Pottery is made by forming a clay body into objects of a required shape and heating them to high temperatures in a kiln to induce reactions that lead to permanent changes， including increasing their strength and hardening and setting their There are wide regional variations in the properties of clays used by potters and this often helps to produce wares that are unique in character to a It is common for clays and other minerals to be mixed to produce clay bodies suited to specific Prior to some shaping processes， air trapped within the clay body needs to be This is called de-airing and can be accomplished by a machine called a vacuum pug or manually by Wedging can also help to ensure an even moisture content throughout the Once a clay body has been de-aired or wedged， it is shaped by a variety of After shaping it is dried before There are a number of stages in the drying Leather-hard refers to the stage when the clay object is approximately 75-85% Clay bodies at this stage are very firm and only slightly Trimming and handle attachment often occurs at the leather-hard Clay bodies are said to be "bone-dry" when they reach a moisture content at or near 0% Unfired objects are often termed Clay bodies at this stage are very fragile and hence can be easily It is believed that the earliest pottery wares were hand built and fired in Firing times were short but the peak-temperatures achieved in the fire could be high， perhaps in the region of 900 degrees Celsius， and were reached very Clays tempered with sand， grit， crushed shell or crushed pottery were often used to make bonfire-fired ceramics， because they provided an open body texture that allows water and other volatile components of the clay to escape The coarser particles in the clay also acted to restrain shrinkage within the bodies of the wares during cooling， which was carried out slowly to reduce the risk of thermal stress and In the main， early bonfire-fired wares were made with rounded bottoms， to avoid sharp angles that might be susceptible to The earliest intentionally constructed kilns were pit-kilns or trench-kilns; holes dug in the ground and covered with Holes in the ground provided insulation and resulted in better control over The earliest known ceramic objects are Gravettian figurines such as those discovered at Dolni Vestonice in the modern-day Czech R The Venus of Dolní Věstonice (Věstonická Venuše in Czech) is a Venus figurine， a statuette of a nude female figure dated to 29，000–25，000 BCE (Gravettian industry) The earliest pottery vessel found to date was excavated from the Yuchanyan Cave in southern China and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2009 reports that the ware dates back to 18，000 years Pottery vessels made by the Incipient Jōmon people of Japan from around 10，500 BCE have also been The term "Jōmon" means "cord-marked" in J This refers to the markings made on clay vessels and figures using sticks with cords wrapped around Pottery which dates back to 10，000 BCE have also been excavated in C It appears that pottery was independently developed in North Africa during the tenth millennium and in South America during the seventh millennium The earliest history of pottery production can be divided into 4 periods namely; the Hassuna period (5000 - 4，500 BCE)， the Halaf period (4，500 - 4000 BCE)， the Ubaid period (4000 - 3000 BCE)， and the Uruk period (3，500 - 2000 BCE) The invention of the potter's wheel in Mesopotamia sometime between 6，000 and 4，000 BCE (Ubaid period) revolutionized pottery Specialized potters were then able to meet the expanding needs of the world's first Pottery was in use in ancient India during the Mehrgarh Period II (5500 - 4800 BCE) and Merhgarh Period III (4800 - 3500 BCE)， known as the ceramic Neolithic and Pottery， including items known as the ed-Dur vessels， originated in regions of the Indus valley and has been found in a number of sites in the Indus valley In the Mediterranean， during the Greek Dark Ages (1100–800 BCE)， artists used geometric designs such as squares， circles and lines to decorate amphoras and other The period between 1500-300 BCE in ancient Korea is known as the Mumun Pottery PThe quality of pottery has varied historically， in part dependent upon the repute in which the potter's craft was held by the community[citation needed] For example， in the Chalcolithic period in Mesopotamia， Halafian pottery achieved a level of technical competence and sophistication， not seen until the later developments of Greek pottery with Corinthian and Attic ware[citation needed] The distinctive Red Samian ware of the Early Roman Empire was copied by regional potters throughout the E The Dark Age period saw a collapse in the quality of European pottery which did not recover in status and quality until the European Renaissance[citation 这是平行文本相关翻译：陶器，是用黏土或陶土经捏制成形后烧制而成的器具，陶器的英文"pottery"可以同时指土器（earthenware）、陶器、石陶器（stoneware）及瓷器的集合。陶器历史悠久，在新石器时代就已初见简单粗糙的陶器。陶器在古代作为一种生活用品，在现在一般作为工艺品收藏。一般认为最早的陶器是手制的，并在篝火（bonfires）烧制。烧制时间短但火达到的最高温度可以很高，约在900℃左右，而且达到的速度很快。黏土与沙、砂砾、打碎的贝壳或打碎的陶器调合后会被用来制造篝火烧制陶瓷器，这是因为它们提供了一个开放的坯体质地令水及其他挥发性成分可以轻易离开。黏土中较粗糙的粒子亦会发挥在冷却时限制陶器坯体内部收缩的作用，此过程以缓慢速度进行，并减低热应力及破裂的危机。早期以篝火烧制的陶器主要是圆底的，用意是避免尖锐的角令破裂容易发生。最早有目的而建设的窑是穴窑（pit kiln）或沟窑（trench kiln），即在地面掘一个洞再在上面铺满燃料。在地面的洞提供了隔离层，令烧制过程可以有更佳的控制。中国最早的陶器出现于新石器时代早期。大约在距今15000年左右，首先在中国南方可能已经开始制陶的试验，到距今9000年左右大致完成了陶器的发明和探索。1962年于江西万年县仙人洞遗址发现的圆底罐，其年代据放射性碳素测试为公元前6875±240年，为夹砂红陶，外表有绳纹。裴李岗文化（公元前5500～前4900年）中的陶器则多为泥质或夹砂红陶，亦有少量灰陶。在接下来的磁山文化（公元前5400年～前5100年）、大地湾文化（公元前5200年～前4800年）、仰韶文化、马家窑文化、大汶口文化、龙山文化可以看出古代中国人的制陶工艺不断发展，品质提高，种类增多。在中国，彩陶出现在公元前4000年左右。"半坡彩陶"为仰韶文化的一部分，在1953年首先于陕西西安市半坡村被发现，主要包含水壶及碗等。一开始它们上面纯粹为红色，但陶器上渐渐有独特的符号，称为半坡陶符，纹饰有动物纹、几何纹、编织纹等。此后在临近各省也发现了类似的陶器。在公元前2500年至2000年的龙山文化中，出现了黑陶，这是中国制陶工艺的一次高峰。 在商朝，有理论认为是当时印欧语系的游牧民族带来陶轮的技术，令陶器量产化。在周朝，以陶轮制作的陶器会以更高温烧制，令其硬度增加，同时亦会使用绿色的釉料。秦朝的陶俑兵马俑成为当时最具代表性的陶器，而在此时陶器的描绘主题由动物转变为人。在汉朝，陶器的描绘主题由为佛教的传播而出现了佛的形象。到了唐朝，中国出现了白色的陶瓷，而同时亦出现了其他陶像，唐三彩成为当时艺术精华的代表。到了宋朝，因为瓷器技术开始成熟令中国的陶器的辉煌被瓷器完全盖过。此后中国的陶瓷器重点便落在瓷器上。然而明清的紫砂壶等陶器乃至近代的江苏宜兴、广东石湾的陶器工艺仍然有非常高的水准。
CiZao territory along the stream of ancient sites， more numerous， early in the 1950s， the Palace Museum ChenWanLi FengXianMing， Mr CiZao kiln for such had survey， Thereafter， xiamen university， quanzhou museum of human JiaoTongShi overseas JinJiangXian museums， museums， museums in fujian province as the unit of the researchers have done a lot of research work， and have tried to dig， local large specimens， found in the southern dynasty - In January of this place， Tang and five six sites， 12 this song and yuan dynasties， Qing This 7 The song and yuan dynasties， TongZiShan spider mountain sites， soil sites include the tail set this mountain sites， CiZao referred to as listed in the first batch of fujian， this unit of provincial In this mountain， song dynasty xikou retaining golden hill sites listed jinjiang municipal units of cultural relics CiZao kiln product variety， the shape of The breed with life daily utensils for bulk， in addition to display device， building materials， Life in the vessel is bowl， plate， lamp， disc， basin， bowls， wash， cans， cylinder， urn， pot， bottle， lamp， dishes， lamp， ZhiHu， water injection， army， must hold pillow etc， porcelain， Display device are furnace， sweet fume， vase， flowerpot， animals， plants and animals YanDi fractal model (such as lions， tigers， tortoise， toad， peach， etc)， and other like such a piggy bank， waist， can artifacts， Building decoration materials， Among them， huang painted iron army， the market， the decorative plate is green glair for export products， dragon urn is the most local The CiZao kiln chinaware TaiZhi general grayish， particle TaiZhi thicker， dense Also because of this， the porcelain clay glair place more womb a yellowish-white But generally only half glaze， was in no Glaze can be classified into five categories， namely green glair， sauce black glaze， huang， green and yellow green glair Green glair in bowls， disc， lamp， port， basin， caddy， pot， ZhiHu， army， lamp， holding furnace， sweet fume， etc in green glair color; add brown under Many in the dark glaze sauce bowl， the lamp， lamp， cans， pot， ZhiHu， water injection， furnace waist， such as， some of the light side or bowl， the mouth ShiQing glaze， along the sauce black glazed， Yellow green glair is in bottles， cans， army， hold， water injection， basin， plate， furnace， pillow， birds and animals eat model， Some for the yellow color glaze， green glair， green glair is much "silver" return， Some are yellow and green glair with n a Adornment gimmick， picking flowers， there MoYin， DiaoLou， glazing and coloured drawing or pattern， Decoration pattern has flowers (Ephraim， chrysanthemum， peony flowers， tangle， flowers， )， the grass (grass)， the melon leng， melons， chicken， and stroke， YunLei， string he grain， the cloud， water color and spread point， especially in the dragon In the jinjiang county annals "have" China township， take a focal porcelain kiln， and the earth open BoZi， cylinder， the size of the urn what genera， and give the " The Based on the field investigation and CiZao kiln relevant archaeological data， in Japan and the Philippines， Indonesia， Malaysia， Singapore， Thailand， Sri Lanka， Kenya， south east Asia， southeast Asia Nation in the east and have CiZao kiln In these countries， some of the museum， the museum collections often works， thus the kiln， CiZao kiln is an important area of export The army， bottle， ZhiHu， cans， disc is a song period of the main export Among them， the army is dedicated to people in southeast Asia and the religious activities， "Dragon" production since Ming dynastiy urn， follow， but also continuously domestic exports to southeast A During the Ming and qing dynasties， CiZao to burn a daily ceramics， thick， with overseas Chinese still marketing of going abroad， porcelain making technology also spread throughout southeast， promote the development of local ceramic technology， such as the Philippines meters of land "neville" fires， CiZao WuXing overseas Chinese porcelain is Until recently， still have many overseas Chinese in this camp， imparting CiZao kiln is China's southeastern coast， with the important export ceramic kilns， is a strong kiln of local characteristics and style of the Its location - near quanzhou harbor port， make its export condition is At the same time， it is closely related to the rise in quanzhou port quanzhou in song and yuan dynasties， when the traffic and foreign trade reached its peak， is the development of CiZao kiln production period of Some of the CiZao kiln product is specially designed for export and fire， such as army as may be to adapt to the southeast Asia and religious life of furnace burn CiZao artifacts， the products implement class colorful， although is extensive， but it should be pointed out that special features， CiZao kiln unearthed some porcelain sculpture， deep eye high nose figure， vividly reflected quanzhou sea port of song and yuan dynasties "rise in birth "But CiZao ceramic in Ming dynasty， because when the glazed products mainly of extinction， cylinder， pot， cans， disc， production and sale of demand， How to position yourself? ChongZou ancestors certainly not， then the path of people are turning to architectural In 1979， CiZao WuJinShi people， through many thousands of practice in the ancient kiln burned modern glazed Since the start CiZao on real significance of ceramic enterprise， the development of extraordinary After more than ten years of development， CiZao town as the five big building ceramic production base， become one of national xinghuo regional ceramic materials pillar industrial technology innovation， national ceramics industry in fujian province， the demonstration base of science and technology， and has ShiFanZhen ceramic group， advanced kiln production line 15 more than Output value over 100 million yuan of enterprise group has 6， the value of the enterprise has super million， the building materials CiZao 159 products sold throughout the country， the exterior wall tiles yield an equivalent to two thirds of the Almost the glazed CiZao town by an unknown technocrat rural town has become MinDongNa economic For many years in fujian province and comprehensive economic strength strong June 2000， Chinese sanitary ceramics association awarded "China ceramic town" honorary 磁灶境内古窑址多沿溪分布，数量众多，早在二十世纪五十年代，故宫博物院陈万里，冯先铭等先生就对磁灶窑进行过调查；其后，厦门大学人类博物馆、泉州海外交通史博物馆、福建省博物馆、晋江县博物馆等单位的研究人员均对其进行了大量的调查工作，并进行过局部试掘，采集到大量标本，发现了南朝至清代的二十六处窑址。其中南朝窑址1处；唐、五代窑址6处；宋元时期窑址12处；清代窑址7处。宋元时期的蜘蛛山窑址、童子山窑址、土尾庵窑址、大坪山窑址统称为磁灶窑址，列为福建省第一批省级文物单位。南朝溪口山窑址、宋代金交椅山窑址列为晋江市级文物保护单位 磁灶窑产品品种繁多，器形多样。其品种以生活日用器皿为大宗，此外还有陈设器、建筑材料等。生活日用器皿中有碗、盘、盏、碟、盆、钵、洗、罐、缸、瓮、壶、瓶、灯、盂、盏托、执壶、水注、军持、急须、瓷枕等；陈设器则有炉，香熏、花瓶、花盆、动物形砚滴、动植物模型（如狮、虎、龟、蟾蜍、寿桃、力士像等），以及其它如腰鼓、扑满、鸟食罐等器物；建筑材料有装饰板等。其中，黄釉铁绘花纹大盘、军持、青釉碟是专供外销的产品，龙瓮是最具地方特色的。 磁灶窑瓷器的胎质一般呈灰色，颗粒较粗，胎质不够致密。也正因为此，瓷器胎土施釉处多上一层黄白色化妆土。但一般仅施半釉，器内无釉。釉可分为五大类，即青釉、酱黑釉、黄釉、绿釉与黄绿釉。青釉多见于碗、碟、盏、钵、盆、小罐、壶、执壶、军持、灯、炉、香熏等器物，有的还在青釉下添加褐彩；酱黑釉多施于碗、盏、盏托、罐、壶、执壶、水注、炉、腰鼓等器物，有的如碗、盏里侧或口沿施青釉，外施酱黑釉；黄绿釉则见于瓶、壶、罐、军持、水注、盆、盘、炉、枕、鸟食罐及动植物模型等；有的为单色的黄釉、绿釉，绿釉器多有“返银”现象；有的则黄、绿釉同施一器。装饰手法有刻划、剔花、模印、雕镂、施釉及彩绘等。装饰纹样有花卉（莲、菊、牡丹、缠枝花、折枝花等）、草叶（卷草）、瓜棱、瓜、凤，以及篦划、云雷、弦纹、卷云、水波及点彩、文字等，其中尤以龙纹最具特色。 在《晋江县志》中就有“瓷器出瓷灶乡，取地土开窑，烧大小钵子、缸、瓮之属，甚饶足，并过洋。”的记载。通过对磁灶窑的实地调查和有关考古资料证实，历年来日本、菲律宾、印度尼西亚、马来西亚、新加坡、泰国、斯里兰卡、肯尼亚等东亚、东南亚、南亚和东非国家中多有磁灶窑产品出土。在这些国家的一些博物馆、美术馆，常收藏有该窑作品，由此，证明磁灶窑是一处重要的外销陶瓷产地。 军持、瓶、执壶、罐、碟等是宋元时期大量外销的主要产品。其中，军持是专门适应东南亚人民进行宗教活动需要而烧制的；“龙瓮”的生产自宋明至今，沿袭不断，除了内销外还输出到东南亚各国。明清时期，磁灶以烧制单一的日用粗陶为主，仍运销海外，随着华侨的大批出国，制瓷技术也传播南洋各地，促进当地陶瓷工艺的发展，例如菲律宾米岸烧制的“文奈”瓷器，就是磁灶吴姓华侨传授的。直到近代，仍有众多华侨在海外操营此业，传授技艺。 磁灶窑是我国东南沿海地区，以烧造外销陶瓷为主的重要窑口，是具有浓量的地方特色和时代风格的民窑。它所处的地理位置---濒临泉州港口岸，使其外销条件优越。同时，它与泉州港的兴衰密切相关，当泉州在宋元时期对外交通和贸易达到鼎盛的时候，也正是磁灶窑生产发展昌盛的时期。磁灶窑的某些产品是专门为外销而烧造的，如军持等可能是为适应东南亚各地宗教性生活而接受的定烧器物，磁灶窑的产品器类丰富多彩，虽然比较粗放但却颇具特色，特别应指出的，磁灶窑出土的一些瓷雕塑，深目高鼻的人物形象，生动地反映了泉州港宋元时期“涨海声中万国商”的景象。 但磁灶的陶瓷在明清之后，由于宋时釉彩等工艺的的失传，产品主要以缸、壶、罐、碟为主，生产和销路窄小，市场需求低。如何定位自己？重走祖辈们的老路肯定不行，于是人们把目光投向了建筑陶瓷。1979年，磁灶人吴金世，历经多次的实践终于在千百年的古窑里烧出了现代的釉面砖。磁灶从此开始了真正意义上的跨越，建陶企业得到了超常规模的发展。 经过十几年艰苦的发展，磁灶镇作为全国5大建筑陶瓷生产基地之一，成为国家级星火区域性陶瓷建材支柱产业区、国家级技术创新陶瓷工业示范基地、福建省第三批科技示范镇，目前，拥有建陶集团15家，先进辊道窑生产线300多条。产值超亿元的企业集团有6家，产值超千万元的企业有159家，磁灶的建材产品畅销全国各地，外墙砖产量一项就相当于全国产量的三分之二。琉璃瓦几乎垄断全国的市场。磁灶镇由原来名不见经传的乡村小镇一跃成为闽东南经济重镇。连续多年综合经济实力位居福建省10强乡镇前列。2000年6月，被中国建筑卫生陶瓷协会授予“中国陶瓷重镇”荣誉称号。
