A Study On Celadon Zun Shaped Of Lotus In The Southern And Northern Dynasty

Theceladonzun(尊)shaped of lotus was first found in Fengshi(封氏)tombs in Jingxian,Hebei Province in 1948.Then more of them were excavated in Wuchang and Nanjing in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River in 1950s.This kind of exquisite porcelain is decorated with lotus topped by another inverted lotus below the shoulder to the foot and the neck is often layered with string lines and plastered with other patterns.Scholars called it"zun shaped of lotus" at the very beginning of the discovery.Although"hu(壶)shaped of lotus" could be found in some work,as more and more objects were discovered in 1970s and 1980s "celadon shaped of lotus"gradually became a common name.This paper takes celadon zun shaped of lotus as the object for research.The part of introduction includes the discovery of celadon zun shaped of lotus,the current academic condition,and the significance and method of my research.First,organize the history of the finding of zun shaped of lotus in time order.Now,zun shaped of lotus published in archaeological surveys or reports are few.I check and conclude the excavation site、quantity and picture of every zun which was not formally published in report after reading picture catalogues and essays by other scholars.Some objects which share the characteristics of the Southern and Northern Dynasty’s artifacts,but are collected abroad or by private and lack of detailed information of excavation,could not be included in my research.Then,in the first chapter,I elaborate on the shape,size,texture,ornamentation and unearthing situation for 17 zun shaped of lotus in the Southern and Northern Dynasty,including a few objects of Sui Dynasty.In addition,the chronological analysis of 17 zun are carried out.According to the unearthed tombs,other burial objects,and the characteristics of zun,the chronological sequence of 17 zun shaped of lotus was analyzed,and they were divided into five categories of A-E.After that,the second chapter is introduced by the origin of the celadon unearthed in the Northern Dynasty.It was generally believed that the northern celadon was first successfully made in the late Northern Wei Dynasty,and the zun shaped of lotus unearthed in the Fengshi tombs were always regarded as the representative of the northern celadon.In recent years,a lot of different views have emerged and two aspects are involved.For one thing,some celadon unearthed in tombs of Northern Dynasty may come from the south.For another,some so-called "celadon" are actually glazed pottery.It was popular to decorate celadon with lotus petals in the Southern Dynasty,so as in Eastern Wei and Northern Qi Dynasties.I sort out the celadons with lotus-shaped patterns unearthed in the Southern and Northern Dynasty,as well as celadons and glazed potteries with lotus petal made in the north and unearthed in the North Dynasty.By analyzing the time when lotus-shaped patterns appeared on the celadon and glazed pottery in the Southern and Northern Dynasty,the cultural exchange of porcelain between the two dynasties can be seen.Most celadon unearthed in the Northern Dynasty was produced in the south,which could also be thought of from the decoration of lotus petal pattern.The celadon produced in the north was not too much,and that have lotus petal pattern was even rarer.In the Northern Dynasty,lotus patterns were usually used on glazed pottery,which were complicated and there were many imitations of Yuezhou(岳州)kiln.Celadon zun with lotus petal designs appeared in the background of the prevailing use of lotus petal.According to the production situation of celadon and glazed pottery with lotus in the Southern and Northern Dynasty,it can be speculated that the celadon zun shaped of lotus unearthed in Hezhuang(和庄)tomb in Zibo was produced in the north.While others were produced in the south and probably related to Yuezhou kiln.The decoration of lotus petal pattern on celadon probably began to appear from the late Eastern Jin Dynasty,which was probably similar with the appearance of lotus pattern tile in Jiankang.The different traditions and influences of single and double lotus pattern tile in the Southern and Northern Dynasty also appeared on the zun shaped of lotus.Besides,zun shaped of lotus provided another carrier for the cultural exchange between the Southern Dynasty and Paekche.Finally,in chapter three,I probe into the meaning and function of the celadon zun shaped of lotus.As we know,because of the lotus flower,the lofty shape and the flourishing background of Buddhism in the Southern and Northern Dynasty,zun shaped of lotus has always been regarded as a buddhist ritual vessel.But few profound researches have been made.From the current archaeological materials,it is not possible to confirm the role of zun shaped of lotus as a special vessel for Buddhism for three reasons.First,this kind of objects have not been seen in the buddhist sacrificial vessel.Second,in Yuezhou kiln,which was supposed to be regarded as the origin of this kind of celadon,the evidence of the production of a large number of buddhist artifacts in the Northern and Southern Dynasty has not been seen.Third,according to the limited information of the tomb owner,no direct possibility that the tomb owner could worship Buddha has been found.However,it could not be denied that zun shaped of lotus contains several factors related to Buddhism.I analyze the decoration of lotus flower,honeysuckle,Baoxiang flower,Feitian(飞天),beast,the dragon and so on,which are obviously influenced by Buddhism,or inherit local cultural factors while some property cannot be confirmed.Therefore,those decoration may not be entirely related to Buddhism.The adornment of zun shaped of lotus is distributed layer upon layer,especially on the neck.The neck is usually divided into 2 to 4 parts where different round patterns are added.This kind of design share similarities with brick tombs in Southern Dynasty,in which different kinds of bricks with pictures were piled up.The tomb portrait space integrated with buddhist factors,Taoist factors and traditional belief in gods brings inspiration to understand the buddhist factors on zun shaped of lotus.Moreover,celadon pots with pan(盘)mouth were often symmetrically arranged in the passages or chambers in the tombs of Southern Dynasty.If the location of zun shaped of lotus in Hejiadawan(何家大湾)tomb did not change a lot,it is likely that the celadon zun replaced the role of pot with pan mouth in the sacrificial space of the tombs.