The Great Collection of Cultural Relics from the Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties (Part 1)

Author: Li Huibing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: The Song Dynasty was a prosperous period for the development of Chinese porcelain industry, with kilns scattered across northern and southern regions. In terms of production nature, there were imperial kilns and civilian kilns; geographically, they were divided into northern and southern kilns. The imperial porcelain pieces in circulation are most abundant in the collections of the Palace Museum in Beijing and the Palace Museum in Taipei. The number and quality of Song Dynasty imperial porcelain published in this volume are unparalleled by general catalogs. For the convenience of readers, The Porcelain of the Two Song Dynasties is divided into two volumes. It first categorizes kilns by northern and southern regions, followed by imperial and civilian kilns. The first volume includes northern porcelain, such as products from kiln systems like Ru, Jun, Ding, Yaozhou, and Cizhou, as well as porcelain from the Jin, Liao, and Western Xia dynasties. The second volume collects southern porcelain from kiln systems like Geyao, Guan, Yue, Longquan, Jingdezhen, Jian, and others. Song Dynasty civilian porcelain holds a highly important position in the history of Chinese porcelain. If the imperial kilns of the Song Dynasty are akin to highbrow art, then civilian kilns can be described as a vibrant tapestry of diverse styles. The development of both imperial and civilian kilns constitutes the entirety of Song Dynasty porcelain culture, reaching the pinnacle of Chinese porcelain aesthetics.