implicit, quiet and mysterious aesthetic taste.汝, official, brother, 钧, 定, 汝 为 为 魁 ” ” ” ” ” ” 正是 正是 正是 正是 正是 正是 正是 正是 正是 正是 正是 正是 正是 正是 正是 正是 正是 。 。. The kiln has a white, purple, black, and green glaze and is mostly glass glaze. The enamel is crystal clear and the light can tell people. Compared with other celadons, there is a lack of jade texture with jade content and refined light content. It is natural to be eliminated by the royal family.