Chinese Pottery

Handmade pottery from as early as the 6th millennium B.C has been uncovered from the ground by digging at places, such as in Yellow River valley and the Yangtze River valley.

In the next few millennium pottery become more complex, and by the 3rd millennium B.C., the potter's wheel was in use in some areas. In the Shang period, a high-fired glazed ware ("proto-porcelain") appeared. The stoneware called mature celadon was first made in the 1st century (A.D.220-589).

In the Sui and Tang dynasties celadon production advanced in parralled with the production of porcelain, a glass-like ceramic material with a very hard-white body. In the imperial of Liao, Song and Jin dynasties, making kilns were widely built in both south and north. The Emergence of Proto-porcelain in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties Ceramics of Han, Wei, Western Jin Dynasties. Many ware were very popular, such as celadon and white porcelain, qingbai, black-glazed ware and porcelain with painted designs. A variety of porcelain-making techniques completed strongly.

With the invention of underglaze blue porcelain in the Yuan period, "Jingdezheng" in Jiang Xi Province made it self the center for porcelain production. It's position held throughout the Ming and Qing Dynasties Celadon and white porcelain were substituted by porcelain with decoration painted under or over the glaze and by all kinds of ware with black and white glazes. Porcelain decoration become wider and more colorful than before.

China has long been known throughout the world was the home of porcelain. Its porcelain has exported continual since the eight A.D. In Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" a character says" They are not Chinese dishes but very good dishes" showing that Chinese Porcelain was the standard of quality, and also that the country was coming to be synonymous with its product "china" in the English language. Chinese porcelain has stimulated international culture exchange for over a thousand years.