Origin of Chinese ancient glasses—study on the earliest Chinese ancient glasses

Abstract

The earliest Chinese ancient glasses before the West Han Dynasty (200 BC) from different regions are studied. The glass samples were unearthed from Hunan, Hubei, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangdong and Xinjiang of China. The chemical composition of these glasses samples is analyzed by proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) technique, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) method and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). It is shown that the glass chemical compositions belong to barium-lead silicate BaO-PbO-SiO 2 , potash soda lime silicate K 2 O (Na 2 O)-CaO-SiO 2 (K 2 O/Na 2 O>1), soda potash lime silicate Na 2 O (K 2 O)-CaO-SiO 2 (K 2 O/Na 2 O<1) and potash silicate K 2 O-SiO 2 glass systems, respectively. The origins of the earliest Chinese ancient glasses are discussed from the archaeological and historical points of view. These four types of Chinese ancient glasses were all made in Chinese territory using local raw materials. The glass preparation technology was related to the Chinese ancient bronze metallurgy and proto-porcelain glaze technology. The glass technology relationship between the East and the West is analyzed at the same time.

Study on the most early glass eye-beads in China unearthed from Xu Jialing Tomb in Xichuan of Henan Province, China

“…The contents of Na 2 O, CaO, SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 are in the range of 5%-10%, 7%-15%, 65%-76%, and 3%-5%, respectively, in which the content of K 2 O is less than 2.5%, and MgO less than 1.5%. The chemical compositions of these samples have distinct difference from that of the glass beads and glass inlaid in the swords unearthed from Jiangling of Hubei Province (which are potash lime silicate glass) [1] . The ratio of K 2 O to Na 2 O has a big difference between them, the former K 2 O/Na 2 O≤0.2, but the latter K 2 O/Na 2 O>5.…”

“…The first is that the glass products were made with domestic technique and local raw materials, such as the glass beads and glass ornaments embedded in the ancient swords excavated from the Chu tombs of the Spring and Autumn Period to Warring States in the Inner China (mainly refers to the Yellow River valley and the Yangtze River valley) [1] . The second is that the glass products were made with foreign technique but local raw materials, such as the glass beads of the Western Zhou Dynasty to Spring and Autumn Period unearthed from Xiyu (the western regions, mainly refers to the Xinjiang area) [2] .…”

Silk Road glass in Xinjiang, China: chemical compositional analysis and interpretation using a high-resolution portable XRF spectrometer

“…As early as the late Spring and Autumn Period (770e476 BCE), glassmaking technology passed eastwards along the Silk Road, stimulating indigenous Chinese glass production (Gan et al, 2006(Gan et al, , 2008. From the Warring States Period to the Western Han Dynasty (202 BCEe25 CE), Chinese craftsmen working in central and southern China had developed new glass recipes incorporating high levels of lead (Pb) and barium (Ba), perhaps in an effort to reproduce the visual qualities of jade (Li et al, 2003Zhang et al, 2004;Gan et al, 2010).…”

Chemical and lead isotope analysis of some lead-barium glass wares from the Warring States Period, unearthed from Chu tombs in Changde City, Hunan Province, China

“…Many chemical analyses of ancient lead-barium glass wares have been undertaken since the 1980s (e.g., Brill et al, 1986;Yamasaki and Murozumi, 1986;Shi et al, 1989Shi et al, , 1991Shi and Zhou, 1992;Brill, 2001Brill, , 2005Gan et al, 2006;Brill and Shirahata, 2009). The origin and development of the ancient lead-barium glasses have been summarised by Brill (1999) and Gan (2005).…”