Tang Sancai, a treasure of Chinese ceramics

Tang Sancai is a kind of exquisite pottery from the Tang Dynasty. The developed political economy and culture of the prosperous Tang Dynasty made the pottery industry very prosperous at that time. Tang Sancai pottery is an important symbol of the prosperity of this pottery craft. In the hands of many museums, art museums and private collectors around the world, there are many Tang Sancai works with beautiful shapes and colorful glazes, including three-dimensional ceramic sculptures and utensils of various shapes. When we see the galloping horses, the camels known as the "Ship of the Desert", the various types of Tang Sancai figurines, warrior figurines, lady figurines, animals and birds of various shapes, etc., I will admire from the bottom of my heart the developed pottery technology of the Tang Dynasty. These lifelike artistic images, made of ordinary clay, use the art of fire to make them immortal works of art. They are the crystallization of the art and wisdom of countless unknown potters in the Tang Dynasty.

The production of Tang Sancai opened a new page in the development history of ancient Chinese ceramics. Its production is a shining point in the history of human pottery making.

What is Tang Sancai?

Tang Sancai is actually the general name for colored glazed pottery in the Tang Dynasty. Since it was fired in the Tang Dynasty, the most commonly used colors in the fired works were yellow, green and white, so it got the name Tang Sancai. , in fact, the colors used include blue, ocher, purple, black, etc. This kind of colorful glazed pottery was successfully produced based on the low-temperature lead-glazed pottery technology of the Han Dynasty. Through long-term practice, it gained a new understanding of various raw materials containing non-ferrous metal elements. It went through a slow firing and development process from rough to fine. By the time of the Tang Dynasty, the famous Tang Sancai pottery was finally fired.

The term Tang Sancai is not found in ancient documents. The earliest record is from the Republic of China. The world's attention to Tang Sancai was around the beginning of this century. During the construction of the Longhai Railway from 1905 to 1909, a number of Tang Dynasty tombs were damaged due to construction in the Beimang Mountain area of ??Luoyang, and a large number of Tang Sancai works were discovered. This batch of Tang Sancai was transported to the Beijing market and attracted the attention of researchers of ancient artifacts and the favor of antique dealers at home and abroad. From then on, the name of Tang Sancai was well known to the world. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the name Tang Sancai has been used for a long time. Of course, professional researchers mostly refer to it as "Tang Colorful Glazed Pottery". Strictly speaking, the latter is more scientific, because from a technical point of view, Tang Sancai is "glazed pottery". "It is not considered "cai", but Tang Sancai is a conventional name and has a wide influence, so maintaining this name has universal significance. The popularity and large-scale production of Tang Sancai in the Tang Dynasty has its profound historical background and practical significance. In the Tang Dynasty from the 7th century to the 17th century, politics was relatively stable, the economy was unprecedentedly prosperous, culture and art were prosperous, and the power of state guests promoted development in all aspects. The ceramic industry has also made great achievements. From another perspective, the emergence of Tang Sancai is an inevitable product of social development reaching a certain historical stage. Economic development also further led to the luxurious and luxurious life of the ruling class in the Tang Dynasty. This pursuit of luxury and pomp and circumstance is reflected in the strict hierarchical rules and regulations in the use of burial objects, that is, the three-color pottery of the Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, a trend of lavish burials developed from top to bottom. From the royal family to the scholar-bureaucrat class and even common people, it was popular to bury Tang Sancai pottery with them. The trend of thick burials greatly improved the quantity and quality of Tang Sancai pottery. In addition, the development of the commodity economy also greatly stimulated the production of Tang Sancai pottery. The development of foreign trade gave Tang Sancai pottery a very broad overseas market. By the 9th century AD, Tang Sancai pottery began to be exported. Due to the development of political economy, some merchants from various countries traveled across the oceans, and some followed the "Silk Road" to Chang'an, Luoyang, Yangzhou and other places to transport products including Tang Sancai back to their own countries. According to foreign archaeological excavation data, traces of Tang Sancai have been found in many places in many countries. More important areas include Forster in the southern suburbs of Cairo, Egypt, Samarra north of Baghdad in Iraq, and Neshapur in Iran. In addition, a large number of Tang Sancai pottery has been discovered in the Korean Peninsula and Japan, especially the Daianji ruins in Nara, Japan, Okinoshima, Genkai Town, Munakata County, Fukuoka Prefecture, Gobo Mountain Tumulus and Fukuoka Dailuofu ruins. Tang Sancai pots, bottles, jars and pillows were discovered. Utensils and pottery pieces of different shapes. After importing Tang Sancai pottery, some countries imitated similar styles of Sancai pottery, such as Iran's "Persian Sancai", North Korea's "Silla Sancai", and Japan's "Nara Sancai". The three-color pottery produced in these countries is different in style from the Tang three-color pottery, but the basic style of the Tang three-color pottery can still be seen from these pottery.

Tang Sancai began to be produced in the early Tang Dynasty, during which it went through three historical stages: the initial period to maturity, the peak period and the decline period. These three stages are consistent with the three important historical periods of the Tang Dynasty that are usually divided, namely the early Tang Dynasty and the prosperous period. The Tang and late Tang Dynasties were roughly the same. From the early 7th century to the 8th century AD, that is, from the Wude period to before Wu Zetian came to power, it was the initial period of the long firing process of Tang Sancai in the Tang Dynasty. Most of the mass-produced pottery is single-color glaze instead of colorful three-color pottery, and the varieties are relatively single. The products of this period are represented by the glazed pottery unearthed from the tomb of Zhang Shigui, a famous general from the Tang Taizong era, in Liquan County, Shaanxi Province, and the painted glazed pottery unearthed from the tomb of Zheng Rentai. However, the pottery unearthed from these two tombs cannot be regarded as typical Tang Sancai pottery. Of course, Tang Sancai pottery must have begun to be fired during this period.

The second stage is from the period when Wu Zetian came to power to the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, that is, from the early 8th century to the middle of the 8th century AD. This stage includes Kaiyuan Tianbao and the entire prosperous Tang Dynasty. As the national power of the Tang Dynasty grew stronger, Tang Sancai pottery also entered its heyday. Due to the development of the economy, the trend of lavish burials has spread. Regardless of the royal relatives, civil and military ministers or ordinary people, they are all buried with Tang Sancai. A large number of Tang Sancai pottery seen today are from this period. The large quantity and exquisite quality of the Tang Sancai pottery represent the highest level of Tang Sancai firing. From the middle of the 8th century to the beginning of the 10th century AD, the emergence of the "Anshi Rebellion" led to the destabilization of the Tang Dynasty's political power and a serious political and economic decline. The production of Tang Sancai also entered a period of decline, and the rules and regulations and the style of lavish burials were gone forever. The burning of Tang Sancai has come to an end. With the decline of the Tang regime, Tang Sancai also ended its historical mission.

"Luoyang Tang Sancai" is a concept that people today are very familiar with. As the name suggests, Luoyang is the place of origin of Tang Sancai. In fact, this may not be a very accurate concept, because only a large number of Tang Sancai pottery has been unearthed in Luoyang. However, the kiln where Tang Sancai was fired has not yet been found. However, Gongxian County in Henan Province, not far from Luoyang, is the hometown of Tang Sancai. Judging from the existing archaeological data, Tang Sancai pottery kilns are mostly distributed in the northern region, mainly in Gongxian County of Henan Province, Yaozhou City of Tongchuan City of Shaanxi Province, Neiqiu and Lincheng of Hebei Province. In addition, there is Qionglai, Sichuan. The most famous among them is the Tang Sancai kiln in Gong County, Henan.

There are many varieties of Tang Sancai, including utensils, three-dimensional statues, bright vessels, and daily utensils. Judging from the various existing Tang Sancai, it reflects the most complete handicrafts of the social life of the Tang Dynasty. There is almost no type of Tang Dynasty handicraft that can surpass the varieties of Tang Sancai. To sum up, Tang Sancai can be roughly divided into the following types:

1. Figure statues (including tomb beasts with human heads and animal bodies)

Figure statues are what we usually call As for the figurines, there are many kinds of figurines in Tang Sancai, such as large-scale works such as civil servant figurines, warrior figurines, heavenly king figurines, and tomb-suppressing figurines or tomb-suppressing beasts with human heads and animal bodies. Small and medium-sized works such as male figurines, female figurines, male and female equestrian figurines, Hu figurines, teasing figurines, etc. Civil servant figurines, warrior figurines, heavenly king figurines, and tomb-suppressing beasts are usually unearthed from the tombs of high-status royal relatives and officials. These works are generally very tall, some are seventy or eighty centimeters, and some can reach more than one hundred centimeters. .

2. Animal statues (including birds and beasts)

In addition to various pottery figurines, the animal statues in Tang Sancai are also rich and colorful. Among the various animal statues, horses and The camels are the most eye-catching. The appearance of so many horses and camels in Tang Sancai is consistent with the social development history at that time. It concentratedly reflected the developed transportation industry at that time. There are other shapes of animals in Tang Sancai, such as pigs, sheep, rabbits, chickens, ducks, etc.

3. Living utensils

The most common utensils closely related to life in Tang Sancai, such as plates, three-legged plates, washers, bowls, pots, jars, bottles, and statues. , bowl, pillow, etc. Those daily utensils include eating utensils, study utensils, cosmetic utensils, storage utensils, etc., but most of the utensils may have been buried with them as exposed utensils, because judging from the physical objects, most of the daily utensils were recovered from tombs. The unearthed items, especially some small items, are worthless and can only be used as artifacts.

4. Models

There is also a model type product in Tang Sancai. As an aspect of funerary objects, the diversity of Tang Sancai models is obvious. In order to make those who have died Living the same life as before death, various models are usually placed in the tombs of some distinguished people, which can be seen in the tombs of past dynasties.

Tang Sancai is a three-color pottery produced only in the Tang Dynasty. With the decline of the Tang Dynasty, Tang Sancai also disappeared. After the Tang Dynasty, the production technology of Tang tricolor was spread and multiplied in the northern region, including the Khitan tricolor and the Northern Song Dynasty tricolor, as well as the Jin Dynasty's golden tricolor. But their artistic level is inferior to that of Tang Sancai. There is also a big difference in style.