chinese pottery

Chinese PotteryChina has one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations—despite invasions and occasional foreign rule. A country as vast as China with so long-lasting a civilization has a complex social and visual history, within which pottery and porcelain play a major role.The function and 【status】of ceramics（瓷器）in China varied from dynasty to dynasty, so they may be utilitarian, burial, trade-collectors', or even ritual((宗教等的)仪式)objects, according to their quality and the era(纪元) in which they were made. The ceramics fall into three broad （大致的）types—earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain—for vessels, architectural items such as roof tiles(瓦片), and modeled objects(模具) and figures(瓷做的人物). In addition, there was an important group of sculptures（雕塑，雕刻品）made for religious use, the majority of which were produced in earthenware.earthen(土制的)，ware(小商品)。

The earliest ceramics were fired to earthenware temperatures, but as early as the fifteenth century B.C., high-temperature stonewares（石制的，粗陶的）were being made with glazed（上釉的，表面的光滑的）surfaces. During the Six Dynasties period (AD 265-589), kilns(窑)in north China were producing high-fired ceramics of good quality. Whitewares（白瓷）produced in Hebei and Henan provinces from the seventh to the tenth centuries evolved（进化，演化）evolution,evolutionary into the highly prized porcelains of the Song dynasty (AD. 960-1279), long regarded as one of the high points in the history of China's ceramic(陶瓷的)industry. The tradition of religious sculpture extends over most historical periods but is less clearly delineated （勾画描述）than that of stonewares or porcelains, for it embraces（拥抱，皈依，包含）the old custom of earthenware burial ceramics with later religious images and architectural ornament（装饰美化）. Ceramic products also include lead-glazed tomb models of the Han dynasty, three-color lead-glazed vessels and figures of the Tang dynasty, and Ming three-color temple ornaments, in which the motifs（中心思想）were outlined（提纲，要点，外形，轮廓）in a raised trail of slip（小失误，滑到，摆脱，遗忘，忽视）- as well as the many burial ceramics produced in imitation（仿制品）of vessels//(器皿的仿制品就是器皿的模具)made in materials of higher intrinsic（固有的，内在的）value.Trade between the West and the settled and prosperous Chinese dynasties（繁荣且稳定的中国王朝）introduced new forms and different technologies. One of the most far-reaching examples is the impact of the fine ninth-century AD. Chinese porcelain wares imported（im-进入，ex-出去）into the Arab world. So admired were these pieces that they encouraged the development of earthenware made in imitation of porcelain and instigated(怂恿，煽动)into the method of their manufacture（制造捏在制造品）Middle East the Chinese acquired a blue pigment(颜料，天然色素)—a purified form of cobalt oxide（氧化钴）oxide:氧化物. unobtainable at that time in China—that contained only a low level of manganese（锰元素）. Cobalt ores ore(矿石) found in China have a high manganese content, which produces a more muted（颜色柔和的，变小的，无声的）blue-gray color. In the seventeenth century, the trading activities of the Dutch East India Company （荷兰人的东印度公司）resulted in vast quantities of decorated Chinese porcelain being brought to Europe, which stimulated and influenced the work of a wide variety of wares, notably Delft（显而易见的代夫特陶器，或译尤其是代夫特陶器equally especially Delft）.The Chinese themselves adapted many specific(明确的，特有的，详细的) vessel forms from the West, such as bottles with long spouts（喷嘴，溢出，涌出，滔滔不绝的讲）, and designed a range of decorative patterns especially for the European market.Just as painted designs on Greek pots（壶罐）may seem today to be purely decorative(纯粹为装饰所用), whereas（equally however）in fact they were carefully and precisely (精确的)worked out so that at the time, their meaning was clear, so it is with Chinese pots. To twentieth-century eyes, Chinese pottery may appear merely decorative（仅仅是装饰品）, yet to the Chinese the form of each object（客观，物体）and its adornment(装饰品)had meaning and significance. The dragon represented the emperor（帝王，君主）, and the phoenix, the empress(皇后); the pomegranate（石榴）indicated（代表象征）fertility（土地肥沃，生殖力）, and a pair offish, happiness; mandarin（官吏，旗袍领）ducks（怎么回事鸳鸯的= =）stood for wedded（已婚的，结婚的，结合在一起）bliss（天赐之福,福气）; the pine tree （松树）, peach, and crane（鹤）are emblems（象征）of long life; and fish leaping from waves（鱼跳出水面）indicated success in the civil service examinations（科举考试）. Only（强调）when European decorative themes were introduced did these meanings become obscured（模糊的，过时的，朦胧的）or even lost. Thesis：命题，论点From early times pots were used in both religious and secular（世俗的，现世的）contexts（背景，环境，上下文语境）text才是有课本的意思，也有正文的意思. The imperial（帝王的）court（宫廷，院子）commissioned（受委任的，现役的）work and in the Yuan dynasty (A.D. 1279-1368) an imperial ceramic factory was established at Jingdezhen. Pots played an important part in some religious ceremonies. Long and often lyrical（抒情诗的，抒情的，情感丰富的）descriptions of the different types of ware exist that assist（帮助，促进）in classifying pots, although these sometimes confuse an already large and complicated picture.。