GUO Yenyi

(Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Academia Sinica)

Abstract: This is a review on the raw materials used for ancient traditional porcelains in Northern and Southern famous Kiln areas of China. The relations between the usages of china stone and the invention of China's porcelain are described here. The characteristics of china stone and kaolin and their important role in the development of Southern porcelains are discussed. As P'Jrcelain stone widely occurred in South China, which mainly consist of quartz and sericite, the ancient Southern porcelains possessed high siliceous characteristics. Since the beginning of the Yuan to Qing dynasties, more and more kaolin was added to the bodies to improve the quality of Jingdezhen porcelain. The glazes in South China were prepared with a mixture of china stone and grass wood ash or glaze ash (limestone was calcined together with grass wood ash). The Northern raw materials used for porcelain bodies were mainly various kinds of clay minerals. Feldspar, quartz, and dolomite or calcite were used for Northern porcelain glazes.

Keywords: china stone, Southern porcelains, raw materials