This seminar will be presented by Dr Lusha Guo, a Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and Museology, School of History and Culture at Henan University. 

This paper on secret color porcelain (秘色瓷/Me Se) will explore the zenith of Yue ware porcelain during the late Tang (618-907) and the Five Dynasties (907-960), which were the most sophisticated ceramics in China. They have long been known from texts. However, no secret color Yue porcelain matching textual descriptions had been discovered until 1987 when the crypt below the pagoda of the Famensi (法门寺) was excavated. Fourteen pieces of ‘secret color’ porcelain together with the inventory of the crypt made the identification possible. More importantly, the 2015 excavation in Cixi city revealed that Housiao (后司岙) was the major kiln used to produce secret color Yue wares. This paper will review the secret color Yue ware recorded by historical documents and found at the archaeological sites, uncovering the veil of this ‘secret’. The second part of this talk seeks to understand the production of secret color Yue ware through the environmental, technological and social backgrounds, and tries to interpret how archaeological ceramics relate to past environment and culture.

Part of the Archaeology, Museums and Heritage Seminar Series, The University of Sydney

When: 4-5pm (Sydney time / AEST), Friday 22 May 2020

Where: online via Zoom, details below.

Zoom link: https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/95307379891

Zoom Meeting Code:  95307379891

Zoom Password: 907778