Jun ware occupies an important place in the history of Chinese ceramics, named after the city of Yuzhou in Henan Province, where it was first made. Yuzhou was known as ‘Juntai’ during the Xia Dynasty (thought to be approximately 2070-1600 BC), and located in the transitional zone between the Funiu Mountains and the plains of east Henan and rich in natural resources. The mountainous area of Yuzhou contains large deposits of quartzite, clay, kaolin, malachite, and other raw materials used in ceramics. The area is densely forested, with easy access to firewood and coal reserves, thus providing fuel for the firing of ceramics. Henan Province has 16 relatively large rivers running year-round: Yuzhou, adjacent to Luoyang in the west and Bianliang (now known as ‘Kaifeng’ in the Henan Province, the capital of the Song Dynasty), in the east, with the Yellow River to the north and the Huai River to the south, creating excellent aquatic transport conditions.
Jun ware can be traced back to the early Northern Song Dynasty (960-1126 AD), over a thousand years. It was classified as one of the ‘Five Famous Wares’ of the Song Dynasty and was approved for daily use.
The accessibility of trade in Henan meant that the Jun ware production techniques and products were readily disseminated. Nearby porcelain wares (such as Ru and ‘Official’ ware) were able to incorporate new techniques borrowed from the Jun style. In
