Glaze, Glory, and the Afterlife: The Enduring Legacy of Tang Sancai Horses (Tang)

 

The tri-colored glazed ceramic horses of the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), particularly those finished with commanding black glaze, are among these rare works. Bold, expressive, and deeply symbolic, these horses capture the spirit of an empire at its height and continue to fascinate viewers more than a millennium later.

The Tang Dynasty: A Golden Age of Cultural Confidence

The Tang dynasty is widely regarded as one of the most prosperous and outward-looking periods in Chinese history. Politically strong and economically vibrant, Tang China sat at the heart of an international network of trade and diplomacy. 

The Silk Road brought not only luxury goods, but new artistic influences, foreign horse breeds, and fresh ideas. This cosmopolitan atmosphere encouraged experimentation in the arts, leading to innovations that still define Chinese visual culture today.

Sancai Ware and the Allure of Black Glaze

The tri-colored glazing technique known as sancai—meaning “three colors”—was one of the Tang dynasty’s most celebrated ceramic achievements. 

Typically combining amber, green, and creamy white glazes, sancai wares were prized for their vibrant surfaces and fluid, almost spontaneous patterns created during firing. 

Black-glazed horses are particularly striking and comparatively rare. The black glaze, often used to accentuate the mane, saddle, or entire body, adds a sense of weight, authority, and dramatic contrast, amplifying the horse’s sculptural power.

Function and Belief: Horses as Mingqi

These ceramic horses were created primarily as mingqi, or tomb figures, placed in burial chambers of nobles and high-ranking officials. Tang beliefs held that the afterlife mirrored the earthly world, and so the deceased required the same comforts, protection, and status symbols. 

Horses—vital to transportation, warfare, and ceremonial life—were essential companions. To be buried with such figures was a declaration of rank and a safeguard of continued prestige beyond death.

Artistic Realism and Dynamic Form

Tang ceramic horses are celebrated for their unprecedented realism and vitality. They feature muscular bodies, powerful legs, arched necks, and alert expressions, reflecting both artistic mastery and close observation of living animals. 

The flowing tri-colored glazes enhance this sense of motion, as colors drip and merge across the surface. In black-glazed examples, the visual impact is intensified, giving the horse a commanding, almost monumental presence.

Symbolism in Chinese Culture

In Chinese history, the horse symbolizes strength, endurance, loyalty, and success. During the Tang dynasty, it also represented imperial power and cultural openness, as many prized horses were imported from Central Asia. These ceramic figures thus embody both military might and international exchange, serving as metaphors for a dynasty in full stride.

Legacy: Why These Horses Still Matter

Today, tri-colored Tang horses stand as ambassadors of their era. They remind us that art can be both functional and poetic, grounded in belief yet soaring in expression. In their silent strength, these horses continue to tell the story of a civilization confident enough to shape eternity in clay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul0RrdWWnuE

🌕 CNY Home Decor and Gifts Flash Sale! 🎉(Amcorp Mall)

 

To welcome the festive season, we’re hosting a CNY Flash Sale featuring a curated selection of home decor items and gifts, perfect for elevating your home or sharing blessings with loved ones.

🧧 Flash Sale Details

• Dates: 31st January – 1st February

• Location: Amcorp Mall - stall front of A&L Audio on 1st floor

• Duration: 2 days only

✨ What You’ll Find

Whether you’re looking to refresh your living space for the new year or searching for thoughtful gifts, our collection has something for everyone:

• Elegant and festive home decor pieces

• Stylish accents to brighten up your space

• Meaningful gifts ideal for family, friends, and hosts

🏮 Why You Shouldn’t Miss This

This is a limited-time flash sale, so it’s the perfect opportunity to shop festive essentials at special prices. Once the two days are over, the deals are gone!

Make this CNY extra special—visit us at Amcorp Mall. We look forward to seeing you there!

More options? Naik Antiques and Oriental Gifts now - Feb 15:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/QeNPutpQ1hs9PAY96.

Tag friends!

Text May at 018 3867939 for inquiries.

How the Chenghua ‘Meiping’ Redefined Ming Elegance

 

While the preceding Yongle and Xuande eras were defined by bold, vigorous "heaped and piled" cobalt applications, the Chenghua aesthetic represents a profound shift toward ethereal refinement.

The Chenghua meiping—literally "plum vase," named for its narrow neck designed to support a single flowering branch—is celebrated for its "silky" or "fatty" glaze, a tactile quality achieved through meticulous clay purification and precise kiln control. 

Historically, these vessels moved away from the intense imported "Smalt" cobalt toward "Asu" or "Datang" ores, resulting in a soft, silvery-blue tone and a translucent, watercolor-like wash.

This era’s transformation was not merely technical but deeply philosophical, mirroring the transition from the grand, expansive ambitions of the early Ming court to a more sheltered, sophisticated internal life within the Forbidden City. 

The artisans of this period prioritized a "jade-like" finish that invited touch, cooling the fiery intensity of earlier kilns into a subdued, pearlescent glow. 

By thinning the porcelain walls and perfecting the chemical balance of the local ores, they achieved a luminosity that seemed to emanate from within the clay itself. 

This era marks the moment when the ceramic medium transcended its functional origins to become a canvas for pure, atmospheric light, establishing an enduring benchmark for imperial elegance that later dynasties would spend centuries attempting to emulate.

3 distinctive characteristics of this celebrated period

1. The "Pingdeng" Cobalt Palette

Unlike the previous Xuande era, which used imported "Sumali" blue that created dark, ink-like "heap and pile" spots, Chenghua potters shifted to Pingdeng blue, a locally sourced cobalt from Jiangxi. This resulted in a soft, elegant, and grayish-blue tone. The application is typically characterized by a "washy" appearance with delicate, hair-thin outlines filled in with even, translucent layers of color.

2. "Jade-like" Glaze and Body

The Chenghua body is exceptionally refined, containing significantly less iron oxide than its predecessors. This purity, combined with a glaze that has a higher aluminum content, created a distinctive "fatty" or "unctuous" texture. Under light, the glaze often exhibits a subtle ivory-white or "flesh-red" luster, famously compared to the tactile feel of polished white jade. This "sweet white" (tianbai) development reached its technical peak during this reign.

3. The Birth of "Doucai" (Contending Colors)

The Chenghua period is most famous for perfecting the Doucai technique. This process involved painting the design’s outlines in underglaze blue, firing the piece at a high temperature, and then filling the outlines with vibrant overglaze enamels (red, green, yellow, and purple) before a second, lower-temperature firing. The most iconic examples are the "Chicken Cups," which are prized for their intimate scale and scholarly, understated aesthetic.

The Fungus of Forever: Trading Clutter for the Divine

The 'Lingzhi Scroll' motif seen on these pieces is particularly significant; the "fungus of immortality" represents a sophisticated departure from earlier, more crowded floral patterns. Today, Chenghua meipings remain among the rarest treasures in the ceramic canon, surviving as testaments to a period where the porcelain body and the painted line achieved a perfect, quiet harmony.

This evolution in decoration reflects the transition from the bustling, international aesthetic of the early Ming silk road influence to a more introspective, quintessentially Chinese scholarly ideal. 

The scrolling vines are not merely decorative; they embody the "Qi" or life force, flowing across the vessel’s swelling shoulders with a rhythmic grace that mirrors traditional calligraphy. 

By reducing the visual density of the design, Chenghua artisans allowed the "white space" of the translucent, jade-like glaze to become a primary element of the composition.

Furthermore, the scale of these scrolls—often referred to as "fleshy"—demonstrates a mastery of the local Pingdeng cobalt. The ink-like washes of blue do not bleed into the glaze but remain suspended in a soft, atmospheric haze. 

This restraint creates an aura of dignified tranquility, ensuring that the meiping was not just a functional wine vessel or floral holder, but a meditative object fit for the inner sanctums of the Imperial Palace.

Reading Qing Imperial Taste Through the Dragon Motif

 

The Evolution of the Imperial Dragon

During the ongoing conservation of the Hall of Mental Cultivation (Yangxin Dian), the temporary removal of the monumental central plaque—bearing the inscription Zhongzheng Renhe (“Impartiality and Harmonious Balance”)—has revealed an exceptionally instructive example of mid-Qing imperial craftsmanship. 

 

For collectors of ceramics, lacquer, and courtly works of art, this plaque functions as a rare and reliable chronological anchor, comparable in importance to a well-dated reign-marked porcelain.

 

 

A Stylistic Transition in the Imperial Dragon

The dragons flanking the plaque are immediately striking for their youthful vitality. In early-to-mid Qing visual culture, the long (dragon) is rendered with sinuous movement and elastic energy: elongated limbs, an undulating spine, and an almost calligraphic sense of motion. 

 

This aesthetic will be familiar to collectors of Yongzheng-period porcelains, where dragons coil freely across vessel walls, animated rather than constrained. By contrast, the later Qianlong idiom—seen across lacquer, textile, and ceramic media—favored greater symmetry and composure. 

 

Dragons from the mid-to-late 18th century adopt a more frontal authority, with tightened musculature and a stern, codified facial expression. This evolution mirrors the broader consolidation of imperial power and taste, much as the exuberance of early famille rose gives way to the controlled grandeur of later palace wares.

 

 

Technical Composition: Lacquer and Gilding at the Imperial Standard

From a material and technical standpoint, the plaque exemplifies the highest standards of the Imperial Workshops (Zaochuanchu). Conservation has revealed a layered construction that will resonate with collectors accustomed to examining glazes, slips, and kiln effects:

 

1. The Support

The core is formed from carefully seasoned hardwood—most likely zitan or nanmu—selected for dimensional stability, much as fine porcelain bodies relied on refined kaolin blends.

 

2. The Ground Layer

A traditional guanliao (ash-putty) ground was applied to achieve a flawless surface. This composite—brick dust, pig’s blood, and raw lacquer—functioned much like a preparatory slip, mediating between structure and finish.

 

3. The Lacquer Body

Multiple layers of raw lacquer (urushi) were built up to create a resilient, moisture-resistant skin, each layer meticulously cured and polished.

 

4. The Gilding

The dragons themselves were executed in water- or oil-gilding, using high-purity gold leaf laid over a red lacquer size. This red substrate imparts a warmth and depth to the gold, akin to the way copper-red glazes rely on their underlying chemistry for tonal richness.

 

 

Historical and Collecting Significance

The Hall of Mental Cultivation assumed its central political role in 1723 under the Yongzheng Emperor, and the stylistically “youthful” dragons strongly suggest a date within this formative period.

Positioned behind the emperor during daily audiences, the plaque formed part of a carefully calibrated visual program in which the dragon—dynamic yet controlled—asserted the emperor’s mandate as the Son of Heaven.

 

As conservation stabilizes the original gilding and wooden substrate, the plaque offers collectors and scholars an increasingly legible record of the aesthetic moment just prior to the full codification of the Qianlong style. 

 

Much like a transitional porcelain that bridges two reigns, this work captures a fleeting balance between vitality and authority—an interval prized by discerning collectors across all categories of imperial art.

 

 

Cultivating Power and Art: The Hall That Shaped a Dynasty (Qing)

 

 

The Hall of Mental Cultivation (Yangxindian) is one of the most important buildings in the Forbidden City. It was originally built in 1537 during the Ming Dynasty, but gained its greatest significance in the Qing Dynasty.

Despite its modest size compared to the great ceremonial halls, it dictated the fate of an empire for two centuries. It served as the true nerve center of the Qing Dynasty, reaching the zenith of its significance during the reigns of the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors. 

Within its quiet courtyards and enclosed chambers, crucial decisions on governance, military affairs, and succession were made, often far from the gaze of court ritual and public spectacle.

 

 

The Yongzheng Era: A Shift in Power

The Hall’s ascent began in 1722 with the Yongzheng Emperor. Breaking centuries of tradition, he moved his living quarters from the grand Palace of Heavenly Purity to the more intimate Hall of Mental Cultivation. This was not merely a change of scenery; it was a strategic masterstroke of governance.

Yongzheng was a famously industrious ruler, and by centralizing his residence and workspace, he created a 24/7 administrative hub. Here, he established the Grand Council nearby, allowing for rapid communication and absolute imperial control. 

The Hall became the site where “palace memorials”—confidential reports from across the empire—were reviewed under the glow of midnight candles. 

This system enabled the emperor to bypass cumbersome bureaucratic layers and respond swiftly to crises. Under Yongzheng, the Hall symbolized the transition from ritualistic majesty to hands-on, diligent bureaucracy.

 

 

The Qianlong Era: Where Statecraft Met Art

If Yongzheng made the Hall a factory of policy, his son, the Qianlong Emperor, transformed it into a sanctuary of culture. While maintaining the Hall’s role as the administrative core, Qianlong infused the space with his passion for the arts.

The most famous addition was the “Room of Three Rarities” (Sanxi Tang), a tiny study where Qianlong housed his most precious calligraphic masterpieces. Within these walls, the Emperor balanced the heavy burden of ruling a vast territory with the pursuit of poetic and artistic excellence. 

Paintings, calligraphy, and refined furnishings reflected his belief that cultural cultivation was inseparable from good governance. During the Qianlong era, the Hall of Mental Cultivation represented the “High Qing” ideal: a perfect synthesis of absolute political power and refined intellectualism.

 

 

A Lasting Legacy

For visitors to the Palace Museum today, the Hall of Mental Cultivation offers a rare, intimate glimpse into the private lives of China’s most powerful men. Unlike the cavernous, impersonal throne rooms of the Outer Court, this complex—with its bedrooms, studies, and small audience chambers—reveals the human scale of imperial rule.

The Hall remains a testament to a pivotal era when the Qing Dynasty was at its strongest, governed by emperors who believed that mastering the empire first required the careful cultivation of the mind.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202512/1351524.shtml