Development of Pottery
陶器的发展
The existence of pottery was a hallmark of the Neolithic Age in primitive society.
陶器的发明是原始社会新石器时代的一个重要标志。
Pottery shards of more than i0000 years ago were discovered in the Fairy Cave site in Lishui County of East China’s Jiangsu Province, and shards of sandy red pot-tery dating back 10000 years ago were found in the Nanzhuang Culture site in Xushui County of North China’s Hebei Province.
我国已发现距今约10000年新石器时代早期的残陶片。河北徐水县南庄头遗址发现的陶器碎片经鉴定为10800~ 9700年的遗物。
The site of the Peiligang CultLrre in Xinzheng of Central China’s Henan Province and the site of the Cishan Culture in Wu’an of Hebei Province are early Neolithic sites found in northern China, dating as far back as 7900 years ago. They wereearlier than Yangshao Culture, and potteries of that period were mostly plain color without decorative designs.
河北武安发现的磁山文化和河南新郑发现的裴李岗文化，是黄河中游地区新石器时代的代表，距今7900年以上。它们早于仰韶文化，该文化的陶器以素面无文者居多。
The site of the Hemudu Culture in Yuyao County of East China’s Zhejiang Prov-ince is another early Neolithic site that flourished 7000 years ago. Grey pottery, red pottery, charcoal-mixed black pottery, and even an occasional piece of painted pottery were found at all these ancient sites.
浙江余姚河姆渡发现的河姆渡文化距今7000年左右，在该文化遗址也出土了大量的陶器。河姆渡文化的陶器为黑陶，造型简单，早期盛行刻画花纹。
The site of the Yangshao Culture at Yangshao Village in Mianchi County of Henan Province, and at Banpo Village in Xi’an of North China’s Shaanxi Province,inhabited by people who lived in prosperity in a matriarchal clan society, are more than 6000 years old. Large quantities of fine painted pottery were already made at that time.
在河南渑池仰韶村的新石器时代遗址，和陕西省西安市郊的半坡遗址都发现了大量做工精美，设计精巧的彩陶。这两个新石器时代遗址都属于母系社会遗址，有6000年以上的历史。
With the development of the society, the quality of pottery steadily improved.By the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, a clear-cut division of labor had already ap-peared among potters. Elegant designs and pictures of flowers and birds were carved on pottery ware during the Warring States Period.Potters in this period intro-duced lead glaze, which made the surface of pottery smooth and fine and added luster to the vessels.
随着社会的不断进步，陶器的质量也逐步提高。到了商代和周代，已经出现了专门从事陶器生产的工种。在战国时期，陶器上已经出现了各种优雅的纹饰和花鸟。这时的陶器也开始应用铅釉，使得陶器的表面更为光滑，也有了一定的色泽。
In the Western Han Dynasty the art of glazing pottery became widespread.Multi-colored glaze was also introduced in the Han Dynasty. The renowned Tang Dynasty tri-color pottery with lead glaze was the invention of potters who introduced white, yellow, blue, green, brown, and purple glazes and skillfully applied them in combination. The appearance of Tang tri-color glazed pottery marked the entry of pottery art into an era of greater variety and color.
到了西汉时期，上釉陶器工艺开始广泛流传起来。多种色彩的釉料也在汉代开始出现。有一种盛行于唐代的陶器，以黄、褐、绿为基本釉色，后来人们习惯地把这类陶器称为“唐三彩”。唐三彩是一神低温釉陶器，在色釉中加入不同的金属氧化物，经过焙烧，便形成浅黄、赭黄、浅绿、深绿、天蓝、褐红、茄紫等多种色彩，但多以黄、褐、绿三色为主。唐三彩的出现标志着陶器的种类和色彩已经开始更加丰富多彩。