Celadon
is the most widespread form of ancient Chinese porcelain.
It is a mixture of iron oxide with a glaze that results
during the firing process. The glaze is the characteristic
green tone of the porcelain, which occurs due to the presence
of iron in the clay. When celadon first appeared in eastern
China during the Han Dynasty (206 B. C .-A.D.), it was simply
Known as green porcelain. It was not until the Tang Dynasty
(619 A .D. -960 A . D .)
that the art of making celadon matured. Following the establishment
of the southern capital in Hangzhou in 1127 during the Song
Dynasty (960 A. D. -1279 A. D.), the manufacturing of the
green porcelain reached new neights. New imperial kilns
(guan, or " official kilns'') near Hangzhou and kilns
in Longquan , southwest Zhejiang , produced a porcelain
that was of extraordinary delicacy and purity. Through the
efforts of Chinese and Arab travelers and businessmen, large
quantities of this high quality celadon found its way into
West Asia, Egypt , and Europe . The name "celadon''
originated from a 17 th century drama by Honore d' Urfe
that was played on the stages of Paris .
The hero, a shepherd named Ceadon, was clad in delicate
green . As it happened , the parisians liked the green porcelain
from China so much that they rename it after the hero of
Honore d' Urfe' s play. And so , while the original meaning
of Celadon is "tender lover" , it came to mean
green porcelain exported from China . The name has stuck
ever since . One type of celadon, known as " crackleware"
, has broad and fine cracks on its surface . These characteristics
appear in the glaze as a result of the firing process when
the glaze shrinks more that the body of the pottery . 
The
potters from the Song Dynasty cleverly used the crackle
in the glaze for a decorative effect . That is how a world-famous
brand of ceramic was born in ancient China . Today , celadon
has two basic meanings . One refers to a reduction-fired,
iron-containing glaze originating in China that creates
a translucent green glaze with a velvet texture. The other
meaning refers to any article or ware with a celadon glaze
. As a general name for green porcelain , celadon refers
to various other porcelains such as piaoci, qianfengchui
se, arise, cuiqing, and fengqing. Also, porcelain made in
the Yue kilns during the Tang Dynasty, and Longquan, Guan,
Ru, Yaozhou kilns during the Song Dynasty, all fall into
the category of celadon.
