SOAS Research Online

Abstract

It is the intent of this dissertation to identify and classify the ceramic wares of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) which are of stoneware type with alkaline glazes, as distinct from unglazed wares and earthenwares with lead glaze which were produced in the same period. The excavation of Han tombs in China in recent years has shown these glazed stonewares to be distributed in two major regions, one in the eastern part of China primarily in Kiangsu and Chekiang provirices, and the other across the southern part of China in Kwangtung, Kwangsi and into Vietnam, the division of the ceramics into two major types of wares which were produced can be seen to correspond generally to their distribution in these two regions. The information from the reports of excavations has been applied to the identification of similar wares in collections outside China in order to date them more accurately and to place them in a chronological sequence of stylistic development. The production of glazed stonewares of the Han period is more extensive than previously believed, and show the Han to be an important formative period in Chinese ceramic history, I he improvements made by Han potters which enabled them to produce high-fired glazed wares on an increasingly large scale set the stage for the achievements of later generations.