In the early period of the 20th century, Longhai railway was built through the Mang mountains, north of Luoyang city, Henan Province, where the graveyards¹ of the Han and Tang dynasties were located. When these tombs were excavated², lots of colorful pottery³ was found. However, the find did not received much attention from the media or public at the time. Collectors thought they were just common funeral objects and were ill-boding, until a Chinese antiquities⁴ collector, Luo Zhenyu (1866 - 1940) saw their chips in a market.

To Luo’s surprise, there was no information about this kind of pottery in historical records. While experts were puzzling over these objects, they were named “Tang tri-colored glazed⁶ pottery” among the people.

Tang tri-colored glazed pottery was very popular in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It is a low-melting glazed pottery that is made by adding metallic⁷ oxides to the colored glaze⁵ and calcifying⁸ the object to create different colors, namely the predominant red, white and green.

The chemicals in the glaze change gradually in the firing process, creating a variegated⁹ effect with a majestic¹⁰ and elegant artistic¹¹ attraction.

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