''An hua'' () is a term used in

Chinese ceramics Chinese ceramics are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. They range from construction materials such as bricks and tiles, to hand-built pottery vessels fired in bonfires or kilns, to the sophisticated Chinese ...

meaning ''secret'' or ''veiled'' decoration; the designs being visible through transmitted

light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

, produced either by incising the

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

into the

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

before glazing and firing or by delicate slip-trailing in white slip on the

body. It is also called "secret" or "hidden decoration". Incised, carved or mould-impressed monochrome decoration under a

ceramic glaze Ceramic glaze, or simply glaze, is a glassy coating on ceramics. It is used for decoration, to ensure the item is impermeable to liquids and to minimize the adherence of pollutants. Glazing renders earthenware impermeable to water, sealing th ...

was the dominant type of decoration during the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

, in types of white wares such as Ding ware and Qingbai. But the term is mainly used of the still more discreet version of the technique popularized under the

Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Chengzu of Ming, personal name Zhu Di, was the third List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 142 ...

(1360–1424) of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

(1368–1644), and continued later, particularly during the reign of the

Yongzheng Emperor The Yongzheng Emperor (13 December 1678 – 8 October 1735), also known by his temple name Emperor Shizong of Qing, personal name Yinzhen, was the fourth List of emperors of the Qing dynasty, emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the third Qing em ...

(1723-1735) in the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. Very often dragons were concealed in the interior of bowls. Some ''an hua'' dishes were found inside a storage jar in the mid-15th century (1450–1487?) ''Belankan'' shipwreck off the coast of Indonesia, found circa 1999. Of a teapot in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

(see gallery), the museum says: "One side is very subtly incised with a design of rocks and plants, and the other with a poetic couplet that reads: "At night in springtime one moment is precious like a thousand pieces of gold, the orchid sends forth its fragrance in the shade of the moon." These are the first two lines from a poem by the famous eleventh-century writer

Su Shi Su Shi ( zh, t=, s=苏轼, p=Sū Shì; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (), art name Dongpo (), was a Chinese poet, essayist, calligrapher, painter, scholar-official, literatus, artist, pharmacologist, and gastronome wh ...

". This suggests it was made for a scholarly gentleman. Early pieces with floral decoration can be seen as a compromise between the traditionalist elite preference for plain monochrome porcelains and the growing taste for ornament, initially seen only in "popular wares" such as Cizhou ware, before being adopted by the elite during the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

. File:Ewer-G 5088-IMG 9100-white.jpg, Ewer, Ming, Yongle reign, 1403–1424 File:Dish with secret decoration. Qing, Kangxi brand. Guimet Museum, G 816. Detail.jpg, Detail of Kangxi reign dish File:Dish with secret decoration. Qing, Kangxi brand. Guimet Museum, G 816.jpg, The whole dish File:BLW White Teapot.jpg, Dehua porcelain wine/teapot, 1690–1720,

. See text; this is the side with the couplet. File:Plate (AM 11388-5).jpg, 18th-century plate File:Plate (AM 1940.144-1).jpg, The whole plate shown above

References

External links

A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art {{Chinese ceramics Chinese porcelain Chinese pottery Types of pottery decoration