Ceramics
陶瓷
Ceramics, the general term for pottery and porcelain, refers to products made from plastic kaolin and porcelain clay, with quartz and feldspar as raw materials for glaze. The basic process includes molding, drying, and firing.Ceramics are mainly used for household, art, and architecture.
陶瓷是陶器和瓷器的总称。所谓陶器和瓷器是指用可塑性制瓷黏土和瓷石矿做胎体，用长石和石英等原料制釉，并且通过成型、干燥、烧制而成的制品，主要有日用、艺术和建筑陶器等三种。
Ceramics began in China 6000 years ago during the New Stone Age. The earli-est earthenware was moulded by hand; the potters wheel came much later. At the beginning the clay was fired at a temperature of some 5000C ~6000C. Painted pottery began to be known during the period of Yangshao and Longshan cultures.
中国陶器的出现大约在距今6000年左右的新石器时代。陶器起初是手制的，很久以后才出现了陶轮。早期的陶器将黏土加热至500aC—600C烧制而成。彩陶起始于新石器时期的仰韶文化和龙山文化。
The large legion of terra-cotta soldiers and horses of the Qin Dynasty, discovered in Shaanxi Province in 1974, are eloquent proof of the high skills in kiln-firing and sculpture attained at that early age. The art of pottery reached another peak of development in the Tang Dynasty, as evidenced by the renowned“tri-coloured glaze.”
1974年在陕西省发现的秦汉时期的陶俑，表明中国当时的制陶技术和雕塑艺术达到了很高的境地。而名誉天下的唐三彩则标志着制陶业至唐代达到新的高峰。
On the basis of pottery developed porcelain, which emerged in China, home-land of the art, 3,000 years ago during the Shang Dynasty.From the remains ofthat period at Sanligang of Zhengzhou and Xiaotun of Anyang ( both in Henan Province) and at Wucheng Village of Qingjiang County, Jiangxi Province vessels of blue-glazed ware have been unearthed. Upon examination, they proved to have been made of kaolin and fired and vitrified at the high temperature of l,2000C.Their surface is coated with a glaze, whose chemical composition is already very close to that of their bodies. Certain porcelains of the Song and Ming dynasties were already celadon, though at its early stages.
中国是瓷器的发明地，瓷器产生在陶器的基础上，最早出现在3000多年前的商代。从郑州的三里岗、安阳的小屯（均处于河南省），以及江西省清江县的武城村的遗骸中出土了蓝釉陶。检测表明这些陶器由陶土经12000C的高温烧制而成，表面釉质和陶体内部的化学成分已经非常接近。宋代和明代出土的陶瓷中就出现了一些青瓷器。
Chinese ceramics became known to the world at large from the Tang Dynasty so much that the word “china”became the name of porcelain. Chinese porcelain,together with Chinese tea and silk flowed through the Silk Road and other land and sea routes to for-eign countries.
中国的瓷器、茶叶和丝绸在唐代经丝绸之路和其他水陆交通传到国外，而中国瓷器因其极高的实用性和艺术性而备受世人的推崇，因此它的名字和中国“Chi-na”同名。
Jingdezhen in southern China became a prinapal centre of the porcelain industry during the Song Dynasty.Dubbed the“Porcelain Metropolis” it still boasts important remains of ancient workshops and kilns.
在宋朝，景德镇瓷窑成为中国制瓷中心，被称为“瓷都“，那里至今还保留着古代烧制瓷器的工房和烧窑。
A significant archaeological find was made when a porcelain kiln dating back to the Eastern Han Dynasty was brought to light a few years ago at Xiaoxiantan in Shangyu County, Zhejiang Province. This is the earliest porcelain-produang site ev-er discovered in China, and in the world as a whole.
几年前一个东汉时期的瓷器烧窑在浙江上虞县小仙坛出土，这是一个重大的考古发现，因为这是迄今为止在中国，也是在全世界发现的最早的瓷器烧制遗址。