Three-color pottery horse
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Pottery
figurines The Tang dynasty is the peak of Chinese feudal society with the stability of the society and the development of the economy providing profound material basis for producing pottery figurines. In this period, famous writers Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan promoted the ancient essay movement to avoid the voidness of substance in the essays of the previous dynasties. The poets group with Li Bai and Du Fu as the representatives pushed forward the art of poems to the peak. Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, Liu Gongquan and Yan Zhenqing, the top calligraphers created writing style with their own specialities, thus regular script became the model of descendants. The clothes band to the wind by Wu Daozi, the ladies in luxurious silk dress by Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang, the white porcelain in Xinyao Kiln with the color the same as snow and silver, the green porcelain in Yueyao Kiln with the colour the same as that of forest on mountains and the three-color glazed technology supplied a terrific art atmosphere for the production of pottery figurines. Those pottery figurines with different postures and images were just the result of learning from numerous art achievements. The large amount of pottery figurines in the Tang dynasty also came from the cultural exchanges with other countries at that time. The scenes, customs, dresses, decorations and images of foreign countries were accepted as fashion in China, also became the subject of pottery figurines. Because of the popularity of luxurious funeral, the production of pottery figurines came to the prosperity. Tang tricolor refers to the technology of the 2nd firing after the 2nd glaze on the pottery body fired at 1100oC. Copper, iron and cobalt are used as coloring agent, so that different color can be fired. During the reigns of Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wuzetian, the colors mainly were green, yellow, reddish brown and white. During the peak of the Tang dynasty, the production of three-color glaze pottery figurines came to its peak also, with large number, hard paste, well-uniformed glaze, bright and numerous colors and vivid decoration. Plenty of blue color was especially used on three-color pottery figurines. Because of three-color pottery figurines, the pottery figurines in the Tang dynasty became the masterpiece in this field.
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Pottery standing female figurine holding flowers |
Pottery Figurines In Connection With Ladies' Lives Women in the Tang dynasty loved beauty, especially new hairstyle and facial ornament. In Tang, the main hair styles were half flying bun (banfanji), double circle fairy lady's bun (shuanghuanwangxianji), prisoner bun (qiuji), paojia bun, mother-of-pearl bun (luoji), lily bun (baiheji), round bun(yuanhuanji), etc., decorated with fake ornaments, as hairpins and combs. In order to seek the novel and peculiar beauty, women in the Tang dynasty often created new hairstyle, such as that twice higher than the face. The concubine Yang even uses fake hair as ornament to be different from others. In the Tang dynasty, eyebrow decoration was an important part of women's facial decoration. The emperor Xuanzong once ordered a painter to draw the paintings of ten ladies with different eyebrows. The ordinary people and officials tried hard to design new types. So it will not be difficult to understand that on the occasion of wedding ceremony in the Tang dynasty, the bride would ask her husband whether her eyebrows was in fashion. In the Tang dynasty, women also paid much attention to facial ornament,
that is, to make up face. The representative makeup is ehuang and huadian.
Ehuang was also called yuehuang and yahuang, because woman used yellow
makeup powder among the hair above the forehead or used the yellow powder
to paint a moon heart in the middle of two eyebrows. Huadian, also called
huazi, because it carved the thin leaves made of gold, silver and other
treasures into different designs, then stuck it on the forehead, between
the two eyebrows and on the two cheeks. As to the ornament on the dresses
in the Tang dynasty, the most representative point was to wear foreign
male dresses with more parts of body exposed.
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Pottery Tazik
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Pottery Figurines In Connection With The Cultural Exchanges Between China And Foreign Countries In Sui and Tang dynasties, the cultural exchanges between China and
other countries were promoted. From the emperors to the mass, they all
regarded the custom of foreign countries in the west and central Asia
as popular. It was not only because the rulers were of the extraction
of that region, but also because the rulers promoted the policy of opening
to the outside and Chinese People was open-minded at that time. The
foreigners were called "huren", most of which came from northwest
China, west Asia and central Asia such as Persia, Tazik, even some of
which from Africa. The former kind of Huren dealt with business with
higher social position; the latter ones were slaves to lead horse and
camel, to work or were dwarves to be fun of other people. The immigration
of Huren brought changes in the dress, food, house and transportation
of local people. The custom of foreign nationalities merged into the
society of Sui and Tang dynasties, enriched Chinese culture greatly.
We can realize the elegancy of it. |
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Yellow glazed pottery warrior |
Pottery Figurines In Connection With Hunting Customs The hunting custom started from ancient times, first to meet the need of the human being, later on it became the main source of food. With the decay of this function, hunting became an enjoyment. The rulers of the Tang dynasty were of extraction of minorities in the northwest China with the system of hat and gown following that of Zhou and Sui dynasties. The emperors Li Yuan and Li Shimin were both famous for their excellent hunting capabilities. With the influence of the emperors, hunting became popular all over China. There are many famous poems of the Tang dynasty describing this, for example viewing hunting by Wang Wei, and viewing Li Sikong's hunting in Xuzhou by Zhang Hu. In the tomb of Zheng Rentai in Liquan, tombs of Princess Yongtai and Prince Yide in Qianxian county Shaanxi Province, there were pottery hunter figurines excavated, with high quality and perfect craftsmanship. In the Tang dynasty, the popularity of hunting is the reflection of the self-confidence, self-satisfaction and self-improvement of Chinese people as well as a vivid portrayal of the prosperity. The colorful hunting pottery figurines are the epitome of this cultural background. |
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Pottery dancing female figurine
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Pottery Figurines In Connection With Music, Dance and Traditional Opera In the Tang dynasty, because of the stability of the politics and the prosperity of the economy, the nationalities in China got along well with each other and the cultural exchanges between China and other countries were more frequent, thus the music and dance of other countries and the minorities along the border of China entered, promoting the development of music and dance in this period. The music and dance of the Tang dynasty not only absorbed the quintessence of the traditional music and dance since Han to Southern Dynasties, but also merge that of minorities and foreign countries, on the basis of which the new music and dance were created. The music and dance in the Tang dynasty superior to that of other dynasties became the landmark in the development of Chinese music and dance in feudal society. In the Tang dynasty, Chinese drama was in its very early stage of the development. We can see something from the pottery figurines playing drama excavated in the tombs of the Tang dynasty. |
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