Cheongja : Korean Traditional Celadon

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Preface

Chapter 1. Korean Celadon: An Introduction
Definition of Celadon
Types of Celadon
Use of Korean Celadon
History of Korean Celadon

Chapter 2. Materials and Tools for Making Celadon
Clay, the Material of Celadon
Pigments Used in Celadon
Glaze of Celadon
Facilities and Equipment of Workshop
Kilns and Firing Equipment

Chapter 3. Making Celadon
Process of Making Celadon
Preparing the Raw Materials
Shaping the Clay
Decoration
Bisque Firing and Glazing
Firing and Completion

Chapter 4. Enjoying Korean Celadon
Goryeo’s Noble Taste and Elegance
Goryeo Celadon for Tea Drinking
Jade-colored Celadon, The Best under Heaven
Inlaid Celadon, Quintessence of Goryeo Celadon
Celadon with Poetry
Lifelike Sanghyeong Celadon
Reproduction and Reinterpretation of Goryeo Celadon

Appendix
Master Craftsmen
Crafts & Design Map
List of Plates
Bibliography
Collaborators
Index

Goryeo celadon represents several notable achievements in the history of ceramics: the perfection of producing jade-green celadon, the distinctive decoration technique of inlaying, or sanggam (象嵌), and the copper-red produced with a reduction firing technique. The color of well-made Goryeo celadon was called bisaek (翡色, jade-green color) as it was similar to that of jade. Even Chinese people known to have made the earliest celadon wares praised bisaek as the “best under heaven.” As a ceramic type produced second in the world after Chinese celadon, Goryeo celadon was a representative cultural legacy of the Goryeo Dynasty that embodied the artistic spirit of culturally advanced Korean ancestors. Even though China first made celadon, Goryeo developed celadon with originality and creativity, crossing the threshold of new celadon culture. China’s recognition of Goryeo celadon’s superiority demonstrated that Goryeo created the world’s best celadon in deed as well as in name. -from ‘Chapter 1. Korean Celadon: Introduction’

The workshop is furnished with various facilities and tools for producing celadon. There are facilities and tools necessary for storing and processing of raw materials, as well as for the process of shaping vessels before firing them. In the past, celadon kilns were equipped with different facilities and tools nearby, and potters divided their works according to the process of making celadon. Nowadays, workshops that make clay and glaze of celadon are separated from the workshops that shape and fire them. -from ‘Chapter 2. Materials and Tools for Making Celadon’