TANG DYNASTY (618-907)

Xing ware was the best quality white-glazed ceramic of the Tang dynasty, particularly those inscribed with ying, da ying, and han lin marks as these were tribute wares to the court. Lu Minghua in his article ‘Xingyao ying zi ji dingyao yang ding kao’, The Shanghai Museum Journal No. 4, 1987, p. 259, suggests that the character ying refers to the Bai bao da ying ku (the Imperial Repository of a Hundred Treasures). This repository is believed to have been established in the Kaiyuan period (713-741) of the Tang dynasty and was a treasury for the personal use of the emperor (mentioned in the Jiu Tangshu and the Xin Tangshu - the Old History of the Tang dynasty and the New History of the Tang dynasty, respectively). It is therefore reasonable to surmise that Xing wares were designated for the Bai bao da ying ku, were inscribed with ying and da ying marks.

A few ying-marked Xing wares were found in archaeological excavations in Xi'an, including a ewer with a 13th year of Dazhong (859) date inscribed in ink found in the Qinglong Temple, illustrated in Zhongguo chutu ciqi quanji (Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China), Beijing, 2008, vol. 15, p. 26, and five covered ewers with five accompanied dishes found in the site of Xingchangfang of Tang Chang'an (Xi'an), published in Wenwu (Cultural Relics), 2003, no. 12, pp. 81-88.