雙語科技百科(化學) 第47期:瓷器的發展
Development of Porcelain
It’s widely acknowledged that porcelain was invented by Chinese. After several thousand years of hard work, the early potters accumulated rich experience in their craft. The earliest porcelain appeared in the slave societies of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties.
瓷器是中國人發明的，這是舉世公認的。瓷器的發明是在陶器技術不斷髮展和提高的基礎上產生的。瓷器最早出現於商代和周代的奴隸制社會。Porcelain as such was, in its initial stage, known now as the proto-celadonl from which porcelain developed independently. Whereas pottery is porous and o-paque and gives a dull sound when struck, porcelain, non-porous, translucent,and smooth-surfaced, is finer, harder, and closer-knit in texture and gives a me-tallic sound when struck.
中國商周時期的原始瓷器稱爲“原始青瓷”，它們和陶器的區別在於：陶器滲水性強，不透明，敲擊時發出厚重的聲音；早期原始瓷器質地較陶器細膩堅硬，吸水性較弱，敲擊時發出清脆的金屬聲。
A considerable number of Shang and Zhou proto-celadon vessels have been unearthed in many provinces in the Huanghe River(Yellow River) valley and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. These findings revealed basic char-acteristics of o-celadon used white china clay, or kaolin (an infusible white mineral earth produced in the area of Gaoling Village in Fuliang County in East China’s Jian-gxi Province) , which is a fine, pure material suitable for making high quality porce-lain. The firing temperature was at least l,200 degrees Celsius-much higher than for firing potfery.
在黃河流域和長江中下游沿岸的商代和西周遺址中發現的“原始青瓷”明顯的具有瓷器的基本特徵。它們由白色瓷土和高嶺土（產於江西省浮樑縣高嶺村的一種礦物土）燒製，這些材料易於燒製出高質量的瓷器，燒結溫度高達1000℃~1200℃，比陶器的燒結溫度高出許多。Porcelain making be-came steadily popular in the warring States Peri-od, when it began to step out of its primitive state.
瓷器業穩步發展，日益成熟，在戰國時期已經非常普及。Early in the Western Han Dynasty whole sets of celadon vessels were manufactured, according to speamens of Western Han vessels that were ex-cavated in Peixian Coun-ty, Jiangsu Province. The ewers, steamers, vases,jars, tripods and boxes have a hard paste and are smooth and lustrous compared with earlier wares. The frequent dis-covery of Han porcelain in archaeological digs indicates that large quantities of the ware were manufactured during the period.
根據江蘇省沛縣出土的西漢早期的瓷器，當時已經開始生產成套的瓷器器皿了。耳杯、沙鍋、花瓶、罐、三腳壺、盒等堅硬細膩，釉面有光澤。此外在考古中不斷髮現漢代瓷器，這說明當時瓷器已大批量生產了。白瓷出現於北朝時期，白瓷的出現爲釉下彩和釉上彩瓷器的發展打下基礎。到了隋朝和唐朝，瓷器更有新的發展，顏色豐富、樣式新穎。而且釉的成分含有多種金屬氧化物，使釉底顏料燒製後異彩紛呈。White porcelain was invented during the Northern Dynasties (386-581),which laid a foundation for the invention of under glazed and on-glazed was in the Sui and Tang dynasties that porcelain became more varied and color-ful. Glaze ingredients containing different metal oxides became available to pro-duce brilliant underglaze ( pre-glaze) colors via firing.
宋代制瓷業蓬勃發展，名窯涌現，形成了備具特色的地方瓷器派系。宋代以前，瓷器裝飾主要靠雕刻印嵌，即在瓷糊變幹之前用刀在瓷身上刻上花紋印章，然後上釉燒造。而到了宋、遼、金等時期，人們在瓷胎上直接繪畫圖案，這標誌着中國瓷器藝術進入一個全新的發展階段。In the Song Dynasty, porcelain kilns mushroomed in different places, while porcelain schools representative of particular regions appeared. Before the Song Dynasty, porcelain was decorated by caNed, incised, and impressed is, before the paste was dried, designs were carved or incised with a knife on the unglazed body or impressed with stamps for mass production and then glazed for firing. In the Song, Liao,and Jin Dynasties, decorative designs were painted o-ver the glaze, with this painting on porcelain marking an entirely new stage in Chi-nese porcelain art.
元代的瓷器業持續蓬勃發展，創造出很多著名的瓷器種類。明清兩代是中國瓷器生產最鼎盛時期。由於瓷料質地精良、燒製考究、色料豐富、做工精湛，加上當時的各種社會影響，使瓷器生產的數量、造型、色彩、圖案都達到了高峯。The Yuan Dynasty saw continuous new developments in the art of porcelain making which contributed to different types of famous wares. Porcelain-manufac-turing craft attained its acme in Chinese history in the Ming and Qing was shown in a tremendous variehjr of vessel shapes, lustrous colors, and splendid designs made possible by the fine texture of the paste, adequate firing,abundance of pigments, improvement of craflsmanship, and various social influ-ences of the time. Apart from exquisite patterns, Ming porcelain decoration fea-tured landscapes, portraits, and flower-and-bird and other paintings, while most of the Qing paintings on porcelain were works of famous contemporary artists or imitations of their works.
明代的瓷器不僅圖案精美，還增加了自然景色、畫像、花鳥等繪畫，而清代的瓷器圖案很多都是當代藝術大師的作品或對他們的臨摹。明清時期景德鎮成爲瓷器業的中心，“瓷都”的確立，使景德鎮窯在瓷器行業中獨佔鰲頭，爲瓷器的進一步提高作出巨大貢獻。Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province was the center of porcelain production in China during the Ming and Gting dynasties. lts kilns have contributed much to the perfec-tion of porcelain and occupy a distinguished place in ceramic art.
經過漫長的歷史發展，中國出現了很多種名瓷，包括越州的青瓷，邢洲的白瓷，河北的定瓷，汝州的汝瓷，浙江省的龍泉青瓷和景德鎮瓷器。這些名瓷各具特色，名揚四海。China’s various dynasties have seen a wealth of wares including the green Yue ware of Yuezhou, Xing white porcelain ware of Xingzhou, Ding ware in Hebei, Ru ware of Ruzhou, the celadon of Longquan in present-day Zhejiang Province, and Jingdezhen ware. The distinctive style of each is admired in different parts of the world, for Chinese pottery and porcelain went abroad as early as in the Han Dy-nasty, and was exported in large quantities by the late Tang Dynasty. From North China the wares went wesiward along the famous “Silk Road”; from the south they were shipped by sea to neighboring Asian countries and then to North Africd and Mediterranean countries. Not until the i5th century did they reach Europe and so have the worldwide impact that provided their brilliant page in the history of world civilization.
早在漢代，中國瓷器就開始走出國門，至晚唐時期大量出口。中國瓷器在中國北部由著名的“絲綢之路”運往西方，在中國南部經海運運往亞洲鄰國，然後運至非洲和地中海沿岸各國。但中國瓷器直到15世紀才運到歐洲，也從此在世界的文明歷史寫下了輝煌的一頁。Today, every Chinese province or autonomous region turns out ceramics with local features or in the style of the ethnic group of the le in the business have inherited and carried forward the fine traditions of the ancient Chinese ceramic art, thereby creating a flourishing situation in pottery and porcelain production.
今天，中國的各省市自治區都能生產出具有地方特色的陶瓷製品，從事陶瓷行韭的人們也將古代陶瓷藝術的優良傳統發揚光大，開創了陶瓷生產繁榮興盛的新局面。
