The origin and appreciation of the history of Yuan Blue and White Porcelain

In the 13th century AD, the rise of the Mongolians established the Imperial Empire and opened an important page in the history of the Chinese and Western communications. The Imperial Empire conquered many people of Europe and Asia, and its rule spanned across Europe and Asia. The traffic between China and the West was very frequent, and overseas trade was developed. Jingdezhen's porcelain, especially the blue-and-white porcelain, not only has a broad market in China, but also is sold abroad in large quantities.

After the 14th century, Chinese blue and white porcelain were exported to West Asia, Southeast Asia, South Africa, and Europe through trade channels. These blue-and-white porcelain items can be seen today that are nothing more than the handed down items preserved at the time of the export, and excavated objects excavated from ancient sites and tomb excavations. Among them, handicrafts are mainly concentrated in Tehran, Iran, and the Turkish Topkapi Museum. This opportunity to come to Iran's Tehran National Museum (microblogging) to see these handed down to the finest generation of blue and white porcelain, to achieve the author's long-cherished wish for more than 50 years. The museum's collection is not only large in quantity but of high quality, but also of reliable sources and of high scientific value. This is a historical testimony of cultural exchanges and friendly exchanges between the Chinese and Iranian peoples. It is also a valuable physical material for the study of Chinese blue and white porcelain. These blue-and-white porcelain were burned in the Jingdezhen in the Yuan Dynasty and exported to the Persian region. Therefore, they are rare in China. Now that the number of domestic blue and white porcelain and porcelain has been unearthed, the materials available for research have been enriched. They have similarities and differences with respect to the patterns and patterns in decoration and the blue and white flowers collected by the Tehran National Museum in Iran. It is an important task for us to visit this time.

The raw material of blue and white is cobalt oxide, which is a colored material with strong coloring power and good stability. It not only has a wide firing surface, but also is easy to be fired. This is its main performance. Cobalt oxide generally contains various elements such as iron oxide and manganese oxide. The content of other elements determines the properties of cobalt oxide. According to scientific research, the green materials used in ancient Chinese blue and white porcelain are divided into two types: imported and domestic green. The imported green material is called "Su Ma Li Qing," also known as "Suni Green Blue." The green material contains a high content of iron oxide, contains a low content of manganese oxide, and contains arsenic, which is a high-iron low manganese material. The domestic green material contains low iron oxides and high manganese oxide content. It is a high manganese low iron material. The most important feature of this imported green material is the high-speed iron, which is burned in reducing flame and shows black crystalline plaque. The textured lines are characterized by halo and flowing. Therefore, the performance of this kind of green material will directly affect the decorative and dense, multi-level decorative effect, which is a big contradiction.

This multi-layered, intensive and unreserved decorative style is inspired by Persia, the decorative patterns of ancient mosques and the decorative style of gold and silver utensils, as well as various types of entangled lotus leaf, lotus petals and rolls on the carpet. Patterns, s-patterns, and fretwork are all similar to the decoration on the blue and white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty not only in terms of subject matter and structure, but also in artistic style (Figure 1, 2). No wonder some scholars call it "Persian". ". In order to meet the requirements of the intensive and multi-layered decoration of the blue pattern decoration, first the imported green material must be transformed and refined before it can be used. Cobalt oxide is a highly pigmented raw material for coloring. The amount of cobalt oxide directly affects the color rendering of blue and white flowers. When painting porcelain, it should be light and moderate, and the thickness should be uniform. It also requires the painter to master a certain speed, and the pen can not be stopped. Kiln technology is particularly important, the kiln temperature, the atmosphere of the furnace, etc., will affect the blue and white color. The kiln temperature is too high and the green material flows. When the kiln temperature is too low, it will affect the color of the blue and white flowers.

The above changes in the properties of green materials, the scientific use and drawing of green materials, and the creation of a series of blue-and-white porcelain firings have resolved the contradiction between the artistic style (Persian style) of Yuan Lanhua and the properties of green materials. This is the origin of the origin and characteristics of the blue and white porcelain in the production process. It can be seen that this kind of blue and white porcelain is made from the best raw materials, selected the finest green material, and burned by the best kiln, which represents the highest level of Chinese blue and white porcelain production.

The Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain was able to innovate and develop. In addition to the main reasons for domestic and foreign demand, the Yuan Dynasty's various forms of art and cultural sources of diversity also influenced and created the unique features of blue and white porcelain.

The conquest of the Eurasian Empire by the Imperial Empire led to a large number of Arabs, Persia and Central Asia to move to China. This was followed by a large influx of *** culture. Western music, paintings, cultural customs, and handicrafts were also In China, Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain production using "Su Ma Li Qing" material is the result of the influence of the *** culture.

However, for a long time the question of where the imported “Su Ma Li Qing” material came from is different from the academic world. The investigation on the origin of the imported green material “Su Ma Di Qing” is the focus of our visit to Iran. Confidence comes from the 13th century copy of the Persian copy and the basis of Mr. Xu Ming’s last visit to Iran.

On September 21, 2010, this day finally arrived. In order to make our investigations proceed smoothly, the Tehran National Museum also sent a lady who was engaged in archaeological work. The distance from Tehran to Cachan is about 240 kilometers. It takes about 3 hours by car. We took a minivan from Tehran and passed along the Allawi Street in Sultan, Amir, and Ahmed districts. We took a tour of the Borujaldi House and headed straight to our destination. Wilder Mountain.

The small village where the cobalt mine is located is about 40 kilometers away from Kashan City. The car runs around the bare, rolling mountain path. In order to save time and accurately find the cobalt mine, we asked a familiar villager to serve as our guide, and the transfer truck quickly moved forward. Unexpectedly, the mountain was high and there was no way to stop. He had to get off and walk on foot. The destination of Gehamasha is at the foot of Roger Ware, and we are walking along the small "road" of the mountain. "Road" is more up and down slope, the surface is hard, natural coverage of small and large stones, walking feet not close to the ground, such as wearing roller skates, it is very difficult to go.

"Su Ma mud green" is beckoning us, and the road is harder to make progress! People who walked behind continued to shout loudly and asked, "Is it there yet?" People who are in front of them are unable to answer and have no choice but to go forward. In the buzzing sound of walking head down, everyone suddenly heard the guide's "Ula"! Arrived! finally reached!

We stand in the village of Gehamera, and it is said that the mine was sealed 60 years ago and the mine has collapsed. However, the two openings can also be seen (Figures 3, 4). In the periphery, we found a silver-gray stone - "Su Mu muddy blue." At the same time, it also confirms the authenticity of the 13th-century copy of Persian.

In the above text, there are confusions concerning place names, mine names, and cobalt material names. They should be named: Rajawad is the name of the mine, Gehamesa and Quamsa are the names of the village, Seleimani and Sulaymani. For "Su Ma mud green."

The destination of our investigation was arrived, but the purpose of the investigation has not yet been reached. This is because according to the provisions of the Iranian side, the ore cannot be carried with it. It must be sent to Shanghai with the approval of the relevant department, and it can be confirmed after scientific tests.

The “Su Ma Mu Qing” used in the Yuan Blue and White flower is imported green material. In the past, it was not clear where the specific origin was, and the academic community’s argument was different. This field trip to Iran can be said to be an unprecedented measure of deeper research and its significance is very significant. It not only makes up for the gaps in the study of Yuan and Qing porcelain, but also provides new reliable forensic data for scientific testing and comparison of the authenticity of Yuan Blue and White. If we use the newly discovered “Su Ma Mu Qing”, the ancient colored blue material used for the blue and white flowers to make blue and white porcelain, and compare it with new replicas, it will be clear at a glance.

Because "Su Ma Mu Qing" is a natural mineral material, it contains quite complex components, but the main features are high iron and low manganese and other trace elements such as arsenic. Domestic green materials are high-manganese and low-iron, and do not contain trace elements such as arsenic. From a scientific point of view, using a green material to imitate another kind of green material, it is impossible to achieve spuriousness in the coloration of blue and white flowers after firing. Contemporary replicas use imported green materials to imitate green materials. If they want to achieve the same or similar levels as those being imitated, they must manually prepare raw materials. However, the artificially prepared cobalt materials and natural associated cobalt materials are Differently, this determines the difference between "true" and "false." The difference between them is absolute, the same point is relative or limited. It is just that we are invisible and indistinguishable with the eye, but in essence they are different.

Cobalt blue as a porcelain decoration, first created for the kiln workers in Jingdezhen. Although Cobalt Blue has long been used in pottery decoration, due to the "Hi-color" of Cobalt Blue and the traditional cultural traditions, the combination of Persian "Blue" and Chinese "Porcelain" and the firing of blue and white porcelain is Jingdezhen. The kiln workers were affected by it and switched to the results of Persian Blue.

According to Ms. Rohfar, director of the Iran Museum’s Ministry of Education, “The Iranians were in China during the Yuan Dynasty, and Iran sent them to China to learn to make porcelain. However, there is no record of what the specific material is written on, and it is necessary to search for it.” One point we can confirm from the square stamp on the blue and white porcelain of the Iranian Museum. Most of the stamps on the black and white flowers collected by the Iranian Museum are painted with red paint, and some have a protective layer of transparent glaze. There is also a small number of people who seem to write directly on porcelain linings in Jingdezhen (glazed red, Figure 5). This is different from the stamps on collectors' porcelain collections of porcelain and blue-and-white porcelain (Figure 6). Although they are all glazed red in the kiln, they are considered by Iranian scholars to be definitely Persian, but they are written. There are mistakes, doubts are written by the Chinese. In addition, the difference in the position of the payment is obviously different. Taking a variety of large plates as an example, the collection of Yuan and Qinghua in the Iranian Museum has fallen into the gap between the outer ring and the decoration, while the knowledge of the collections of the Yuan and Qing flowers collected by domestic collectors has fallen on the outside wall of the plate. Along the above (Editor's Note: The private Tibetan market mentioned here is provided by the author, but a complete picture of the market is not provided). This should be related to the difference in writing methods between Iranians and Chinese people. This proves that the information provided by Director Rohfar for us is of academic importance.

In order to develop foreign trade and meet the needs of countries and regions sold, the Yuan dynasty encouraged the processing of imported materials, the use of imported green materials, and the adoption of foreign modeling and decoration for production. As a result, blue-and-white porcelain as a special export product absorbs more cultural factors and presents a diversity of styles. Therefore, the Yuan Blue and White Porcelain is not only the creation of the Chinese traditional culture, but also the crystallization of the direct exchange and integration of Chinese and Western cultures.