From the perspective of metal oxides imparting color, any glaze that exhibits varying shades of greenish-blue due to its iron content being fired in a high-temperature reducing atmosphere is termed a “celadon” glaze. Ancient Chinese celadon wares, as well as pieces from the Song dynasty kilns of Longquan, Guan (Official), Ge (Brother), and Ru, all fall under the category of celadon glazes. What requires special discussion here is the “Dongqing” (Pea-Green) glaze of the Qing dynasty, which achieved remarkable distinction.
The glaze colors of Song dynasty Longquan ware, particularly from the Southern Song period, represent the pinnacle of ancient Chinese celadon glaze development. Following the Song Longquan period, the Yuan dynasty flourished with underglaze blue (qinghua) and copper-red (youlihong) wares. The Ming dynasty focused on developing polychrome porcelain; consequently, celadon glazes declined, apart from some noteworthy examples from the early Ming Yongle and Xuande reigns. By the late Ming, some celadon glazes had degraded to an oily grey color. It wasn’t until the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty that successful “apple-green” (pingguoqing) pieces emerged, but the techniques for firing celadon glazes only stabilized during the Yongzheng period. Emperor Yongzheng himself repeatedly instructed the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen to produce Dongqing-glazed ware. The Records of Jingdezhen Pottery (Jingdezhen Taolu) states: “Dongqing ware is specifically imitated by the Dongqing kilns of the town [Jingdezhen], varying in quality and size. Pieces made by the official ancient kilns (Guangu) are especially fine. While it is sometimes erroneously called ‘Dongqing’ (winter-green) or ‘Dongqing’ (frozen-green), the imitated glaze color remains the same.” This indicates that both official and private kilns were producing this Dongqing glaze color at the time.
