The Influence on Cizhou Kiln from Drinking Custom in the Song and Yuan

The reflections on Cizhou kiln of drinking places in the Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty

Doctor Katou, a famous Chinese economic history learned scholar from Japan, writes in the chapter of wine shops in his book The Development of Urban in the Song Dynasty in early 1930s: the wine shops at that time face the street …. This situation begins to appear at the Song Dynasty. Wine shop is one of the most number, biggest scale, and highest profit industries. In the capitals of Northern and Southern Song Dynasty, there are tens of famous wine shops, such as Qile shop, Hele shop, Yuxian shop, Tiexie shop, Renhe shop, Qingfeng shop, Huixian shop, Baxian shop…. Old Story in Society has recorded the famous folk wine shops like Xichun shop, Sanyuan shop, Wujian shop, Shngxin shop, Huayue shop and so on in the capital Lin’an of the Southern Song Dynasty.

At that time, wine shops spread everywhere in the urban. “….workshops and courtyard are counted as tens of thousands vertically and horizontally, everywhere is the gate and unknown where is the end, tea house and wine shops are there for people to eat and drink.” The wine shops operated all through the night. We can also see the situation more intuitively in Riverside Scene on the Pure Brightness Festival. The picture scroll vividly shows the lively scene of people drinking and playing in the streets and wine shops.

Many wine bottles and pots are written the words concerned with wine shops in the Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, for example, “Renhe Guan (shop)”, “Baxian Guan”, “Taiping Guan”, “Xichun Guan”, “Yuchun Guan”, “Zhenyuan Guan” and so on.

Vases on the Picture Eight and Nine are written with “Renhe Guan” and “Baxian Guan”. It is no wonder that Cizhou kiln porcelain reflects the name of wine shops during the special period in the Song and Yuan Dynasty that business consciousness relative thick, advertisement and promotion sense has been revived gradually.

Picture Eight Song Dynasty Black “Renhe Guan” Painted Four Ear Bottle on White Glaze High 25cm, mouth diameter 4.5cm The 232th picture of Chinese Folk Ancient Pottery Illustrated Handbook, edited by Zhang Xiaoguang, Li Wenzhen, Petroleum University Publishing House

Picture Nine Yuan Dynasty Black “Baxian Guan” Painted Four Ears Bottle on White Stored at Handan Museum High 23cm, Belly diameter 5.5cm, bottom diameter 8.1cm Page 40 of Cizhou-Handan-Cizhou Kiln Porcelain Exhibition, edited by Western Han Nanyue King Museum, unpublished book