Qingbai (bluish white) ware is a type of pottery made in the Song Dynasty that has a bluish tint to it. It is also referred to as Yingqing (shadow blue) ware in modern times.
It is made using a specific type of porcelain and then adding a tinted glaze over the white porcelain. Much of Qingbai ware was used by the common people, which is very rare for this time period. A great deal of the pottery that was made at this time period was made strictly for imperial use. This shows the great amount of variety of the Qingbai ware and that is was very versatile for the many of uses of it by the people. Qingbai ware was introduced to China after the Mongol conquests in 1279 and was mostly made in during Song Dynasty. Even though Qingbai ware is not considered to be part of the wu wei ce, or five classic wares of the Song Dynasty. Qingbai ware is Ding ware that has achieved true translucency. Ding ware is an off white tone of porcelain. The Qingbai ware achieved true translucency through using kaolin and fine-grained porcelain stone that supported thin walled vessels. Kaolin is one of the most common clay minerals that gives the porcelain the true white color and allows for little to no shrinking of the vessel. The high point of Qingbai ware was between the 10th and 13th centuries. This accomplishment was achieved in the province of southeast Jiangxi in the town of Jingdezhen. After creating the chemical achievement that supported the thin vessels the next aspect to master was the glaze. This type of smooth, glassy glaze is achieved by using a small amount of iron in a reduction fired kiln. This type of glaze then achieved a bluish green tint. The local fabrics of the times lent themselves to the decoration of the vessels. By using the detailed design of the fabric for a reference the potters could achieve a great amount of variety in their designs. Even though, much of qingbai ware borrows much of their decoration from the Ding and Yaozhou wares, they improved upon them. There is a lot of minuet detail and beading accented the outside rims of many vessels. In the early 14th century the Jingdezhen potters created a sturdier ceramic body by adding a greater amount of kaolin to the clay. This type of ceramic ware is referred to as luanbai (eggshell white) after its opaque glaze. This type of ware was short lived but helped to establish a new precedent for new mixtures of clay. Qingbai ware was made for the use of the people and not strictly for imperial use. Qingbai ware has a pure white porcelain body with a bluish tinted glaze.
Qingbai initially appearing in the Northern Song period from about 960-1127 and then became a popular item in the Chinese market. They gained their widespread important popularity during the Southern Song period which lasted from around 1127-1279. They were also widely exported to China’s neighboring nations. There are also kilns that have been unearthed in wide spread provinces around China. This reveals that Qingbai ware gained great popularity and were attempted to be duplicated throughout China.