Craft:Chinese traditional handicraft with thousands of years history

Origin:Luoyang

Tang San Cai, also called Tricolor Glazed Pottery and a gem of ancient Chinese art, is a kind of handmade glazed ware of exquisite craftsmanship created in the Northern and Southern Dynasty (386-589) about 1,400 years ago. During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the production of Tang San Cai reached its peak, which is part of the reason the pottery got the name of Tang San Cai.

Luoyang, named the eastern capital in ancient times, in Henan Province was the home of Tang San Cai, and most of unearthed Tang San Cai was found in Luoyang.

Tang San Cai is a polychrome handicraft with yellow, green, and white as its major tones. It is fired with lead glaze and presents a harmonious complex of varied colors, deep and light. The process is complicated: first, bake the ready mode in kilns until the temperature reaches 1,100oC, then take it out and apply glaze on it; bake it again in kilns at a temperature of about 900隆茫C.

Tang San Cai items that have been unearthed include horses, humans, and even pillows, and camels, of which the pottery camel is one of the best. Its head rises high, as if telling stories about merchant caravans along the Silk Road in the remote past and the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.

Being the gem of ancient Chinese art, Tang San Cai absorbed the advantages of Chinese painting, sculpture and stone carving. It features fleshy figures, regular and exquisite technics, compact carving traces, and smooth lines, indicating the high-level of the craft reached in the Tang Dynasty. Tang San Cai is primaryly divided into pottery tomb-figures and daily commodities.

After the founding of new China, specialized institutions have been set up to study the technics of making Tang San Cai, which has boosted the development of the craft.

Artistic & Historical Background: The artwork is a Tang tri-colored statue, known as "dragon head and fish body," which carries rich cultural significance and historical importance.

Tang tri-colored pottery is a gem of ancient Chinese ceramic art, renowned for its unique craftsmanship and exquisite patterns.

In this piece, we can see the combination of a dragon head and a fish body, which not only embodies the symbolic meanings of dragons and fishes in traditional Chinese culture but also showcases the superb skills of Tang Dynasty ceramic art.

The dragon holds a supreme status in Chinese culture, representing authority, nobility, and good fortune.

On the other hand, the fish symbolizes wealth, longevity, and prosperity.

Combining these two elements implies the dual protection of power and wealth, as well as the flourishing of one's family.

Additionally, the glaze colors of Tang tri-colored pottery are diverse, such as yellow, green, white, etc.

, making the entire statue more vivid and lively, full of artistic charm.

Historically speaking, the emergence of Tang tri-colored pottery can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), when China was experiencing an era of prosperity with booming economy and reaching new heights in culture and arts.

As a representative form of ceramic art during this period, Tang tri-colored pottery not only reflects the social customs of that time but also leaves behind valuable artistic heritage for future generations.

In conclusion, the "dragon head and fish body" Tang tri-colored statue is an artistic treasure with profound cultural significance and historical importance.

It not only demonstrates the unique charm of ancient Chinese ceramic art but also inherits the cultural traditions of the Chinese nation.

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