Fujian Trade Ceramics

An overview of Fujian trade Ceramics 　

Fujian was a major ancient trade ceramics production centre in China. During the pre Song period, it produced mainly green glaze (celadon) wares which followed the famous Zhejiang Yue tradition. Most of the kiln sites were located in Northern Fujian (Minbei) and a scattering few in Southern Fujian (Minnan).

However, Minnan emerged as a major exporter of trade ceramics during the late Northern Song period and Quanzhou retained its prominent status of international port till Yuan period. The bulk of the trade ceramics consisted of green wares (celadon), white/qingbai and black wares. It owed it's good fortune to the abundance of local raw material required for ceramics production and it's proximity to Quanzhou, a cosmopolitan port known to Marco Polo as Zayton. It was the largest seaport in Asia during the Song/Yuan period.

According to Song period Zhao Rugua's work "zhufanzhi" (1225), 46 countries (including Annam, Cambodia, Srivijaya, malay peninsula, borneo, java, eastern Indies, the Philippines and even Zanzibar) were listed as China's trading partners and the Yuan period "Daoyi zhilue" listed at least 58 countries.

Following the drastic dropped in production during the late Yuan/Mid Ming period, another peak in ceramics production emerged with the rise of Yuegang as an international trading port in late Ming period. Zhangzhou region was able to take advantage of proximity to Yuegang to supply blue and white/overglaze enamelled wares commonly known as Swatow wares. It also saw the introduction of blanc de chine wares from Dehua.

The chaotic transition from Ming to Qing period resulted in the decline and finally demise of Zhangzhou wares. Kilns in Dehua and its neighbouring Yongchun/Anxi however expanded further. Besides blanc de chine, they also supplied blue and white wares. The rise of Dehua kilns is still not well understood as it is located inland and transportation involved a stretch which the cargo would need to be carried over the mountain before it reached the river system linked to Xiamen. Hence, access to the Xiamen international port was relatively less convenient. The abundance of high quality porcelainous material for production of blue and white and blanc de chine wares may have been a major reason for its success. A parallel example would be Jingdezhen.

Thanks to recent archaeological excavations and researches involving the Chinese and overseas ceramic researchers, we are now at least able to have an overall understanding of the major type of ceramics exported at each phase of Fujian ceramics production and the kilns that were involved in supplying them.

Ceramics in Song/Yuan Phase

Greenware (celadon)

During this Song period, the centre of production was Nanan which boasted more than 47 kilns. Together with nearby kilns such as Tongan, Anxi, Xiamen and further away such as Jinjian, Minhou, Fuqing, Putian and Lianjiang, this whole stretch of kilns produced similar green glaze products. This was the mainstream export ceramic besides the white/qingbai wares.

The most typical type was those green glazed wares with curved and combed/dotted decorations. This was commonly termed as Tongan type or Juko (shuko seiji) greenware (name after Juko (shuko) a Japanese monk tea ceremony master). In fact, this was a continuation of the Longquan tradition. Longquan kilns started producing such type around Mid/late Northern Song period. Similar types were produced also in Northern Fujian kilns mainly for domestic consumption. The colour tone is varied ranging from olive green to different degree of yellow. In comparison with the Longquan version, the quality was less refined and for most pieces the outer lower portion of the bowls were left unglazed. For the Lonquan version, only the outer base was left unglazed. The Fujian kilns produced such type latest by late Northern Song and continued to produce them till early/Mid Southern Song period. Such curved/combined wares were found in the Jepara shipwreck in Indonesia. In this wreck, there were also Dehua white wares and Hutian Qingbai which could be dated to late Northern Song/Early Song period.

Another common type has curved floral/cloud or abstract motif on the interior. Again it was not a Fujian creation but copy of the Longquan type. This type was first introduced earliest by late Northern Song and was popular till Southern Song period. Those with curved lines on external wall were introduced earlier as compared with those with plain external wall on the bowls. There were also substantial amount of plain bowls without any decoration.

During the Yuan period, green glaze wares continued to be produced but there is a noticeable drop in the quality and export volume. During the Yuan period, Longquan and Jingdezhen became formidable competitors which supplied better quality export ceramics such as celadon, white/qingbai/shufu and blue and white wares.

White/qingbai wares

More well-known than the green wares are the white/qingbai wares with colour ranging from bluish white to nearly white/yellowish white. The main production center was Dehua. The white/Qingbai wares emerged as a mainstream export products later than the greenwares. Together with the greenwares, they were the main export items during the Song/Yuan period. The oldest dehua kiln at Wanpinglun possibly dated to the late Northern Song period. The one at Qudonggong started production during the late Southern Song period The most common export dehua products were dishes ,boxes, vases and kendis. Another notable white/qingbai production site was Nanan. There were many other coastal kilns that also produced white/qingbai wares but they were relatively of poorer quality.

The colour tone of some of the Fujian wares is rather hard to classify. Strictly speaking they should still be classified as white ware despite showing varying degree of yellow or grey tinge. There are some which may even be confused as light yellowish greenwares. The varying colour was the result of the unstable firing atmosphere in the dragon kilns rather than difference in glaze formula. .

Black (Temmoku) wares

Archaeological excavation showed that some Fujian kilns made greenwares together with the black wares. Some key examples were kiln sites in Fuqing, Jianyang and Jinjiang areas. There were however clear indication that black wares were produced later than the green glazed wares.

The most famous of the black temmoku wares were those from Jianyang. They were highly praised and treasured by the tea connoisseurs. There was also substantial overseas demands and coastal kilns such as those in Fuqing and Minhou were major exporters. Visually they were different from Jianyang temmoku bowls. Majority have a light greyish paste and the glaze is not as thick/glossy and the hares' fur effects are not as attractive. For more information on Fujian temmoku wares, please read Lianjiang shipwreck Fujian temmoku bowls.

Lead-glaze wares

A distinctive category of products were made at Cizao kilns in Jinjiang. The have lead coloured glazes which were applied onto kendi, censers, basins, plates, jars, ewers. The kendis were specifically made for the Southeast Asian markets. Another unique type was the black glaze wares with curved motif which exposed the paste.

Ceramics in Ming Phase

Swatow (Zhangzhou) blue and white

Following a lull in the production from late Yuan to Mid Ming, a distinctive group of Blue and whites and overglaze enamelled wares were produced in the Zhangzhou region. They were characterised by the gritty base. The main market was Southeast Asia but smaller quantity were also found in west asia and as far as East coast of Africa. For more details on the rise of Zhangzhou kilns and the products produced, please read A General survey of Swatow (Zhangzhou) wares .

An important shipwreck consisting of mainly Zhangzhou late Ming blue and white was discovered near Binh Thuan in Vietnam. For more on Binh Thuan shipwreck, please read Binh Thuan Shipwreck (Swatow) Zhangzhou blue and white .

Dehua Blanc de chine wares

During the late Ming period, Dehua exported a large varieties of white wares,: cups, censers, gu-vases, ewers, bowls, large plates, lamp, seated lions, figurines. Blanc de chine wares have a silky ivory white tone and the porcelain is translucent. In these aspects, they were different from the early Dehua wares with the yellowish white glaze. Dehua potters introduced the blanc de chine wares during the 16th century firstly mainly for the Southeast Asian market. During the 17th/18th century, many Dehua blanc de chine were exported to Europe. Dehua ivory colour tone blanc de chine caused considerable responses in Europe and were widely collected by royal families and nobles.

Those from the Early Qing period still retained the ivory tinge but the later Qing pieces became white in colour tone and not as attractive.

Ceramics in Qing Phase

Dehua blue and white

According to archeological finds, Dehua started production of blue and white since Mid Ming Period. However, blue and white ceramics produced were small compared with the blanc de chine wares. But from Qing Kangxi the production of blue and white increased. During the 18th/19th century, blue and white became the main production item. In fact, so far, more than 177 kilnsites producing blue and white been discovered. The neighouring kilns in Yongchung and Anxi also produced similar types which are hard to distinguish from those Dehua products. However, generally the Dehua products were of better quality.

In 1999, Tek Sing cargo which consisted of more than 300,000 mainly Qing Daoguang Dehua/Yongchung/Anxi blue and whites were recovered. The size of the blue and white is an indication of the popularity of the wares. For more on Tek Sing cargo and information on Dehua blue and white, please read Tek Sing shipwreck (Dehua) blue and white.

For more on Dehua blue and white, please view below video:

Fujian Dehua blue and white video Pt: 1 , 2 , 3 (new 20 Mar 09)