'The celadon tea bowl and other shapes displaying the pi-shaped foot ring' characterize the early celadons of Korea. Despite of the many obstacles due to the lack of materials in the study of celadons, particularly the birth of celadons, newly acquire...
'The celadon tea bowl and other shapes displaying the pi-shaped foot ring' characterize the early celadons of Korea. Despite of the many obstacles due to the lack of materials in the study of celadons, particularly the birth of celadons, newly acquired materials provide evidence that the development of celadons differed in the mid-western region and the southwestern region.
The early celadon kilns of the mid-western region comprised as brick kilns, approximately 40 meters long and 2 meters wide, with 7 side entrances. Recent excavation of the late Tang and Northern Song period in China including the Shanglin Lake (上林湖), Hehuaxin (荷花芯). Cixi City (慈溪市), and Silongkou (寺龍口) area, all imply that the Korean brick kiln originated from the Yuezhou kiln (越州窯) in the Zhejiang province (浙江省). Moreover, the saggar shard with the inscription bonghwa (奉化)', unearthed at the Pangsan-dong kiln site in Sihung, suggest that the potter may have come from the Fuhua (奉化) region in China.
The kilns in the southwestern region display smaller mud kilns, approximately 10 meters long, with 2-3 side entrances. Traditionally there were many small underground stoneware kilns in this region, actively maintained by the potters since the Unified Silla period. These mud kilns were not influenced by Chinese technology but were indigenously developed by the Korean stoneware potters.
In the 1980s, the excavation of the S?-ri kiln in Yongin revealed not only a kiln structure that transformed from a brick kiln to a mud kiln but also a stratum of waste that clearly exhibited the transition. Among the excavated materials, the tea bowls, which comprised the largest number, are particularly interesting as the foot displays the development from proto-pi-shaped foot ring→the coexistence of the proto-pi-shaped foot ring and the pi-shaped foot ring→pi-shaped foot ring→wheel-shaped foot ring. Because more than 50% of the shards from the early celadon kiln site consist of tea bowls, the study of this form provides an important criterion in the understanding of the development of early celadon kilns.
The Korean tea bowls with pi-shaped foot ring were thought to present the same style as those from the late Tang period. However, the tea bowls with proto-pi-shaped foot ring exhibit the same style with those from the Five Dynasties period. Thus, the former view must be revised. In other words, the Korean tea bowls with pi-shaped foot ring appears to be a Koreanized style of the later period, and not the contemporary style of the late Tang period.
The brick kiln structure presented objects that were exact copies of the Yuezhou wares of the Five Dynasties period, while the mud kilns showed stoneware influences and many shards displayed brick kiln characteristics and stoneware elements. Chronologically later than the brick kiln, the mud kiln produced objects influenced by metalwork, fired high quality and low quality wares separately, and attempted biscuit firing.
It appears that the brick kilns, which produced celadons for the upper class in the 10th century, directly adopted Chinese technology in the production structure of early celadons. Moreover, the mud kilns seem to have been formed around the southwestern coast as Korean celadon production structures in the 11th century. Thus, Korean celadons first began production from brick kilns and gradually transferred to the mud kilns in the southwestern area.
The early celadons of Korea were produced in brick kilns in order to satisfy the demand for celadons that were imported from China in limited amounts. The mud kilns, on the other hand, developed after celadon production was set on track, and thus reflected Koryo life style and aesthetics. This fundamental characteristic differentiates the brick kiln and the mud kiln in early celadon production.