Comparison of the Different Types of Qinghua Porcelain from Jingdezhen in the Yuan Dynasty of China (ad 1271-1368) by Micro X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (-XRF) and Microscopy

The Yuan Qinghua porcelain produced in the city of Jingdezhen, in China, mainly includes the gaudy blue type, a blue-grey or grey-coloured type and the type featuring a blue colour with a slight amount of grey. For a long time, only the gaudy blue type was focused on and discussed, while the other two types, which contain equally important information with regard to recovering the manufacturing technology of Yuan Qinghua, were always ignored by scientific researchers. In this paper, by using micro X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (-XRF), spectrophotometry and optical microscopy, all three different types of Yuan Qinghua porcelain are analysed systemically and, based on the analyses of the body, the glaze and the blue decoration, the differences in the materials and the manufacturing technologies of the three different types are discussed. This not only provides a good basis for the reconstruction of the whole picture of the manufacturing process of Yuan Qinghua porcelains in Jingdezhen, but also contributes to database-building for the identification of Qinghua porcelain.