Transformation of Six Leaves Glaze to Contemporary Ceramic Bases on the Taoism Characteristics

Abstract

Wood-Leaf Glaze originated in the Song Dynasty (1100-1300A.D.) and is the pinnacle of Chinese ceramics art, as well as one of the tangible representatives of Chinese culture. The history which has lost for more than 700 years. Therefore, the existence of Wood-Leaf Glaze piece is sporadic and expensive. The production of Wood-Leaf Glaze contains a masterful production process and cultural content, and, regrettably, the technology has been lost.

The objective of this research the first is to revitalize the traditional technique of making Wood-Leaf Glaze, The second to integrate Taoist aesthetics such as Yin-Yang into ceramic art creation, The third to produce innovative and contemporary ceramic artworks. The research will contribute to the development of contemporary Chinese ceramics and the preservation and redesign of traditional culture.

In this research, a practice-based design method was applied to improve the glaze of Jizhou kiln Wood-Leaf Glaze at first, increase the stability of the glaze, and improve the output rate. Traditional Wood-Leaf Glaze is finished with a single colour and only one available leaf for firing. Therefore, in the second step, this research developed new glaze colours for Wood-Leaf Glaze and selected more than 80 kinds of leaves for experiments. Identified six kinds of leaves as follows: 1)Linden leaf; 2)Humulus scandens leaf; 3)Poplar leave; 4)Broussonetia papyrifera leaf; 5)Fig leaf and 6)Mulberry leaf, that suitable for firing Wood-Leaf Glaze by comparison. In the third step, based on the results and conclusions of the design experiments, create a contemporary ceramic artwork using the innovative technique of Wood-Leaf Glaze under the guidance of Taoism characteristics.

-