Minimalism in Song Dynasty

Ancient Chinese aesthetics reached its peak in Song Dynasty. The key characteristics of Song aesthetics include simplicity and minimalism, with the use of simple shapes such as circles and squares and monochrome. The beauty of Song porcelains is shown in this pursuit of absolute tranquillity and simplicity in arts. 

 
Imperial kilns in Song Dynasty were built by the court, including Northern Song Kiln and Southern Song Kiln. 
 
After Emperor Gaozong moved the court southward to Linan (present-day Hangzhou) in 1138, the court built new kilns there, with one in Xiuneisi and the other in Jiaotan. According to historians, the Xiuneisi Kiln was at the foot of the Fenghuang Mountain in Hangzhou, and the Jiaotan Kiln was near Wugui Mountain. 
 
In order to distinguish the two, the Northern Song Kiln is called ‘the old Guan ware’ while the Southern Song Kiln is called ‘the new Guan ware.’ ‘The old Guan ware’ tends to be thicker while ‘the new Guan ware’ is usually thinner. 


 
Longquan celadon imitating Guan ware were made exclusively for the court in Longquan after Emperor Gaozong moved the capital to Hangzhou. One possible reason why Longquan started producing faux Guan ware is that imperial kilns in Linan could no longer satisfy the increasing demand. Some kilns in Longquan thus utilised the same materials to produce similar Guan ware in the same way of manufacture. Another possible reason is that this Guan ware became popular among scholar-officials as they were used in the court, which generated a large market for Guan-type porcelains. 
 
Such porcelains, not documented in history, were not discovered until 1939. In the 1950s and 1960s, excavation in Longquandayao and Xikou proved that both kilns had produced Guan-type porcelains. 

 
A Longquan Guan-type lobed pear-shaped vase, Southern Song Dynasty
 
With lobed sides, between a floral-lobed mouth and foot of conforming form, covered overall in cream glaze with russet crackles. 
 
Modelled after Guan wares produced in the Jiaoxiatan kilns, this vase shows distinct features of its prototypes including the lobed shape. One such Guan ware prototype was excavated in the Jiaoxiatan Kiln, as illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu-Song, vol. 12, Tokyo. 1977. 

Japanese antique dealer purchased this vase in the 1960s during the 50thAnniversary Sale of the Osaka Bijutsu Club, a highly exclusive membership-only antique dealers club established in 1910. The club never holds any public sales. 

During the Northern Song Dynasty, Longquan celadon still retains the relics of the Yue kiln, Yan kiln and Luzhou kiln. The glaze is light blue, thin and bright. After the middle of the Southern Song Dynasty, it fully formed its own characteristics and is famous for its pink and plum glazed glazes, which are the most precious varieties of Longquan celadon. From the perspective of technology analysis, powder green and plum cyan glaze is a kind of "lime-alkali glaze". This kind of glaze bottle has high viscosity and low fluidity at high temperature and is suitable for hanging thick glazes. This thick glaze layer contains a large number of small air bubbles and incompletely melted quartz particles. When light enters the glaze layer, the glaze will strongly scatter the light and form a devitrification feeling, showing a soft and elegant ice-like jade. In comparison, the plum glaze layer is thicker than the powder blue glaze layer. The glaze must be applied several times and it can be fired several times, so it is more rare.