Longshan wheel pottery (3200 B.C.)

The Neolithic Longshan culture consists of many sub-cultures which can be divided into three categories according to the culture’s geographic location: Henan-Hebei, Shaanxi, and Shandong. The different sub-cultures also made different types of pottery, The central China Henan-Hebei and Shaanxi Longshan cultures produced a gray pottery with a “cord-marked” design, while the eastern Shandong Longshan culture had a smooth pottery. In addition, the pottery shapes differed from the central or western Longshan cultures and the eastern Longshan culture.

One basic difference between the pottery of the Yangshao and the Longshan cultures has to do with the greater variety of materials, including a fine-grained sandy clay. Longshan pottery aesthetics generally fall in three groups: (1) simple, occasionally geometric designs, (2) incised angular form designs, and (3) those that are unmarked and monochromatic. One of the key differences between Yangshao and Longshan pottery is that fact that Longshan pottery is not painted while Yangshao pottery is.

The reason why the Longshan pottery is artistically advanced compared to previous cultures is because the Longshan people used a fast-turning pottery wheel. Potters used the wheel to create wares a few millimeters thick. The pottery wheel also allowed the potters to make new, angular objects such slender drinking vessels, jugs with handles and spouts, and tripods. For example, the Longshan culture created a unique tripod with an upturned spout, also known as gui.

The Shandong (eastern coastal) Longshan culture, specifically, is famous for its elegant black pottery, which was eggshell-thin and lustrous. By firing the fine grain clay in a reduction fire kiln, the pottery turned black. The kilns were improved by adding more vents so that the heat could be controlled better and ash would not damage the wares. Shamans used the black pottery in their rituals while plain or impressed pottery was used as daily utensils. The people of the Shandong Longshan culture also made a few white, grey, red, and yellow ceramics. The previously unmatched thinness and forms of the Shandong pottery can be considered to be the predecessor of the beautiful Ming and Qing dynasty porcelain. (Michelle Louie)

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Valenstein, Suzanne G. A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989.

Last Modified: September 29, 2004