The Green Lover Shepherd

In China, the original home of celadon ceramics, jade was valued more highly than gold and silver. This mineral possesses a complex array of shades, ranging from almost white with a subtle greenish-creamy hue to dark gray-green and deep sea green. After the stone is polished, it acquires a glossy, ‘oily’ surface, and a slight translucence. Jade was believed to embody all the six virtues of a person: benevolence, wisdom, moderation, justice, purity, and courage, and there are many ancient Chinese proverbs linking human qualities to jade. For instance, one proverb says: ‘Unpolished jade does not shine’, emphasizing the importance of upbringing and education. Jade has been a sacred stone in China since the Neolithic era, and it is often used to make ritual objects. Jade is also closely associated with erotic imagery—it’s worth mentioning that the Chinese euphemisms for genitalia often include the adjective jade, such as ‘jade rod’ and ‘jade cup’.

Jade was expensive, and thus people desired objects that somewhat resembled it in color and texture. It was precisely because of these attempts to achieve the color, sheen, and semi-transparent texture of jade that Chinese artisans developed their formulas for the celadon glaze. The exact time celadon was created is difficult to pinpoint, but Chinese scholars associate the production of the first proto-celadons with the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 CE) and the Zhejiang province. As the skill of Chinese potters grew and the technology advanced, true celadons emerged in northern China by the end of the Tang Dynasty (tenth century), featuring glossy wares with intricate green hues imitating the natural patterns of stone.

Around this time, the state of GoryeoiA state on the Korean Peninsula from 935–1392began to grow and flourish in the East. The rapid construction of Buddhist temples in Goryeo created a high demand for ceramic products, so Goryeo craftsmen went to China to learn from expert potters. According to historians, some Chinese craftsmen also moved to the Korean Peninsula, contributing to the creation of distinctly Korean ceramics. Initially, Korean potters adopted Chinese technologies, but as they experimented with glaze compositions and ornamentation, they achieved a level where their works were compared to those of their renowned counterparts in northern China. In some areas, Korean ceramists even surpassed their former teachers. For example, Koreans invented the Sanggam method, which features a unique inlay technique using colored clay pieces. They also extensively used carving, stamping, and underglaze painting.

The refined vessel shapes, strict colors, elegant compositions, and graceful relief graphics evoked admiration even from seasoned Chinese connoisseurs. In 1123, the Chinese scholar Xu Jing visited Korea and wrote a book called Xuan-He Feng Shi Gao Li Tu Jing (Illustrated Record of an Embassy to Korea in the Xuan-He Era), in which he praised Korean utensils and emphasized their uniqueness, stating that they were as good as their Chinese counterparts and even surpassed them. This was an extremely rare acknowledgment for a medieval Chinese author; traditionally, his contemporaries viewed the world beyond China as a pale and inferior reflection of the Celestial Empire.

Goryeo ceramic craftsmanship reached its peak from the mid-eleventh to the end of the twelfth century, during which some exquisite pieces were created to adorn temples and palaces. In the twelfth century, a special type of glaze known as ‘kingfisher color’iThis color was named after the small bird known for its plumage in a particular shade of greenwas invented, enchanting connoisseurs of beauty. This is how the same Xu Jing described it: ‘Pottery of bluish-green color, which the people of Goryeo call “kingfisher color”. There are vessels for wine in the shape of pumpkins with small lids, in the form of ducks among lotus flowers. They also make cups and dishes, bowls and teapots, vases for flowers, and vessels for hot water. All of these imitate forms of ceramics from Dingzhou, so we will only briefly mention them and not provide drawings. However, we will specifically show vessels for wine because they are distinctive. The incense burner, which is in the shape of a lion, is also of the kingfisher color and features the beast curled up at the top supported by a lotus. This is the most outstanding of all their products.’ Today, kingfisher ceramics are extremely rare and are considered national treasures; yet their creators will remain unknown forever.

In 1231, with the onset of the Mongol invasion, the renowned art of Goryeo celadon began to decline, a loss from which it never fully recovered. When the relations with the Mongols gradually improved, the industry saw a partial revival, but the secret of the kingfisher color was lost.

Later, two more major trends emerged in Korean ceramics, buncheong and baekja, along with several other crafts that were simpler in design and cheaper to produce. While they did not match the ancient specimens, these ceramics soon became more accessible to a wider range of people. Here, the craft could have experienced a revival, but from the late sixteenth century, a series of Japanese invasions disrupted Korean ceramics again. The Japanese actively abducted Korean craftsmen, including weavers, blacksmiths, and potters, often taking entire families and sometimes entire settlements. This led to Japanese ceramics acquiring a number of characteristic Korean features, but the Korean art itself suffered greatly, and traditional Korean crafts never fully recovered. During the Japanese colonization of Korea from 1910 to 1945, the country's ancient heritage was exported. antique Korean porcelain and ceramics gained popularity worldwide, and the Japanese actively purchased ancient art objects. Even a ‘funerary crafts’ industry developed as grave robbers looted ancient tombs where many ceramics and porcelain served as burial vessels. They pierced the ground with metal rods to identify voids for excavation in ancient cemetery sites. This barbaric method destroyed many beautiful items, and what remained was taken out of the country into collections across Japan, America, and Europe.

It was only in the 1950s that South Korean artists began to restore the production technologies of traditional ceramics, focusing primarily on Goryeo celadon. Of course, modern scientific and resource capabilities greatly contributed to uncovering many ancient secrets, but many recipes from the past are still in the process of being restored and rediscovered. Nevertheless, modern Goryeo celadon is as exquisite, intricate, and interesting as the classic examples. It is also expensive—prices for handmade Korean celadon are very high.

The production of modern celadon is concentrated in several villages, with the largest located in the village of Icheon near Seoul, where there are about eighty workshops. Every two years, a nationwide ceramics fair is held here, and one can buy the works of potters, observe the process of creating pottery and other items, or even try their hand at the potter's wheel.

Е.И. Гельман. «Очерки истории селадонов» // В сборнике «Генуэзская Газария и Золотая орда», 2019.

Карина Ким. «Поднебесный нефрит. Керамика королей», год издания не указан.

Андрей Ланьков. Загадка Северной Кореи. Курс для проекта Qalam