Research Into The Typology Of Bohai Ceramic From Songhuajiang Valley

The Bohai state of Tang dynasty was the minority powerestablished by the Mohe tribes of Sumo along with the other Mohetribes and other ethnic groups in ancient China. During its prosperousperiod, Bohai possessed a considerable value in northeast of China.Apparently, the excavation and study of the Bohai relic constitute agreat academic subject of important scientific value. What the presentbook offers is a comprehensive account on the pottery from the Bohairelic in the valley of Mudanjiang river as well as a deep-goingsystematization and study of the material from them. The article isdivided into five sections: First section: Foreword The archaeological excavation and study of Bohai of MudanjiangRiver as so as the whole Bohai started at the beginning of the 20thcentury, a large amount of work was carried on by scholars of ourcountry after the liberation based on the excavation of Upper jingLongquanfu site and Liudingshan cemetery. The tombs of Bohai ofMudanjiang River were excavated systematically from 80's, and largenumbers of sites of Bohai were excavated in these years. The increaseof archaeological materials, especially the number of pottery providesorigin materials for the study of Bohai pottery. Now several articles onBohai pottery have appeared, for example the original study on Bohaipottery by Qiaoliang, the original typological study on origin of Bohaipottery and the study on origin, classification and phase of Bohaipottery by Hu Xiujie and Liu Xiaodong, classification and phase oftombs of Bohai by Sun Binggen, etc. By now, there is no generalsystemic study on pottery from tombs and sites; and work of studyingBohai pottery according to layer is scarce. The thesis takes sites andtombs in Mudanjiang River as studying objects. Through thetypological study of wares from sites and tombs, it is expect that thespecific historiography and phases can be established. Second section: Structure analyses of pottery from sites First, the age stages of sites where Bohai pottery was found areconcluded into six one. Then the typical wares that have a clearcorresponding relation are selected to make a uniform analysis ofstructure on the pottery from sites in Mudanjiang River. Then the 39classification of above typical wares, the result of compositor andnon-typical wares are placed into the six age stages out of grouping ofsites and corresponding relations. So it is clear that changes of types ofwares are corresponding to age relations of the six stages. As a result,the thesis looks the above six stages as the delegate of six steps in thatMohe-Bohai culture develops orderly, early and late. Considering thatthe characteristic of main wares has its own continuance anddifference with others, the six stages are incorporated to three phasesin which Mohe-Bohai culture change clearly. First stage is about the time when the Bohai state was found,include the first, the second and the third phases. In this stage the massof the pottery is the sandy brown ware and few is brown pottery madeof fine clay. Most of pottery is raised stripes or bow-string pattern onmouth or shoulder, while surface is plain or smooth. All pottery ishand-made. The mass types of them are deep belly jars, and somebowls and earthen bowls are found too. This stage of which the agebefore the founding of Bohai is part has existed for long time, and thelower limit of it is A.D.713. Second stage or the fourth phase is the early time of Bohai state.The major of the pottery in this stage is sandy grey ware or greypottery made of fine clay, and few is sandy brown ware. Most of thisware's surface is smooth, and have no raised stripes on the mouth ofdeep belly jars instead of protruding arris. The typical wars, forexample the deep belly jars, exist right along, but it is not a mastertype now and few are found. The new types in the stage include alltypes of jars with body like tambour and bas...