and plants. Th ey also made bowls and other dishes, includ-
ing goblets with pointed bottoms that would be stuck into the
ground to hold them upright. Harrapans created many small
fi gures, some of which seem to be gods but others of which
may have been toys.
In the Hindu culture that followed the Harappans, the
story was told of how the god Shiva wanted to marry Sati but
lacked a pot for the ceremony, so he created the fi rst man and
woman, potters, to make him one. Yet there is a long gap in
information about Indian arts from 1500 to about 500 b.c.e.
Pottery was certainly made, but it is mostly pieces of plain
housewares that remain. Indian potters made items for buri-
als and for religious occasions. Th ey had an exceptional pe-
riod of creativity in the 200s to 400s c.e., during which they
created terra-cotta sculptures that rivaled stone sculptures
for both gracefulness and delicacy of facial expression.
Th e earliest Chinese ceramics have proved diffi cult to
date, but they may predate 5000 b.c.e. Th e earliest ceramic
pots were black, with clay twisted to look like rope pressed
on the outside as decoration before fi ring. Cultures such as
the Banpos of 4865 to 4290 b.c.e. on the Yellow River painted
their vessels, usually in black over a red surface. Th e imag-
es were sometimes inspired by nature, resulting in stylized
depictions of people and plants. Alternatively, they could
be intended just to please the eye; these images consisted of
crisscross patterns or loops and would oft en feature the in-
terplay of black and red in which the eye could be fooled into
perceiving the red as the outer color. In about 2500 b.c.e. the
Longshan culture, which existed in modern Henan, Shan-
dong, and Shaanxi provinces from 3200 to 1800 b.c.e., rev-
olutionized the making of earthenware in the Asian Pacifi c
region by introducing the potter’s wheel, probably imported
from the Near East, thereby freeing both hands to shape clay.
As early as 2400 b.c.e. various cultures living in central and
eastern China were making toys out of clay as well as small
images of people and deities to be included in burials.
Th e Shang Dynasty (1500–1045 b.c.e.) brought forth the
invention of stoneware, which was hard and waterproof, and
that came about when Shang potters learned how to mix clay
that could be fi red at about 2100 degrees Fahrenheit. Th ey also
learned to glaze ceramics. A glaze is a glasslike coating that
seals the surface of a ceramic object and decorates it. During
the Zhou Dynasty (1045–256 b.c.e.) potters made ceramic
tiles for roofs, consisting of half-cylinders perhaps patterned
aft er the shape of split bamboo. Some Zhou potters applied
tinfoil to their creations, while others applied lacquer. Dur-
ing the Han Dynasty (202 b.c.e.–220 c.e.), lead glazing was
introduced, probably from the Near East. Th is glazing melted
at relatively low temperatures, making it cheaper to produce
than other glazes. During the period of the Six Dynasties
(220–589 c.e.), Chinese potters experimented with glazes and
clays, laying the basis for the development of porcelain.
When China established the colony city of Lolang in
Korea in 108 b.c.e., Chinese technology fi ltered through the
Korean peninsula. Korean ceramic vessels tended to have
three legs, which made them less likely to tip over than four-
legged pots with uneven legs, and they were glazed green
similar to those of the Han Chinese. From about 18 b.c.e.
until unifi cation of Korea in 676 c.e., potters made black or
dark gray, fi nely decorated pots, and fi gurines of people and
animals for burial goods and toys. When the Han potters
of China began making white ceramics, Korea started pro-
ducing extraordinarily beautiful decorated white ceramics
that would develop into porcelain, establishing Korea as an
important center of porcelain manufacture from the Middle
Ages to the present.
Little is known about the ceramics of ancient Indochi-
na. Cambodians began making pottery with brown glazes
around 500 c.e., but in the region of Th ailand, pottery mak-
ing may not have begun until the 1200s c.e. Th e potter’s
wheel was not to be found in ancient Oceania, although pot-
tery was introduced to Samoa and other islands before the
fi rst century b.c.e. Th e Philippines appear to have followed
Chinese patterns of manufacturing pottery by about the fi rstPottery jar with dragon handles, from China (fourth to third century
b.c.e.), made to imitate a more expensive bronze vessel (© Th e Trustees
of the British Museum)
180 ceramics and pottery: Asia and the Pacific