You may not know that there are glass in ancient China?

"Most of the good things are not firm, and Caiyun is crispy." A poem by Bai Juyi pointed out the characteristics of the fragile glass.

In ancient China, "glazed" refers to glass (but the word "Liuli" does not specifically refers to glass. There are names such as "玕 有 有", "Liu Lin", "Yaoyu", "Saitama", "whistle" and "material".

The foundation: ceramic technology, bronze casting technology and glaze sand

Different from crystalline substances such as natural treasure jade, glass is an amorphous substance. Their structure is not very stable and has plasticity in a certain temperature area.

Therefore, people use ore -containing ore to make the main raw materials of melt glass early, and then add different melting agents (such as nitrate, nitrogen, grass and gray, etc.) to reduce the melting point, and heated it to melt to more than 1000 ° C to melt into it into it into it into. Glass liquid can make various glassware through different plastic molding methods such as pressure type, blowing, pumping, etc. during the cooling process.

In addition, people also add different colors by adding minerals such as iron (FE), copper (CU), manganese (MN), cobalt (CO) to make glass.

The earliest glass in the world appeared in the two river basins in the 20th century BC. With the development of new archeological discovery and non -destructive analysis technologies, the traditional glass manufacturing traditions unique to ancient China have gradually become known.

A large amount of glazed sand unearthed from the tombs of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the spring and autumn can be regarded as the predecessor of ancient Chinese glass. The raw materials and appearance are similar to glass. They are made of liberals and bonding agents and melting agents into a bead -shaped or tube -shaped low temperature (about 900 ° C). The surface is attached with a small amount of glass material, and the inside is mainly unpattered sand particles.

The long -established ceramic technology and bronze casting technology of our country have provided technical conditions for the emergence of glaze sand.

my country's commercial generations can already furnish primitive porcelain with glaze layer. The glaze sand is similar to the firing ceramics. The method of first forming and then roasting. It provides reference for glazed sand production control temperature, tool pressure type and other technical reference.

These glazed sand beads, tubes are mostly decorated with jade, agate and other beads and tubes as the owner of the tomb. Unlike West and Egypt's early glaze sand containing higher NA2O, ancient Chinese glaze sand contains high K2O, which may be related to the high K2O content in the grass and gray used in China.

Glaze sand beads (picture source: China Liuli.com)

After the Warring States Period, the real glass products in China began to appear, and glaze products gradually disappeared. In the ancient tombs of the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and early the Warring States Period, people not only discovered the typical Western sodium and calcium silicate glass (NA2O-CAO-SIO2) -the dragonfly-eye glass beads produced in ancient Western or Egypt, and found in ancient China. The unique potassium calcium silicate glass (K2O-CAO-SIO2), the glass inlaid with the famous Yue Wang Goujian sword sword is potassium calcium silicate glass.

The Eye King Gou Jian Sword inlaid with blue glass (Picture Source: "The History of the Development of Ancient Glass Technology of China")

Chinese characteristics: the emergence of leading silicate glass glass

During the Warring States Period, PBO-BAO-SIO2 (PBO-BAO-SIO2) and potassium silicate glass (K2O-SIO2) developed in the Yangtze River Basin.

Leading silicate glass is currently recognized as the most unique glass system in ancient China. They are silicate glass with the main melting agent with lead oxide (PBO) and BAO. The main ingredients are SIO2), square lead ore (the main ingredients are PBS), heavy crystal (the main ingredients are BASO4), nitrogen (the main ingredients are KNO3) and so on.

By drawing on the bronze production process, people use die -casting and other methods to make various glassware. Due to the oxidation of the oxidation, the glass was milky white to achieve the effect of imitation jade, and the glass became a substitute for jade.

In the middle and late period of the Warring States Period, leading silicate glass began to appear in the production center with Chu Cultural Grade. Typical leading silicate silicate glass utensils were: small decorations such as 璧, sword decoration, and seal.

Liuli Wall (Picture Source: China Liuli.com)

In the Western Han Dynasty, the production of leading silicate glass glass continued to develop, and the shape of the device also changed: glass plates, glass -ear, glass clothing, glass ears and other daily necessities and large practical crafts began to appear. The excavation of the Glass of the Grand Clouds of Da Yunshan, Jiangsu marks the high level of my country's leading silicon -silicate glass manufacturing technology in the Western Han Dynasty.

Glass 图片 (Picture Source: "History of the Development of Ancient Chinese Glass Technology")

After the Eastern Han Dynasty, the wind of the jade of the leading silicate glass was no longer prevailing, and the chemical composition of the glass also changed. High-lead silicate glass (PBO-SIO2) gradually became the mainstream of China's homemade glass.

Chinese and foreign exchanges: the introduction of glass blowing technology

During the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, a large number of glassware made by the Roman glass and the Sasan dynasty poured in, and the glass blowing technology came from it. Due to the prevalence of high -lead silicate glass without oxide, the transparency and gloss of glass have improved significantly.

Roman glass unearthed from the tomb of No. 7 Xiangshan in Nanjing (Picture Source: "History of the Development of Ancient Chinese Glass Technology")

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the glass production process was further spread and developed. The number of daily utensils such as glass bottles, glass, glass dishes, and other daily utensils increased. At the same time, a large number of glass house bottle was affected by Buddhism. Tang Dynasty glass tea bowl, tea tuchu (picture source: China Liuli.com)

The blowing high -lead silicate glass utensils also become another kind of ancient glass unique to China. However, because the high-lead silicate glass is very corrosive on the container for melting, it was later gradually replaced by potassium oxide (K2O) to replace some lead oxide to make potassium lead silicate glass (K2O-PBO-SIO2). This glass is more popular in the middle and late Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty.

Due to the highly developed culture and art of the Song Dynasty, the domestic glassware is more colorful, not only the glass of glass goose, glass grape skewers and other imitation and plant forms appear, but also tripods, eggs, glass, and glass pupae.

Peak: The development of glass manufacturing, mature production techniques

After the Yuan Dynasty, China's glass manufacturing industry developed. Shandong Yan Shen Town (set up in the twelfth year of the Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty) became one of the important glass production places in Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.

The Qing Dynasty was the peak of ancient Chinese glass manufacturing. It was prosperous from the Kangxi to Qianlong period. At that time, the glass manufacturing of the Qing Dynasty had two centers: North and South: the south was centered on Guangzhou, and the north was centered on Boshan.

In the thirty -five years of Kangxi, the court set up a "glass factory" in the construction office. It combined the North -South glass production techniques and European glass production techniques as a furnace to produce a large number of glass boutiques. Various crafts such as glassware and jade, porcelain and other crafts are created, such as glass water 丞, fish tank, pen holder, etc. The most distinctive is the delicate and artistic glass smoke pot.

Transparent glass water （during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty (picture source: Forbidden City Museum)

During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, glass tire painting enamel dark eight immortal snuff bottle (picture source: Forbidden City Museum)

In terms of chemical composition, in the 15-19 century, sodium silicate glass was mainly sodium and calcium silicate glass, while the Chinese Yellow River and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River were mainly potassium calcium silicate glass and potassium-lead silicate glass. The traditional nature of potassium oxide and lead oxide as the fuse in the Yellow River and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in my country.

While the ancient Chinese glass manufacturing, while absorbing excellent foreign achievements, develops a unique process based on its own technical and cultural environment.

Leading silicate glass, potassium silicate glass, and high lead silicate glass, ancient glass with Chinese characteristics have been made into various exquisite utensils at different times, becoming one of the carriers of ancient Chinese culture, art, and craftsmanship.

These Chinese glass products and manufacturing technologies have also been passed on to Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and Vietnam, and have become witness to Chinese and foreign cultural exchanges. With the development of new archeological discoveries and various scientific analysis technologies, the history of ancient Chinese glass manufacturing will be continuously compiled.

Produced: Popular Science China

Production: Peng Fan (Institute of Natural Science History of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Producer: China Science Popularization Expo

Edit: Wang Tingting

references:

Qian Fuyu et al.: "History of the Development of ancient Chinese Glass Technology", Shanghai: Shanghai Science and Technology Press, 2016.

The China Science Popularization Expo is the Science Popular Science Platform of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It is sponsored by the Computer Network Information Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Relying on the high -end scientific resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it is committed to spreading cutting -edge scientific knowledge and providing fun science and education services.

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