Dolls have been playing with porcelain for thousands of years. Let's see what has changed.

In ancient China, many children were blessed, and lotus was homophonic. Therefore, the boy who plays with lotus eyes means that even the children are born. Decorative patterns are mostly composed of one or several naughty and lovely baby boys, or walking with lotus leaves on their shoulders, or several babies playing with a bunch of lotus flowers together. There are sitting, standing, playing and noisy games and actions in different postures, which are full of fun.

This kind of porcelain decorated with children's playful paintings is called baby play painting or baby play pattern. So, what secrets are hidden behind different baby play pictures? Wang Zhanggui, a family of Jingdezhen ceramics, gives you a brief analysis:

According to textual research, baby play pictures first appeared on Changsha kiln porcelain in Tang Dynasty. Many kilns in Song Dynasty were decorated with baby play pictures, especially the under-glaze painted baby play pictures of Cizhou kiln. Especially on porcelain pillows, children's images such as fishing, playing with birds, playing cuju, driving ducks and spinning tops are depicted. In the early Song Dynasty, the society was stable, the population surged, and a large number of baby play pictures appeared, which was closely related to the social situation at that time.

The Ming and Qing Dynasties were the heyday of baby play pictures, which developed from a simple image of one or two young children to more than 100 children with different attitudes. The popularity of baby play pictures reflected people's psychology at that time. The pattern symbolizing the birth of your son, the five sons becoming branches and the descendants of the ancient philosophers has become a common decorative pattern in ceramics.

Baby play pictures are also closely related to social conditions in different periods. In the Ming dynasty, before Xuande, baby plays were mostly in the garden, and children were active in the garden. After Xuande, it was mostly a suburban baby play, and the image change was particularly obvious. During the period of Yong and Xuande, children were short and fat, with big heads and round faces, and several children played together, which was also called group baby play. The image of children reflects the stability of society.

During the Wanli period of Jiajing, children wore robes and mandarin jackets, which made them look top-heavy, with large heads and prominent backs. This shows that the social, political and economic decline of the Ming Dynasty has begun to take shape.

The porcelains of the official kilns in Qianlong and Qianlong Dynasties in Yongzheng are strict in drawing pictures for babies, with clear lines for children's clothes, delicate eyes and innocent movements, which makes people fondle. The beautiful scenery and peaceful and prosperous times in Taoyuan are depicted with baby play pictures.

The social unrest in Chongzhen in Ming and Qing Dynasties was reflected in the pictures of children's plays. The children's bodies were very abstract and looked grotesque. During the Jiaqing, Daoguang and Xianfeng periods in the middle of Qing Dynasty, the characters in the baby play were clumsy and the children were stupid, which reflected the reality of the decline of national luck.

I hope it will help you, and I hope it will be adopted. Thank you.