Interpretation of the Forms and Connotations of Writings on Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the Perspective of Narratology

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the forms and connotations of writing on ancient Chinese ceramics through a narratological reading method. The decoration of ceramics is one of the important elements that help us read a ceramic object. The decoration of ceramics before the Tang Dynasty was relatively simple, and then with the painted ceramics of Changsha Kiln in the Tang Dynasty as a symbol, various pattern decorations on ceramics became popular and became richer and richer with the development of the times. Among them, Chinese characters are an important form of decorative expression. Studies have shown that when the characters on porcelain were applied by ceramic craftsmen by writing, engraving or molding, they were given multiple meanings. It not only contains the artistic significance of traditional Chinese calligraphy, but also produces pattern-like features and visual significance due to its design layout on porcelain, while the most fundamental narrative function, which is mainly to convey information, still exists. This paper takes the typical cases of ceramic writing in various historical periods as specimens, and tries to explore the narrative forms and connotations behind them from new perspectives such as creators, stories, and narrative styles, in order to fill the gap in the study of this ceramic history.