The Porcelain Legacy of Emperor Huizong's Ritual Reform: An Analysis of a Northern Song Dynasty Ding Ware Carved and Incised Dish-Mouthed Long-Necked Vase with a "Shang Shi Ju" Inscription and Taotie Motif
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This paper examines an extraordinarily rare, intact vertical vessel (立件) from the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127 CE): a Ding ware with Carved and Incised a dish-shaped mouth (盤口長頸甁), measuring 27.8 cm in height and weighing 1,061 g. The centerpiece of the vessel features a meticulous Taotie motif (饕餮紋) executed via the Carved and Incised -line (刻劃花) technique, juxtaposed with deeply carved floral scrolls (花葉紋) on the flanks using the half-knife (半刀泥) method. Crucially, the base bears an authentic imperial inscription incised under the ivory-white glaze: "Shang Shi Ju" (尙食局 — The Imperial Food Service Bureau). While flat Ding wares (plates and bowls) are well-documented, imperial vertical vessels combining antiquarian bronze motifs with formal palace administrative marks are virtually non-existent in the open market. This study contextualizes the vessel within the Xuanhe Antiquarianism Movement (宣和復古) spearheaded by Emperor Huizong, proposing that this specific piece served a high-status, specialized purpose—not merely as tableware, but as a sacred ritual vessel used during state or ancestral sacrifices (郊祀) managed by the Imperial Food Bureau. The paper offers a definitive look at the convergence of 12th-century ceramic engineering, imperial branding, and state ritual philosophy.
Author: Park, Dong-kyu
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7221164490