Ceramic in China has a long history that can be chased back to the Palaeolithic era. The earliest pottery was found at the Xianrendong Cave site in Jiangxi province, dating from 20,000 years ago. The technology develops throughout civilization history and becomes one of the significant forms of Chinese arts. For instance, porcelain is still called “China” as this invention is highly identified with China.

In Joseph Needham’s grand plan of Science and Civilisation in China, he deliberately includes Ceramic Technology in the series as he recognized the significance of its technological history and global influence. In Needham career of research, he had outlined the indicative content for subjects that he wanted to include in the series and he merely left a rudimentary guide for Ceramic technology, which is to discuss “History of pottery, porcelain, feldspathic glazes, etc.” Although he is not able to finish the volume by himself as he sadly died in 1995, his academic generosity enables scholars to contribute to the series. Needham Research Institute invited scholar Rose Kerr and Nigel Wood to continue the study on ceramic technology. Under the accumulative research achievement and conscientiousness spirit and of Needham, the book Ceramic Technology finally published in 2004 and included in volume Chemistry and Chemical Technology.

In the following, you will get to understand ceramic in China in all-round perspectives, including the making of ceramics, its influence to the world as well as the ceramics technology today.