Chinese Cultural Analysis: Ceramics Essay Example

China is home to one of the ancient societies in the world. They have for a long time used ceramics and they have become part of their culture. Culture is the way of life of a society. A society's culture helps preserve its tradition especially the ancient societies. Cultures have objects that societies identify with them. This objects are material in nature and are normally made by the folks in that society and for which they identify with. Over time, the processing of ceramics has evolved as the technology advances but it still remains part of Chinese culture to date. The Chinese ceramics have been used in arts and has evolved since the Neolithic period and formed part of the trans-oceanic trade between Asia, Europe, and America. At some point in the 2nd century, ceramic as part of Chinese culture had declined but currently ceramic has been revived as part of the culture by the Chinese people. It is during the period of Qing dynasty that ceramics had advanced and greatly portrayed the Chinese culture to the world. Over 200 years ceramics have been used in China to make artifacts and utensils and thus they represent the cultural heritage of the Chinese in many ways as will be discussed in this paper.

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The ceramics were produced by various Chinese dynasties for porters to make utensils and artifacts. This represented the cultural value of technology and perfection by Chinese people. The activity of a people is part of their culture since it is their way of life. The dynasties greatly associated themselves with the porcelain art and each dynasty advanced this art in their own way. For example, the Qing dynasty improved quality of their ceramics by introducing the five colored wares that became popular in China and to communities outside of China. When other people got to see this art, they attributed it to the Chinese people thus it became part of the Chinese people's identity. It became part of their culture. It became an art that manifested the intellectual achievement of the Chinese people for a long period of time (Gibbs et al., 31). The artifacts such as cups and plates were highly regarded in China and outside China because of their beauty and this became part of China's strength in the international trade especially the trans-Atlantic trade route. Ceramics are used to make bricks and tiles for the construction industry and they have drawings that represent Chinese culture.The rest of the world identified porcelain art with China to date. It is a part of their identity to the rest of the world (Li, Yu, et al 2).

Rituals are part of a people's culture. Porcelain has been part of Chinese rituals and religious practices. Ceramics were used to make religious artifacts such as incense burners used during religious rituals and worship by the Chinese people. People worship in different ways in which they believe that their prayers will get to the supernatural being.Ceramics was used to make items for burial purposes which is a highly religious ceremony. Religious practices were decorated by use of ceramics and this formed part of Chinese religious culture (Shelach 50).

Culture helps show a societies intellectual development. Cultural activities carried out by a community reflect the mental capacity of the people and how progressive their technology has been over time. It would be difficult to talk about China's history and not talk about porcelain technology. Over many decades production of ceramics continued to evolve and the artifacts made became even more sophisticated. It is the sophistication of the artifacts made from ceramics that reflects how Chinese people were more advanced compared to other societies around the world. The designs in which artifacts such as plates and pots were produced reflected the level of Chinese culture development at a particular point in time (Shelach 44). Paintings decorated on the different artifacts represented Chinese culture. It was not easy to decorate the ceramics with old technology. Drawing and decorating cups and plates showed the ability of Chinese people to mix culture and art in the making of ceramic products. It showed a value of perfection in the Chinese culture. It showed the seriousness with which the Chinese people invested in ceramics especially the period before the 19th century when other cultures around the world were not very advanced like the Chinese porters (Gibbs et al., 27).

Researchers have found evidence suggesting that Gongyi remained the starting point of tang-blue porcelain. This proves that this region was inhabited for a long time and the Chinese people culture had an attachment to the place. A specific place of residence for a society has an attachment to the cultural practices of a people.Gonyi shows that the cultural trait of those people who live in that region was that of an innovative culture since tang-blue porcelain marked a big change in how the artifacts were made from the ceramic (Li, Weidong, et al 2).

Communication using symbols is part of a culture. The different drawings that appeared in ceramic artifacts were meant to communicate particular messages using images. For example, bats represented blessings and were influenced by the dynasty in power. Symbols can communicate cultural values of a community and the symbols in the porcelain products communicated Chinese religious and cultural values (Gibbs et al., 29). A person in Europe would easily identify a cultural trait about the Chinese people using the drawings on the ceramic products that were transported to Europe during the trade. Symbolisms are a cultural language that would easily be identified with a particular cultural practice. Some religious decorations on the ceramic products produced for sale other regions communicated about the Amin religious practices in China at the time. It is the Ming dynasty that introduced most of these decorations in the porcelain products. It shows that the cultural value for religion during the Ming period was highly regarded (Shelach 31).

Cultural identity is important for any community. The Chinese cultural identity has always been with the porcelain products that create an attachment between the modern generation and the ancient generation. It creates a feeling of belonging when one can identify with something. Ceramics helps the Chinese bond with a part of their culture since it creates in them a sense of identity because it can be associated with all generations of the Chinese people and their culture (Gibbs et al., 27).

Conclusion

Cultural practices of a society can be identified with the kind of artifacts they use. Nobody can deny that ceramics are a part of Chinese culture even by looking at the ancient trading goods especially during the trade with European Countries. Production of ceramics and making of products for use as part of the Chinese people and they developed their technology in ceramics over time which represented civilization in their culture.

Works cited

Gibbs, Kevin, and Peter Jordan. "A comparative perspective on the 'westernn'and 'eastern'Neolithics of Eurasia: Ceramics; agriculture and sedentism." Quaternary International 419 (2016): 27-35.

Li, Weidong, et al. "A Landmark in the History of Chinese Ceramics: The Invention of Blue-and-White Porcelain in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.)." STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research, vol. 3, no. 2, 2016, pp. 358-365. doi:10.1080/20548923.2016.1272310.

Li, Yu, et al. "The Earliest Chinese Proto-Porcelain Excavated from Kiln Sites: An Elemental Analysis." Plos One, vol. 10, no. 11, Apr. 2015, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139970.

Shelach, Gideon. Prehistoric societies on the northern frontiers of China: archaeological perspectives on identity formation and economic change during the first millennium BCE. Routledge, (2016):27-56.