Proto-Celadon
1 min readProto-celadon is no longer a kind of pottery.As laboratory tests reported，the attributes of proto-celadon，such as the paste and the glaze are closer to those of real porcelain.However，gaps still exist in terms of kiln temperature control as well as in some other aspects. Due to such immaturity, it is named as proto-celadon, to be differentiated from mature porcelain.
At early times since people were inexperienced and unskilled in selecting and cleansing porcelain clay, the content of iron was high thus caused the dark and primitive appearance of proto-celadon.
Proto-celadon emerged at the time when bronze wares were prevailing. As its material was much cheaper and more available, it was welcomed by the ordinary people who could not afford to use bronze wares. While proto-celadon daily utensils were produced, proto-celadon ritual vessels were also modeled on the then commonly-used bronze ritual vessels, such as gui(food container), ding(tripod) and zhong(bell).
Nonetheless, it was not until the Eastern Han dynasty that porcelain finally became mature and more elegant.
Celadon was the main porcelain category during that time, along with a small production of black porcelain. Such situation continued in the consequent Wei and Jin era.
