Ancient Chinese glass

Ancient Chinese Glass refers to all types of glass manufactured in China prior to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). In Chinese history, glass played a peripheral role in the arts and crafts, when compared to ceramics and metal work [Braghin 2002a] . The limited archaeological distribution and use of glass objects are evidence of the rarity of the material. Literary sources date the first manufacture of glass to the 5th century AD [Jenyns 1981] . However, the earliest archaeological evidence for glass manufacture in China comes from the late Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC to 221BC).

Chinese learned to manufacture glass comparably later than the Mesopotamians and Egyptians [Pinder-Wilson 1991, p140] . Imported glass objects first reached China during the late Spring and Autumn period – early Warring States period (early 5th century BC), in the form of polychrome ‘eye beads’ [Braghin 2002b, p 6] . These imports created the impetus for the production of indigenous glass beads. During the Han period (206 BC to 220 AD) the use of glass diversified. The introduction of glass casting in this period encouraged the production of moulded objects, such as bi disks and other ritual objects [Pinder-Wilson 1991 p140] . The Chinese glass objects from the Warring States period and Han Dynasty vary greatly in chemical composition from the imported glass objects. The glasses from this period contain high levels of barium oxide (BaO) and lead, distinguishing them from the soda-lime-silica glasses of Western Asia and Mesopotamia [Kerr and Wood 2004, pp 474-477] . At the end of the Han Dynasty (AD 220), the lead-barium glass tradition declined, with glass production only resuming during the 4th-5th centuries AD [An Jiayao 2002, pp 45-46] .

Chemical composition of Warring States and Han period glasses

During the Warring States period and the Han Dynasty (5th century BC to early 3rd century AD) glass was imported from regions outside of East Asia, such as Mesopotamia. Imported western faience and glass probably inspired the production of the first Chinese glasses. The main group of objects with Western influences are eye beads or dragonfly-eyed beads [Kerr and Wood 2004, p474] . The key difference between Near Eastern eye beads and Chinese eye beads is their chemical composition. The coloured glasses used to produce the Chinese eye beads have a high lead and barium content. This type of composition was exclusive to China; and it was used to produce a range of glass objects until the end of the Han Dynasty.

Table 1 shows examples of chemical compositions of some Chinese glass objects.

"Table 1: Elemental compositions of Chinese glass from the Warring States Period to Han Dynasty. Data from the first 4 objects was taken from Brill et al. 1991; data from glass garment plaque was taken from Cheng Zhuhai and Zhou Changyuan 1991; and data from the ritual disk was taken from Shi Meiguang 1991."

The Chinese lead-barium glasses typically present 5 to 15% BaO. The source of barium in the glass in not clear; however it is possible that ancient Chinese glassmakers used witherite (a mineral form of barium carbonate) as an ingredient [Brill et al. 1991, p 34] . The use of a separate ingredient implies that barium had a specific function. This function could have been to flux the glass, by lowering the melting point of the melt; or stabilize the glass, by making it less soluble to water [Brill et al 1991, p 34] . It could also have been added to opacify the glass. Electron microprobe analysis of glass fragments have shown that the turbidity of certain lead-barium glasses is produced by barium disilicate crystals [Brill et al. 1991, p 34] [Shi Meiguang et al 1992, p 24] . This turbidity gives the glasses a jade-like appearance.

Glass objects in the Warring States and Han Periods

The period between the Warring States period and the Han Dynasty shaped the early Chinese glass industry. Most of the glass objects from this period come from archaeological excavations of tombs [Zhang Fukang 1991, p 157] . Because of this, most glass objects have fairly secure dating and context. During this period Chinese mainly used glass to produce two distinct types of objects, polychrome eye beads and monochrome funerary objects [Braghin 2002b]

Eye Beads

The earliest types of glass objects found in China are polychrome eye beads or dragonfly-eyed beads. The beads are found in burials from the late Spring and Autumn and early Warring States periods (early 5th century BC) up to late Warring State – early Western Han period [Braghin 2002b] . Most beads have a monochrome glass body covered by several layers of coloured glass. The layers of different colour glass are applied in alternating fashion to produce concentric circles [Braghin 2002b, p 4] . The patterns of circles resemble eyes, giving the beads their name. This style of bead originated in the Near East during the mid 2nd millennium BC. The stylistic influence later spread to the Mediterranean, Central Asia and China [Kerr and Wood 2004, p 474] .

During the early 5th century BC, the imported eye beads were considered exotic objects. They were mainly deposited in high status burials, such as the tomb of a male aristocrat of the Qi state at Langjiazhuang, Shadong [Braghin 2002b, pp 6-7] . This situation changes during the middle and late Warring States Period. Eye beads from this period are manufactured from Chinese lead-barium glass and are mainly found in the regions of the middle Yangzi River Valley, indicating a connection to the Chu kingdom [Braghin 2002b, pp 8-14] . In this context, the beads became more common and available to a larger part of the Chinese society. Evidence of this is the presence of eye beads in medium and small burials, with modest funerary furnishings, as well as large, high-status burials.

The use of eye beads in burials rapidly declined at the beginning of the Western Han period. This is believed to be a result of the invasion of Chu kingdom territories by Qin and Han armies at the end of the 3rd century [Braghin 2002b, p 14] . The collapse of the Chu kingdom would have brought production of eye-beads to an end.

Monocrome opaque objects

During the Warring States and Han periods, Chinese glassworkers took advantage of the similarities between glass and jade. In this period many glass objects, found in burial contexts, were made of opaque green, light green or milky white glass [Gao Zhixi 1991, 119] . These objects have similar shapes to their jade counterpart, and were no doubt imitating that precious stone. Among these objects there were bi disks, ‘glass garments’ (or glass suits), sword accessories and vessels, among others [Jenyns, R. 1981, p 96] [Fenn 1991, pp 59-60] [Cheng Zhuhai and Zhou Changyuan 1991] [An Jiayao 1991, p 7] [Shi Meiguang et al. 1992] .

"Bi" disks

"Bi" disks are the most numerous kind of monochrome glass objects. "Bi" disks are, as the word implies, round and flat objects with a small hole in the middle. According to historical sources "bi" disks were ritual artifacts used between the 16th century BC and 3rd century AD. However, archaeologically, the use of "bi" disk extends to the late Neolithic period. During the 3rd millennium jade "bi" disks were an important part of elite burials [Braghin 2002b] . This situation did not change much until the middle of the Zhou period, when they became more prominent.

During the Chu kingdom, in the Warring States period, glass "bi" disks became more abundant. "Bi" disks from this period tend to be between 7.9 and 9.4 cm in diameter [Gao Zhixi 1991, p 119] . They have simple decorations, mainly the grain or cloud pattern typical of jade objects [Braghin 2002b, p 23] . This decoration tends to only be placed on one side of the disk. These types of disk tend to be found on the head, or near the head, of the deceased. They are mainly found in medium to small-sized tombs, indicating that they were used by the middle strata of society [Braghin 2002b] . This suggests that glass "bi" disks were regarded cheaper alternatives to jade "bi" disks.

Glass burial suit plaques

Plaques from glass burial suits or glass garments are directly linked to jade objects [Fenn el al. 1991] [Braghin 2002b, pp 28 -31] . Several pieces of burial suit plaques have been found in a few wooden-chambered burials from the late West Han Dynasty. The plaques come in different shapes, with rectangular being the most common. Some of these rectangular pieces have perforations in 4 corners, indicating that they were strung together, or sewn into a fabric, to form a protective burial suit [Cheng Zhuhai and Zhou Changyuan 1991] [Braghin 2002b] . Other shapes, such as circular, triangular and rhomboidal, are often decorated with moulded patterns. All the glass plaque shapes have jade counterparts, suggesting that glass burial suits were a cheaper alternative to jade burial suits.

Vessels

The earliest known Chinese glass vessels come from Western Han Dynasty tombs. To this date only two tombs are known to have had glass vessels among their funerary objects: the tomb of the Lui Dao, Prince of Chu in Xuzhou (128 BC), Jiangsu Province; and the tomb of Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of Zhongshan (113BC) at Mancheng [Braghin 2002b, pp 31-34] . The tomb at Xuzhou contained 16 light green cylindrical cups [Shi Meiguang et al. 1992] ; while Prince Liu Sheng’s tomb contained 2 shallow double-handled cups and a plate [An Jiayao 1991, p 7] . All of the vessels were traditional Chinese shapes and made of lead-barium glass. Vessels in these forms were normally made out of lacquer or ceramic, although some jade vessels in those shapes are also known [Braghin 2002b] . All vessels were produced by mould casting.

ee also

Bi (jade)

Notes

References

*An Jiayao (1991) The early glass of China. In Brill, R. and Martin, J. (eds) Scientific research in early Chinese glass. Proceeding of the Archaeometry of Glass Sessions of the 1984 International Symposium on Glass, Beijin, September 7 1984. The Corning Museum of Glass, pp: 5-19

* An Jiayao (2002) Polycrome and monochrome glass of the Warring States and Han periods. In Braghin, C. (ed) Chinese Glass. Archaeological studies on the uses and social contest of glass artefacts from the Warring States to the Northern Song Period (fifth century B.C. to twelfth century A.D.) pp 45-70

* Braghin, C. (2002a) Introduction. In Braghin, C. (ed) Chinese Glass. Archaeological studies on the uses and social contest of glass artefacts from the Warring States to the Northern Song Period (fifth century B.C. to twelfth century A.D.) pp XI-XIV

* Braghin, C. (2002b) Polycrome and monochrome glass of the Warring States and Han periods. In Braghin, C. (ed) Chinese Glass. Archaeological studies on the uses and social contest of glass artefacts from the Warring States to the Northern Song Period (fifth century B.C. to twelfth century A.D.) pp 3-43

* Brill, R., Tong, S. and Dohrenwend, D. (1991) Chemical analysis of some early Chinese glasses. In Brill, R. and Martin, J. (eds) Scientific research in early Chinese glass. Proceeding of the Archaeometry of Glass Sessions of the 1984 International Symposium on Glass, Beijin, September 7 1984. The Corning Museum of Glass, pp: 21-26

* Cheng Zhuhai and Zhou Changyuan (1991) A 'glass garment' from a Western Han tomb in Jiangsu Province. In Brill, R. and Martin, J. (eds) Scientific research in early Chinese glass. Proceeding of the Archaeometry of Glass Sessions of the 1984 International Symposium on Glass, Beijin, September 7 1984. The Corning Museum of Glass, pp: 21-26

* Gao Zhixi (1991) A glass bi and a decorated sword from Hunan province. In Brill, R. and Martin, J. (eds) Scientific research in early Chinese glass. Proceeding of the Archaeometry of Glass Sessions of the 1984 International Symposium on Glass, Beijin, September 7 1984. The Corning Museum of Glass, pp: 119-123

* Jenyns, R. (1981) Chinese Art. Phaidon Press

* Kerr, R. and Wood, N. (2004) Part XII: Ceramic technology. In Science and Civilisation in China. Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology. Cambridge University Press

*Pinder-Wilson, R. (1991) The Islamic lands and China. In Tait, H. (ed) Five thousand years of glass. University of Pennsylvania Press, pp 112-143

* Shi Meiguang, He Ouli, Wu Zongdao and Zhou Fuzheng (1991) Investigations of some ancient Chinese lead glasses. In Brill, R. and Martin, J. (eds) Scientific research in early Chinese glass. Proceeding of the Archaeometry of Glass Sessions of the 1984 International Symposium on Glass, Beijin, September 7 1984. The Corning Museum of Glass, pp: 21-26

* Shi Meiguang, Li Yinde and Zhou Fuzhen (1992) Some new glass finds in China. Journal of Glass Studies 34. The Corning Museum of Glass, pp: 23-26

* Zhang Fukang (1991) Scientific studies of early glasses excavated in China. InBrill, R. and Martin, J. (eds) Scientific research in early Chinese glass. Proceeding of the Archaeometry of Glass Sessions of the 1984 International Symposium on Glass, Beijin, September 7 1984. The Corning Museum of Glass, pp:157-165